The disposal volume of material for Construction and Demolition in Europe is increasing each year, that the European Union has decided to take control of the matter unifying practices and goals to achieve. This article analyses how waste management works in Italy adjusting its system to the European Union, regarding Construction and Demolition, taking into consideration the disposal of material coming from C&D (Construction and Demolition) production. In Italy, the disposition may differ according to the regions in which it is divided, and this must be taken into consideration when analysing information that reflects the different logistical aspect linked to the territory. It is also necessary to consider how the volume of waste can vary according to the size of the region considered and the type of industrial development to which it belongs. The analysis of the Italian situation shows their achievements regarding reaching a good level of recycling waste volume; indeed, their amount of C&D recycled waste after 2010 was always up to the 70% value established by the European Union, though barriers are still present in the field of waste management. Through data collecting, it has been seen the different volume that is generated in construction-related activities in the country, along with the recovered waste volume. Thus, the goal of this paper is to deepen the general knowledge on waste produced by Construction and Demolition in Italy and waste management practices adopted according to the European Union.
This paper analyzes pitting corrosion at the weld zone and at the heat affected zone (HAZ) in AISI 304 rolled stainless steel welds. As the aforementioned material is one of the most frequently used types of stainless steel, it is needful to be aware of the mechanisms that lead to its deterioration, like corrosion, since it can cause failures or malfunction in a wide variety of products and facilities. For the experimental tests 1.5 mm thick AISI 304 stainless steel plates were welded and rolled to different thicknesses and after, the samples were subjected to mechanical and corrosion tests and to a micrograph study. Deformation stresses and other intrinsic metallurgic and physic-chemical transformations that occur during cold rolling and welding, and that are key factors in the anti-corrosion behavior of AISI 304 rolled stainless steel, have been observed and analyzed. A correlation has been found between cold work levels in test samples and number of pits after corrosion tests.
Today, the design and remodeling of urban environments is being sought in order to achieve green, healthy, and sustainable cities. The effect of air pollution in cities due to vehicle combustion gases is an important part of the problem. Due to the indirect effect caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, political powers in Europe have imposed confinement measures for citizens by imposing movement restrictions in large cities. This indirect measure has given us a laboratory to show how the reduction in vehicle circulation affects in a short time the levels of air pollution in cities. Therefore, this article analyzes the effect in different European cities such as Milan, Prague, Madrid, Paris, and London. These cities have been chosen due to their large amount of daily road traffic that generates high levels of pollution; therefore, it can clearly show the fall in these pollutants in the air in the analyzed period. The results shown through this study indicate that the reduction in combustion vehicles greatly affects the levels of pollution in different cities. In these periods of confinement, there was an improvement in air quality where pollutant values dropped to 80% compared to the previous year. This should serve to raise awareness among citizens and political powers to adopt measures that induce sustainable transport systems.