The Data Governance Act and the EU's move towards facilitating data sharing

The implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has had significant impacts on biomedical research, often complicating data sharing among researchers. The recently announced proposal for a new EU Data Governance Act is a promising step towards facilitating data sharing, if it can interplay well with the GDPR.Subject Categories: S&S: Ethics

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has affected biomedical research, often complicating data sharing. The recently announced proposal for a new EU Data Governance Act, is a promising step towards facilitating data sharing.

In an attempt to improve and increase data sharing in the EU and to optimize the re‐use of personal and non‐personal data, the European Commission has recently announced the proposal for a new EU Data Governance Act (https://ec.europa.eu/digital‐single‐market/en/news/proposal‐regulation‐european‐data‐governance‐data‐governance‐act). If approved, it will enable the creation and regulation of “secure spaces” where various types of data, including health data, can be shared and re‐used for both commercial and altruistic purposes, including scientific research. The Data Governance Act, within the framework of a European Strategy for Data, (https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication‐european‐strategy‐dat‐19feb2020_en.pdf), would address some of the shortcomings and drawbacks of the current regulatory framework which holds back sharing and re‐using data for biomedical research purposes.While the proposed Act would apply to all types of personal and non‐personal data, the increasing demand for sharing health data has most likely been a major rationale for this new legislation of data governance. Notably, sharing health and genetic data for scientific research entails an extra layer of complexity, owing to concerns over data protection and privacy when sharing sensitive personal data. Vice versa, there are also concerns in the scientific community over the negative impact of regulatory restrictions on sharing health data in data‐driven biomedical research. The pressing question here is how far the EU’s proposed legislative and policy framework can offset either concerns?     

Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative (MELODI): strategic research agenda for low dose radiation risk research

MELODI (Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative) is a European radiation protection research platform with focus on research on health risks after exposure to low-dose ionising radiation. It was founded in 2010 and currently includes 44 members from 18 countries. A major activity of MELODI is the continuous development of a long-term European Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) on low-dose risk for radiation protection. The SRA is intended to identify priorities for national and European radiation protection research programs as a basis for the preparation of competitive calls at the European level. Among those key priorities is the improvement of health risk estimates for exposures close to the dose limits for workers and to reference levels for the population in emergency situations. Another activity of MELODI is to ensure the availability of European key infrastructures for research activities, and the long-term maintenance of competences in radiation research via an integrated European approach for training and education. The MELODI SRA identifies three key research topics in low dose or low dose-rate radiation risk research: (1) dose and dose rate dependence of cancer risk, (2) radiation-induced non-cancer effects and (3) individual radiation sensitivity. The research required to improve the evidence base for each of the three key topics relates to three research lines: (1) research to improve understanding of the mechanisms contributing to radiogenic diseases, (2) epidemiological research to improve health risk evaluation of radiation exposure and (3) research to address the effects and risks associated with internal exposures, differing radiation qualities and inhomogeneous exposures. The full SRA and associated documents can be downloaded from the MELODI website (http://www.melodi-online.eu/sra.html).     

The Priority position paper: Protecting Europe's food chain from prions

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) created a global European crisis in the 1980s and 90s, with very serious health and economic implications. Classical BSE now appears to be under control, to a great extent as a result of a global research effort that identified the sources of prions in meat and bone meal (MBM) and developed new animal-testing tools that guided policy. Priority (www.prionpriority.eu) was a European Union (EU) Framework Program 7 (FP7)-funded project through which 21 European research institutions and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) joined efforts between 2009 and 2014, to conduct coordinated basic and applied research on prions and prion diseases. At the end of the project, the Priority consortium drafted a position paper (www.prionpriority.eu/Priority position paper) with its main conclusions. In the present opinion paper, we summarize these conclusions.

With respect to the issue of re-introducing ruminant protein into the feed-chain, our opinion is that sustaining an absolute ban on feeding ruminant protein to ruminants is essential. In particular, the spread and impact of non-classical forms of scrapie and BSE in ruminants is not fully understood and the risks cannot be estimated. Atypical prion agents will probably continue to represent the dominant form of prion diseases in the near future in Europe. Atypical L-type BSE has clear zoonotic potential, as demonstrated in experimental models. Similarly, there are now data indicating that the atypical scrapie agent can cross various species barriers. More epidemiological data from large cohorts are necessary to reach any conclusion on the impact of its transmissibility on public health. Re-evaluations of safety precautions may become necessary depending on the outcome of these studies.

