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Neha Mehta
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen's University Belfast, Stranmillis Road, BT9 5AH, UK

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Journal article
Published: 15 December 2020 in Sustainable Production and Consumption
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Bio-based plastics are produced from bio-based raw materials such as sugar cane, potatoes, corn, and agricultural and slaughterhouse waste. The evolution of the bio-based plastics market is affected by the stakeholders involved owing to their role in production processes, environmental guidelines and purchasing decisions. It is therefore imperative to understand the perceptions of stakeholders in order to inform the development of the bio-based plastics sector. This novel exploratory study investigates the perceptions and opinions of three stakeholder groups: environmental professionals and plastic processors; university students; and consumers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the focus groups (25 participants in total), samples of bio-based plastics, including starch-based monolayer and multilayer, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), were presented. A qualitative analysis using the framework method revealed that environmental professionals and plastic processors were aware of both the benefits of bio-based plastics, such as a reduction in use of fossil fuels; and the challenges, which include the utilisation of agricultural land for biomass substrates and possible contamination of current conventional plastic recycling streams. Although there was a general lack of knowledge among students and consumers about bio-based plastics, they conveyed their beliefs that the use of agricultural waste will lead to closed-loop systems, resulting in a balanced approach to production and waste management. Some students and consumers, raised concerns about contamination of food by bio-based packaging prepared from slaughterhouse waste. However, these participants supported the use of slaughterhouse waste in the production of bio-based plastics for non-food contact items. The students and consumers and some of the environmental professionals and plastic processors were reluctant to pay more for bio-based plastics. The results indicate that manufacturers of bio-based plastics could benefit from informing consumers about the environmental impacts of beginning-of-life parameters, such as production processes and feedstocks, by using life cycle assessment parameters. This should be incorporated into information provided on labelling using standards from neutral organisations. This research could inform future communication strategies around bio-based plastics with both the public and industry.

ACS Style

Neha Mehta; Eoin Cunningham; Deborah Roy; Ashley Cathcart; Martin Dempster; Emma Berry; Beatrice M. Smyth. Exploring perceptions of environmental professionals, plastic processors, students and consumers of bio-based plastics: Informing the development of the sector. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2020, 26, 574 -587.

AMA Style

Neha Mehta, Eoin Cunningham, Deborah Roy, Ashley Cathcart, Martin Dempster, Emma Berry, Beatrice M. Smyth. Exploring perceptions of environmental professionals, plastic processors, students and consumers of bio-based plastics: Informing the development of the sector. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2020; 26 ():574-587.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Neha Mehta; Eoin Cunningham; Deborah Roy; Ashley Cathcart; Martin Dempster; Emma Berry; Beatrice M. Smyth. 2020. "Exploring perceptions of environmental professionals, plastic processors, students and consumers of bio-based plastics: Informing the development of the sector." Sustainable Production and Consumption 26, no. : 574-587.

Journal article
Published: 30 April 2020 in Chemosphere
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The waste rock, tailings and soil around an abandoned mine site in Gorno (northwest Italy) contain elevated concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) exceeding the permissible limits for residential uses. Specifically, the maximum concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn were 107 mg/kg, 340 mg/kg, 1064 mg/kg, and 148 433 mg/kg, respectively. A site-specific human health risk assessment (HHRA) was conducted for residential and recreational exposure scenarios, using an approach based on Risk Based Corrective Action (RBCA) method, refined by incorporating oral bioaccessibility data. Oral bioaccessibility analyses were performed by simulating the human digestion process in vitro (Unified BARGE Method). Detailed analysis of oral bioaccessible fraction (BAF i.e. ratio of bioaccessible concentrations to total concentrations on 1) for 50% of the samples, indicating potential human health risks. This study provides information for site-specific risk assessments and planning future research.

ACS Style

Neha Mehta; Sabrina Cipullo; Tatiana Cocerva; Frederic Coulon; Giovanna Antonella Dino; Franco Ajmone-Marsan; Elio Padoan; Siobhan Fiona Cox; Mark R. Cave; Domenico Antonio De Luca. Incorporating oral bioaccessibility into human health risk assessment due to potentially toxic elements in extractive waste and contaminated soils from an abandoned mine site. Chemosphere 2020, 255, 126927 .

AMA Style

Neha Mehta, Sabrina Cipullo, Tatiana Cocerva, Frederic Coulon, Giovanna Antonella Dino, Franco Ajmone-Marsan, Elio Padoan, Siobhan Fiona Cox, Mark R. Cave, Domenico Antonio De Luca. Incorporating oral bioaccessibility into human health risk assessment due to potentially toxic elements in extractive waste and contaminated soils from an abandoned mine site. Chemosphere. 2020; 255 ():126927.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Neha Mehta; Sabrina Cipullo; Tatiana Cocerva; Frederic Coulon; Giovanna Antonella Dino; Franco Ajmone-Marsan; Elio Padoan; Siobhan Fiona Cox; Mark R. Cave; Domenico Antonio De Luca. 2020. "Incorporating oral bioaccessibility into human health risk assessment due to potentially toxic elements in extractive waste and contaminated soils from an abandoned mine site." Chemosphere 255, no. : 126927.

Journal article
Published: 21 March 2020 in Sustainability
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Supply of resources, a growing population, and environmental pollution are some of the main challenges facing the contemporary world. The rapid development of mining activities has produced huge amounts of waste. This waste, found in abandoned mine sites, provides the potential opportunity of extracting raw material. The current study, therefore, focuses on testing the validation of a shared methodology to recover extractive waste from abandoned mines, and applies this methodology to a case study in Gorno, northwest Italy. The methods focused on: (1) analyzing the impact of tailings and fine fraction of waste rock (Lepidium Sativum) to assess usability of both as soil additive, and (2) recovering raw materials from tailings and coarse fraction (>2 mm) of waste rock, by means of dressing methods like wet shaking table and froth flotation. The results indicated that the fine fraction of waste rock and tailings did not have detrimental effects on seed germination; however, there was marked decrease in plant growth. As for the recovery of raw materials, the coarse waste rock samples, crushed to <0.5 mm, produced a recovery of Cd, Ga, and Zn—as much as 66%, 56%, and 64%, respectively—using the wet shaking table. The same samples when crushed to 0.063–0.16 mm and used for froth flotation produced a recovery of Cd, Ga, and Zn of up to 61%, 72%, and 47%, respectively. The flotation experiment on tailings showed a recovery of Cd, Ga and Zn at pH 7 of 33%, 6% and 29% respectively. The present investigation highlights the methodologies used for extracting raw materials from extractive waste.

ACS Style

Neha Mehta; Giovanna Dino; Iride Passarella; Franco Ajmone-Marsan; Piergiorgio Rossetti; Domenico De Luca. Assessment of the Possible Reuse of Extractive Waste Coming from Abandoned Mine Sites: Case Study in Gorno, Italy. Sustainability 2020, 12, 2471 .

AMA Style

Neha Mehta, Giovanna Dino, Iride Passarella, Franco Ajmone-Marsan, Piergiorgio Rossetti, Domenico De Luca. Assessment of the Possible Reuse of Extractive Waste Coming from Abandoned Mine Sites: Case Study in Gorno, Italy. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (6):2471.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Neha Mehta; Giovanna Dino; Iride Passarella; Franco Ajmone-Marsan; Piergiorgio Rossetti; Domenico De Luca. 2020. "Assessment of the Possible Reuse of Extractive Waste Coming from Abandoned Mine Sites: Case Study in Gorno, Italy." Sustainability 12, no. 6: 2471.