Ilija Sazdovski

This study compares the environmental impacts and the environmental prices related to applying composts, biofertilizers, and biostimulants, produced in Denmark, Sweden, and Ukraine, across different cropping systems, based on field trials in Denmark and Ukraine. The evaluation is conducted utilizing life cycle assessment and Eco-cost methodology. The functional unit is linked to the production of 1 kg of crops, and the system boundaries span from cradle to grave. In Denmark, fish hydrolysate shows the lowest environmental impacts across all categories compared to other products. In the case of climate change, it emits 0.029 kg of CO₂ per kg in pea sole and 0.017 kg of CO₂ in the pea−barley intercropping system. Moreover, fish hydrolysate presents lower impacts than the control in climate change, eutrophication, land use, water consumption, and resource use in pea−barley intercrop and pea sole. In Ukraine, biochar provides benefits in acidification, land use, water consumption, and fossil resource depletion compared to the control and other biofertilizers. Furthermore, intercropping generally shows lower impacts and costs than monocrops. The environmental costs amount to €0.48 per kg of intercrop in Denmark and €0.04 per kg in Ukraine. For pea sole, the costs increase to €1.16 per kg in Denmark and €0.06 per kg in Ukraine. These findings emphasize the importance of aligning organic amendments and biostimulants with suitable cropping systems to enhance agricultural sustainability.

The factual circularity of materials needs utilization of materials that keep their quality properties after going through recycling to minimize the inflow of virgin materials in the technosphere. Within the PEF methodology, and based on the economic model approach, the European Commission provides default parameters for the quality changes of the polymers after recycling, but solely for some fossil-based polymers. This study provides a test-based example for the calculation of technical substitutability for 2 fossil-based polymers (HDPE and PET) and 2 bio-based polymers (PLA and PHB) based on mechanical, processing, and optical properties. The results show that the economic substitutability method gives very different results compared to those obtained by considering real technical quality changes of the polymers in multiple-cycle recycling. HDPE proved to have superior circular properties compared to any other polymer under research. In addition, the recent practice of substituting fossil-based with bio-based polymers will need to be re-evaluated after additional research related to the quality change of bio-based polymers in recycling. The results showed the important limitations of the economic substitutability method and a strong need for a harmonized testing method for the calculation of quality degradation of all types of polymers in recycling.

Travel and tourism are essential to global economies, generating social, economic, and environmental impacts. However, there is a lack of standardized methodologies to assess the environmental footprint of tourist destinations beyond carbon footprint analysis. This study introduces the Greentour tool, the first of its kind to evaluate the environmental impact of accommodation, restaurants, and tourism activities using nine environmental indicators from a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective. The tool applies a hybrid bottom-up and top-down approach, integrating data from tourist establishments and destination managers. The tool was tested in four tourist destinations in Spain and Portugal (Rías Baixas, Camino Lebaniego, Lloret de Mar, and Guimarães), revealing that transportation is the primary contributor to environmental impacts, ranging from 60% to 96% of total emissions, particularly in air-travel-dependent destinations. Food and beverage services are the second-largest contributor, accounting for up to 26% of emissions, while accommodation ranks third (1–14%). This study highlights the significant role of electricity consumption and food choices (e.g., red meat and dairy) in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, emphasizing the need for sustainable alternatives. Despite challenges in data collection, particularly for food and transport statistics, the Greentour tool has demonstrated robustness and adaptability across diverse destinations, making it applicable worldwide. This tool provides key insights for policymakers, tourism stakeholders, and businesses, supporting the integration of sustainability strategies into public policies and industry best practices. Future research should focus on expanding its use to additional destinations to foster science-based decision-making and promote more sustainable tourism practices globally.