Intensified searching for molecular determinants of the species barrier is recommended, since this barrier is key for important policy areas and risk assessment. Understanding the structural basis for strains and the basis for adaptation of a strain to a new host will require continued fundamental research, also needed to understand mechanisms of prion transmission, replication and how they cause nervous system dysfunction and death. Early detection of prion infection, ideally at a preclinical stage, also remains crucial for development of effective treatment strategies.     

Comments on the sub-group reports of the EU Technical Expert Working Group on the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes

A critical analysis is presented of the reports produced by four Technical Expert Working Group Sub-groups (SGs) on Ethical Review, Cost-Benefit, Authorisation and Scope, which were published on the EC website (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/ia_info_en.htm), as part of the European Commission (EC)s review of EU Directive 86/609 EEC. This is in addition to our official response to the internet consultation questionnaire, submitted to the Commission on behalf of FRAME. Whilst the respective SG reports were extensive and detailed, we have identified several shortcomings, and in particular, a frequent lack of consensus among the SG members, resulting in a lack of clear guidance for the EC on what the revised Directive should contain, with reference to a number of crucial issues. Such indecisiveness could lead to wide discrepancies in the approaches of the EC, the European Parliament and the EU Member States concerning many issues of importance to animal welfare and the implementation of alternatives to animal experiments. These concerns range from logistical issues, such as requirements for named officers in authorised establishments, and the recording and publishing of statistics on animal use, to ethical and scientific problems, including the use of non-human primates, local ethical review, and education and training on the essential link between the Three Rs concept and best scientific practice. In each case, the basis for our concerns is explained, and suggestions for improvements to be incorporated into the revised Directive are made, in the hope that the harmonisation of approaches to laboratory animal experimentation and the use of alternative methods in the Member States can be maximised.     

Principles and practice in ethical review of animal experiments across Europe: summary of the report of a FELASA working group on ethical evaluation of animal experiments

This paper summarizes a more detailed report produced by the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA 2005), which describes and explores a set of principles for the conduct of ethical review of laboratory animal use. It presents a synopsis of results from a questionnaire that elicited information on how each of 20 countries represented in FELASA currently approaches such ethical review. This information suggests that, although local practices differ, there is an emerging consensus on the key elements that any ethical review process should involve. Drawing on the questionnaire findings, this summary also includes a brief discussion to support and amplify a series of recommendations, covering the objectives of ethical review; legal requirements; the scope of work reviewed and the 'level' at which review is approached; general principles for the organization of ethical review processes; the factors considered in the review; needs for ongoing review after initial authorization; participants in the review process; wider impacts of the review process; and strategies that can help to ensure quality and consistency of review outcomes. For further information and examples of current practice, as well as more detailed discussion to support the recommendations, readers are urged to refer to the complete report, available at http://www.lal.org.uk/pdffiles/FELASA_ethics_FULL_Report. pdf or via: http://www.felasa.eu/recommendations.htm.     

Food systems microbiome-related educational needs

Within the European-funded Coordination and Support Action MicrobiomeSupport ( https://www.microbiomesupport.eu/ ), the Workshop ‘Education in Food Systems Microbiome Related Sciences: Needs for Universities, Industry and Public Health Systems’ brought together over 70 researchers, public health and industry partners from all over the world to work on elaborating microbiome-related educational needs in food systems. This publication provides a summary of discussions held during and after the workshop and the resulting recommendations.     

Comparing chemical environmental scores using USEtox<Superscript>™</Superscript> and CDV from the European Ecolabel

Purpose

USEtox^? (Rosenbaum et al. 2008) is a new model which can be used to calculate characterization factors for human and ecotoxicity impact categories used in life cycle assessment. The French ADEME-AFNOR (http://affichage-environnemental.afnor.org/) is currently considering this model to develop a new environmental labelling standard for consumer goods. The objective of this short study is to compare USEtox^? impact scores with critical dilution volume (CDV) scores from the European Ecolabel (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel), a well-established tool widely used in Europe aiming at discriminating environmental friendly products.

