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Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Spain, particularly in the Valencian Community, heavily relies on mechanical–biological treatment (MBT) plants followed by landfill disposal. These MBT facilities utilize mechanical processes like shredding, screening, and sorting to segregate recyclables (metals, plastics, paper) from organic material and other nonrecyclables. While public funding supports these plants, private entities manage them through complex, long-term concession contracts. This structure restricts access to crucial data on the sale prices of the byproducts generated during MBT. Publicly available information on relevant company and administration websites is typically absent, hindering transparency surrounding byproduct revenue. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 2012’s available data on revenues obtained from byproduct sales following mechanical treatment at MBT plants within the Valencian Community and comparing them with Spanish national data. This research revealed a significant finding—the statistical distribution of average prices obtained from Ecoembes auctions in the Valencian Community mirrored the corresponding distribution for prices calculated from auctions conducted in other Spanish regions. This suggests a potential uniformity in byproduct pricing across the country. It has also been found that none of the analyzed price distributions exhibited a normal (Gaussian) distribution. The findings also highlight the need for alternative pricing models that move beyond simple averages and account for regional variations and outliers. As actual prices are not available after 2012, this lack of transparency poses a challenge in comprehensively evaluating the economic viability of MBT plants. Furthermore, it raises concerns regarding whether the revenue generated from byproduct sales reflects fair market value. Limited public access to this information can potentially indicate conflicts of interest or inefficiencies within the waste management system.

The implementation of agroecology principles within organic farming research is a crux to redesign sustainable agri-food systems. To govern this transition, the local research demand should be addressed by direct engagement of all stakeholders in the research process. The first step is the involvement of farmers and technicians, with the aim of restoring their decision-making role, switching governance to local scale. The co-design/co-management of Long-Term Experiments (LTEs) can be crucial to govern the above-described transition through networking and participatory activities. In this study, we report the experience of co-designing a new LTE in Southern Italy by local actors and scientists. Through a participatory action research methodology, an LTE was considered as a biophysical component of an agroecological living lab, a public–private environment aimed to design a local food system. The setup of parallel field trials in satellite farms stands for the other biophysical component, whereas the stakeholder platform represents the social one. Through definition of common objectives, a step-by-step process is presented, which highlights the interest of local organic actors to share ideas and perspectives for the territory, pointing out the inclusion of end-users (the consumers) in the process to complete the transition to sustainable food systems.

Throughout the 21st century, urban reports demand solutions to the obsolescence and aging process suffered by the existing buildings, due to the growth and expansion of cities that took place in the second half of the 20th century [...]

Despite the growing interest in perceived social support as a means of achieving sustainable psychological development and well-being in the various contexts of the adolescent, its definition and composition remain unclear. The aim of this study is to test both the hierarchical order and the types and sources of a theoretical model of the social support perceived by adolescents. The model is based on the theories of Tardy and Lin, as well as on the findings of recent studies on the construct. Three theoretical models are compared using the structural equations method. The participants were 1081 randomly selected secondary school students (aged 12–18 years) from the north of Spain, who completed the APIK Perceived Social Support Questionnaire. The model positing that perceived social support comprises a hierarchical first level formed by sources of support (family, friends and teachers) and a lower second level derived from the first one, formed by types of support (emotional, material and informational), proved to be the first-choice solution. The results establish a solid theoretical base for both future studies on perceived social support during adolescence and possible educational interventions designed to improve social support for teenagers.

High nutrient discharge from groundwater (GW) into surface water (SW) have multiple undesirable effects on river water quality. With the aim to estimate the impact of anthropic pressures and river–aquifer interactions on nitrate status in SW, this study integrates two hydrological simulation and water quality models. PATRICAL models SW–GW interactions and RREA models streamflow changes due to human activity. The models were applied to the Júcar River Basin District (RBD), where 33% of the aquifers have a concentration above 50 mg NO3−/L. As a result, there is a direct linear correlation between the nitrate concentration in rivers and aquifers (Júcar r2 = 0.9, and Turia r2 = 0.8), since in these Mediterranean basins, the main amount of river flows comes from groundwater discharge. The concentration of nitrates in rivers and GW tends to increase downstream of the district, where artificial surfaces and agriculture are concentrated. The total NO3− load to Júcar RBD rivers was estimated at 10,202 tN/year (239 kg/km2/year), from which 99% is generated by diffuse pollution, and 3378 tN/year (79 kg/km2/year) is discharged into the Mediterranean Sea. Changes in nitrate concentration in the RBD rivers are strongly related to the source of irrigation water, river–aquifer interactions, and flow regulation. The models used in this paper allow the identification of pollution sources, the forecasting of nitrate concentration in surface and groundwater, and the evaluation of the efficiency of measures to prevent water degradation, among other applications.

The assessment of the ‘quality’ of built heritage is a complex transdisciplinary issue, which both public administrations and real estate developers need to carefully consider when making any interventions. Recent international climate regulations underline that currently around 75% of buildings in the EU are not energy efficient. In Italy, those inefficient buildings are more than 50 years old and, if subjected to retrofit interventions, risk being totally transformed and losing their historical value in favor of a more contemporary use. This work aimed to study the residential heritage of the second half of the 20th century in the real estate market and to understand if, how, and in what measure the building and architectonical qualities are recognized and monetized by buyers. The city of Turin was chosen as a study area, and residential building qualities were analyzed using two quality indicators to perform a GWR on market POIs. The results highlighted that housing historical qualities are not homogeneously recognized by the real estate market, in favor of green ones. This work can help both public and private bodies to identify which ‘invisible’ quality residential buildings are immediately exploitable for enhancement strategies, with more respectful retrofitting interventions and a modern protection policy.

The problem of acid gas exhaust emissions treatment has not been fully resolved at present. Dry adsorption of acid gases with alkaline sorbents is currently being investigated, to improve solid sorbents. In this study, 5 types of hydrated lime were characterised and tested. The sorption capacities were measured by means of a system consisting of a feed line (HCl/N2), a thermostatic reactor and a water absorber. The physical characteristics of sorbent samples were also compared. Analyses conducted with scanning electronic microscopy revealed that sample C1 showed uniform particle distribution. Samples C2 and C3 showed the co-presence of fine and coarse particles. Sample C4 showed very fine particles with agglomeration phenomena. In sample C5, fibrous elements were found. Energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) analyses showed a similar composition of the samples, with the exception of the presence of Mg in some of them. After 30 min of testing, the following differences in sorption capacities with respect to C1 (3.59 mg g−1) were found: C2, −20%; C3, −13%; C4, −17%; C5, −3%. Higher sorption capacities were associated with more uniform particle size distributions. Conversely, agglomeration of fine particles may have adversely affected the performance of sorbents.