Material and methods

The same range of chemicals (high scores to low scores) listed in both the USEtox^? database and the EU Ecolabel detergent ingredient database (DID-list) were used for the comparison. The DID-list is a reference list, which contains agreed and verified fate and ecotoxicity data. The ranking was made based on two different ranking parameters, one from each model: the environmental impact score from USEtox^? and the CDV from the EU Ecolabel. Additionally, a Spearman’s rank correlation (ρ) coefficient was calculated.

Results and discussion

Sixty-nine chemicals common in personal care and cleaning products were selected for the comparison between USEtox^? and EU Ecolabel methods. A “fair” agreement was found between the two models with a Spearman correlation coefficient ρ of 0.74, but a significant number of chemicals was ranked rather differently. The presence of outliers (i.e., different ranking) may be explained by several factors, which include the use of discrete versus continuous values to estimate the substance’s degradation constant. Another factor could be that the substances are grouped under classes in the DID-list, thus having average parameter values. The main factor though probably lays in the different sources of the physico-chemical, fate and ecotoxicity data within the two model databases and the different way they are used for the ranking parameter calculation.

Conclusions

Provided there is scientific consensus (and full transparency) on the raw data, both USEtox^? and EU Ecolabel methods are relevant for ranking chemicals based on their physico-chemical and toxicological properties, and therefore for calculating product environmental impact scores related to their hazard. However, the presence of a number of chemicals with different ranking scores creates the risk of inconsistent consumer product information when either the CDV (EU ecolabel) or USEtox^? (French “Affichage Environnemental”) is used for environmental labelling. To date, and for sake of consistency with an existing and used labelling scheme, the CDV appears much easier to implement with less uncertainty to calculate ecotoxicity impact score of products.

     

The implementation research institute: training mental health implementation researchers in the United States

Background

Healthcare decision makers face challenges when using guidelines, including understanding the quality of the evidence or the values and preferences upon which recommendations are made, which are often not clear.

Methods

GRADE is a systematic approach towards assessing the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations in healthcare. GRADE also gives advice on how to go from evidence to decisions. It has been developed to address the weaknesses of other grading systems and is now widely used internationally. The Developing and Evaluating Communication Strategies to Support Informed Decisions and Practice Based on Evidence (DECIDE) consortium (http://www.decide-collaboration.eu/), which includes members of the GRADE Working Group and other partners, will explore methods to ensure effective communication of evidence-based recommendations targeted at key stakeholders: healthcare professionals, policymakers, and managers, as well as patients and the general public. Surveys and interviews with guideline producers and other stakeholders will explore how presentation of the evidence could be improved to better meet their information needs. We will collect further stakeholder input from advisory groups, via consultations and user testing; this will be done across a wide range of healthcare systems in Europe, North America, and other countries. Targeted communication strategies will be developed, evaluated in randomized trials, refined, and assessed during the development of real guidelines.

Discussion

Results of the DECIDE project will improve the communication of evidence-based healthcare recommendations. Building on the work of the GRADE Working Group, DECIDE will develop and evaluate methods that address communication needs of guideline users. The project will produce strategies for communicating recommendations that have been rigorously evaluated in diverse settings, and it will support the transfer of research into practice in healthcare systems globally.     

The Database of European Forest Insect and Disease Disturbances: DEFID2

Insect and disease outbreaks in forests are biotic disturbances that can profoundly alter ecosystem dynamics. In many parts of the world, these disturbance regimes are intensifying as the climate changes and shifts the distribution of species and biomes. As a result, key forest ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, regulation of water flows, wood production, protection of soils, and the conservation of biodiversity, could be increasingly compromised. Despite the relevance of these detrimental effects, there are currently no spatially detailed databases that record insect and disease disturbances on forests at the pan-European scale. Here, we present the new Database of European Forest Insect and Disease Disturbances (DEFID2). It comprises over 650,000 harmonized georeferenced records, mapped as polygons or points, of insects and disease disturbances that occurred between 1963 and 2021 in European forests. The records currently span eight different countries and were acquired through diverse methods (e.g., ground surveys, remote sensing techniques). The records in DEFID2 are described by a set of qualitative attributes, including severity and patterns of damage symptoms, agents, host tree species, climate-driven trigger factors, silvicultural practices, and eventual sanitary interventions. They are further complemented with a satellite-based quantitative characterization of the affected forest areas based on Landsat Normalized Burn Ratio time series, and damage metrics derived from them using the LandTrendr spectral–temporal segmentation algorithm (including onset, duration, magnitude, and rate of the disturbance), and possible interactions with windthrow and wildfire events. The DEFID2 database is a novel resource for many large-scale applications dealing with biotic disturbances. It offers a unique contribution to design networks of experiments, improve our understanding of ecological processes underlying biotic forest disturbances, monitor their dynamics, and enhance their representation in land-climate models. Further data sharing is encouraged to extend and improve the DEFID2 database continuously. The database is freely available at https://jeodpp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ftp/jrc-opendata/FOREST/DISTURBANCES/DEFID2/ .     

Derivation of human embryonic stem cells at the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona

We report here the legislative issues related to embryo research and human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research in Spain and the derivation of nine hESC lines at the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona. You can find the information for obtaining our lines for research purposes at blc@cmrb.eu.     

ECo: A new measure evaluating the degree of consistency between environmental factors and spatial arrangement of species assemblages

We introduce a measure of Environmental Consistency (ECo), which assesses the probability of reducing homogeneity in the environmental factors within a species’ distribution by randomly displacing its occurrences. ECo is computed by applying null model analysis to a species incidence matrix where each locality is associated with a set of environmental values. Environmental homogeneity is measured, for each species, as the average multiparametric distance between any pair of localities where the species occurs. ECo can account for the effect of species interactions and resource availability by using different null models that permit or forbid occurrence displacements altering species local abundance or species prevalence. ECo provides researchers with a flexible statistical framework to address a wide range of ecological and biogeographical issues. We investigated in depth the properties and the potentialities of ECo, showing how it integrates the concepts of Eltonian and Grinnelian niches. We demonstrate that a close relationship exists between niche breadth at species level and environmental consistency of species assemblages. In addition, we provide evidence that ecological consistency is closely related to species range. A software to compute ECo is freely available at http://forest.jrc.ec.europa.eu/download/software/eco.     

The European perspective of diabetes prevention

The dramatic increase in newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes is a major public health concern within the European Union. However, it has been demonstrated that prevention programmes can significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes. There is a clear consensus amongst healthcare professionals that action is urgently needed at both EU and community levels. The challenge is to implement proven intervention methods effectively into clinical reality. To achieve this, action is needed not only in the field of policy development but also in the development of targeted intervention programmes, which address the needs of people with an increased diabetes risk, clinical- and community-based healthcare professionals, and the general population. The Diabetes Prevention Forum (DPF), founded by the European region of the International Diabetes Federation, consists of European diabetes experts from a range of backgrounds. The DPF is taking immediate action to co-ordinate and improve the information flow between all relevant stakeholders to enable more effective communication, so helping to improve the ability to prevent type 2 diabetes in Europe.     

Prevención de las caídas basada en la evidencia en Europa

ProFaNE (Prevention of Falls Network Europe) is a thematic network funded by the European Commission. This network brings together scientists, clinicians and other health professionals from across Europe to focus on four main topics (taxonomy and co-ordination of trials, clinical assessment and management of falls, assessment of balance function, and psychological aspects of falls). There are 24 members across Europe as well as Network Associates who contribute expertise at workshops and meetings. ProFa- NE, a 4-year project which started in January 2003, aims to improve and standardise healthcare processes by introducing and promoting good practice throughout Europe. ProFaNE has its own website (http://www.profane.eu.org) and undertakes workshops to bring together experts and observers involved in specific topics to exchange knowledge, expertise and resources on interventions to reduce falls. The present article discusses ProFaNE's achievements to date and the work in progress to achieve good clinical practice and research into the prevention of falls across Europe.     

Recent advances in molecular biomarkers for diabetes mellitus: a systematic review

Context: Diabetes is a growing global metabolic epidemic. Current research is focussing on exploring how the biological processes and clinical outcomes of diabetes are related and developing novel biomarkers to measure these relationships, as this can subsequently improve diagnostic, therapeutic and management capacity.

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the most recent advances in molecular biomarkers of diabetes and directions that warrant further research.

Methods: Using a systematic search strategy, the MEDLINE, CINAHL and OVID MEDLINE databases were canvassed for articles that investigated molecular biomarkers for diabetes. Initial selections were made based on article title, whilst final inclusion was informed by a critical appraisal of the full text of each article.

Results: The systematic search returned 246 records, of which 113 were unique. Following screening, 29 records were included in the final review. Three main research strategies (the development of novel technologies, broad biomarker panels, and targeted approaches) identified a number of potential biomarkers for diabetes including miR-126, C-reactive protein, 2-aminoadipic acid and betatrophin.

Conclusion: The most promising research avenue identified is the detection and quantification of micro RNA. Further, the utilisation of functionalised electrodes as a means to detect biomarker compounds also warrants attention.     

Conservation Genetic Resources for Effective Species Survival (ConGRESS): Bridging the divide between conservation research and practice

Policy makers and managers are increasingly called upon to assess the state of biodiversity, and make decisions regarding potential interventions. Genetic tools are well-recognised in the research community as a powerful approach to evaluate species and population status, reveal ecological and demographic processes, and inform nature conservation decisions. The wealth of genetic data and power of genetic methods are rapidly growing, but the consideration of genetic information and concerns in policy and management is limited by the currently low capacity of decision-makers to access and apply genetic resources. Here we describe a freely available, user-friendly online resource for decision-makers at local and national levels (http://congressgenetics.eu), which increases access to current knowledge, facilitates implementation of studies and interpretation of available data, and fosters collaboration between researchers and practitioners. This resource was created in partnership with conservation practitioners across the European Union, and includes a spectrum of taxa, ecosystems and conservation issues. Our goals here are to (1) introduce the rationale and context, (2) describe the specific tools (knowledge summaries, publications database, decision making tool, project planning tool, forum, community directory), and the challenges they help solve, and (3) summarise lessons learned. This article provides an outlook and model for similar efforts to build policy and management capacity.     

利用集聚度评价卫生资源配置公平性的方法学探讨

卫生资源配置公平性评价是卫生系统研究的重要内容之一。文章将经济学领域中的集聚度概念引入卫生资源配置评价中,创新提出卫生资源配置集聚度（HRAD）的概念,在兼顾人口和地理因素的基础上,探索其在卫生资源配置公平性评价中的可行性,并利用2007—2012年我国医院床位规模数据进行实证研究,强调使用卫生资源集聚度方法的注意点。     

Decreasing Trend of Overlapping Multilocus Sequence Types between Human and Chicken Campylobacter jejuni Isolates over a Decade in Finland

We describe the long-term multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis of the population structure and dynamics of 454 Finnish human Campylobacter jejuni isolates, as well as 208 chicken isolates, collected during the mid-1990s to 2007. The sequence type clonal complexes (ST CC) ST-45 CC, ST-21 CC, and ST-677 CC were the most common ones found among all isolates, and they covered 73.9% of all isolates. The ST-283 CC also was found frequently among chicken isolates (8.2%). The predominant STs among all isolates were ST-45, ST-50, and ST-677. ST-137 and ST-230 were common among human isolates, and ST-267 was found more frequently among chicken isolates than human isolates. The ST-45 CC was significantly associated with chicken isolates (P < 0.01), whereas the ST-21 CC was associated with human isolates (P < 0.001). The ST-677 CC was not associated with any host (P = 0.5), and an opposite temporary trend of this complex was seen among chicken and human isolates, with an increase in the former and a decrease in the latter during the study period. Furthermore, the ST-22 and ST-48 CCs were significantly associated with human isolates (P < 0.01), but neither of the CCs was found in chicken isolates. The annual overlap between STs from human and chicken isolates decreased from 76% at the beginning of the study to 58% at the end. Our results suggest that the importance of chicken as a reservoir for strains associated with human infections has declined despite the consumption of domestic chicken meat increasing during the follow-up period by 83%.Campylobacter jejuni is the most common bacterial cause of gastroenteritis worldwide. In Finland, registered human Campylobacter infections have increased from 2,629 cases in 1996 to 4,107 cases in 2007 (http://www3.ktl.fi/stat/). Of the 4,107 cases in 2007, 45% were registered in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region, where the annual incidence was highest (122/100,000; the national average is 78/100,000) as well. Most of the cases were associated with traveling to other countries. In 2007, approximately 57% of the patients had traveled outside of Finland prior to their illness, 19% had not traveled abroad, and for 24% information was unavailable (http://www.ktl.fi/attachments/suomi/julkaisut/julkaisusarja_b/2008/2008b09.pdf).In Finland, most of the Campylobacter infections are sporadic and appear during the summer months (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/doc/130r.pdf). Between 1996 and 2007, approximately 45 to 55% of all registered infections were reported between June and September (http://www3.ktl.fi/stat/). In contrast to sporadic Campylobacter infections, outbreaks of campylobacteriosis are uncommon, usually occurring in spring or autumn, and are associated with drinking contaminated water (36).Epidemiological studies performed in many countries indicate that handling or eating chicken meat is an important risk factor for the acquisition of campylobacteriosis (32, 46). A recent Finnish case-control study (39) identified swimming in lakes and rivers and drinking water from private wells as additional risk factors for acquiring the illness from domestic sources during the summer months. Contact with pets (19) and farm animals (21) and the consumption of raw milk (35) also have been identified as risk factors for Campylobacter infections.The annual consumption of chicken meat in Finland increased by 83% (from 53 million to 95 million kg) from 1997 to 2007 but remained stable, at around 83.5 million kg, between 2002 and 2006. However, from 2006 to 2007, the consumption of chicken meat increased by a further 8% (from 88 million to 95 million kg). Most of the chicken meat consumed in Finland comes from domestic production (https://portal.mtt.fi/portal/page/portal/mtt/mtt/julkaisut/suomenmaatalousjamaaseutuelinkeinot/jul108_SM2008.pdf). Finnish chicken flocks have been monitored for Campylobacter spp. according to the regulations of the European Union since 2004 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:325:0031:0040:EN:PDF). Seasonality similar to that observed in human infections can be found in the prevalence of Campylobacter-positive chicken slaughter batches, i.e., 7.7% of all chicken slaughter batches were Campylobacter positive from June to October in 2007; however, during the rest of the year no positive chicken flocks were detected (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/doc/130r.pdf).To assess the relevance of a particular source and potential routes of transmission from animals to humans (6), the overlap between genotypes of Campylobacter isolates from patients and potential sources of infection has been studied using molecular typing techniques such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Of the two typing methods, PFGE is more discriminatory and therefore is considered more suitable for short-term epidemiological investigations and for the determination of the source of infection in outbreak situations (24, 26, 28).In our previous studies, we have shown that during a seasonal peak, overlapping serotypes and PFGE genotypes exist between samples from patients suffering from campylobacteriosis and fecal samples from chicken (13, 17). Several other studies also have reported a 34 to 60% overlap between serotypes, genotypes, and/or sequence types (STs) of patient and poultry isolates using various typing techniques (20, 31, 37, 42).Due to the high diversity of types and the lack of standardized nomenclature, PFGE is not a useful technique in long-term epidemiological studies. Unlike PFGE, MLST has been successfully used in long-term epidemiological studies (27, 45) and in deciphering the population structure (2, 20, 28, 45) of Campylobacter on a global scale. MLST has high discriminatory power (23) and standardized nomenclature for STs and clonal complexes (CCs) (3, 26).The aim of our study was to analyze by MLST the overlap and dynamics of C. jejuni types among isolates collected from domestically acquired sporadic human infections from the Helsinki-Uusimaa region from 1996 to 2006 and isolates collected from domestic chicken production from 1999 to 2007.     

Comparative LCA of concrete with recycled aggregates: a circular economy mindset in Europe

Purpose

Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) is the largest waste stream in the European Union (EU) and all over the world. Proper management of C&DW and recycled materials—including the correct handling of hazardous waste—can have major benefits in terms of sustainability and the quality of life. The Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC aims to have 70% of C&DW recycled by 2020. However, except for a few EU countries, only about 50% of C&DW is currently being recycled. In the present research, the environmental impact of concrete with recycled aggregates and with geopolymer mixtures is analysed. The aim of the present research is to propose a comparative LCA of concrete with recycled aggregates in the context of European politics.

Methods

Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is applied using Simapro© software. A cradle to grave analysis is carried out. The results are analysed based on the database Ecoinvent 3.3 and Impact 2002+.

Results

Results show that the concrete with 25% recycled aggregates is the best solution from an environmental point of view. Furthermore, geopolymer mixtures could be a valid alternative to reduce the phenomenon of “global warming”; however, the production of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide has a great environmental impact.

Conclusions

A possible future implementation of the present study is certainly to carry out an overall assessment and to determine the most cost-effective option among the different competing alternatives through the life cycle cost analysis.