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Journal of Environmental Management

The Journal of Environmental Management is a peer reviewed journal for the publication of original research related to managing environmental systems and improving environmental quality. All papers submitted to the journal must show a distinctive link with environmental management applications. Specific area of interest for the journal include:

• Development of technologies intended for applications to environmental ecosystems (water, air, soil)
• Natural resource management
• Ecological applications or conservation
• Management and valorisation of waste (including industrial residues and effluents)
• Development of methods for environmental quality management (new procedures, characterization techniques, monitoring methods, governing standards, etc.)
• Environmental system modelling and optimization
• Environmental analysis and assessment (environmental impact assessment, risk assessment, life cycle analysis, material flow analysis, life cycle costing, emission accounting, etc.)
• Social, economic and policy aspects of environmental management

Case studies are welcome when the authors indicate the wider applications of their insights or techniques, emphasizing the global perspective of the problem they address.

As governments and the general public become more keenly aware of the critical issues arising from how humans use their environment, this journal provides a forum for the discussion of environmental problems around the world and for the presentation of management results. It is aimed not only at the environmental manager, but at anyone concerned with the sustainable use of environmental resources.

The journal does not accept manuscripts exclusively focused on any of the following aspects:

• Simulations/modelling when predominantly oriented to mathematical issues
• Reactions/process studies when predominantly oriented to chemistry issues without an environmental viewpoint
• Products/waste recycling research when broad environmental management aspects are not properly accounted
• Materials synthesis without clear environmental management applications

Authors will be asked to provide a novelty and relevance statement indicating how the results are deemed to be original with respect to the state-of-the-art in the field, relevant and essential to the advance of knowledge on environmental management and applicable to a wider audience and wider contexts.

Records in our library from this publisher

Algae application in civil construction: A review with focus on the potential uses of the pelagic Sargassum spp. biomass

2022
Journal Article

Pelagic Sargassum, usually found at the Sargasso Sea and the Western portion of the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, has been detected in many new locations through the tropical Atlantic. The huge biomass found from the African coast to the Caribbean was called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt and is responsible for the stranding of tons of algae on coastal regions. Despite the environmental, social, and economic impacts, sargassum is a valuable source for multiple uses at the industry, such as alginates, cosmetics, recycled paper and bioplastics, fertilizers, and as raw material for civil construction. This work presents a systematic literature review on the use of algae at the civil construction sector, with a focus on the valorization of the pelagic Sargassum spp. biomass, by identifying the potential applications related to the use of other algal species. The review considered other genera of marine algae and marine angiosperms, resulting in a total of 31 selected articles. The marine grass Posidonia oceanica was the most used species, found in eight published papers, followed by the red alga Kappaphycus alvarezii with four studies. Two articles were available on the use of pelagic Sargassum spp. (S. fluitans and S.natans) for construction materials (adobe and pavement), with potential good results. The literature presented results from the use of marine algae and sea grasses for particleboards, polymeric and cemented composites, adobe, pavement, facades, and roofs. This article provides a state-of-the-art review of algal application in the civil construction sector and points out the main directions for the potentialities on the insertion of the Sargassum spp. biomass into the production chain of the sector.

Microplastics in Latin America and the Caribbean: A review on current status and perspectives

2022
Journal Article

A literature review was carried out to analyze the current status of microplastic research in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Specifically, this work focused on publications pertaining to (1) occurrence and distribution of microplastics in the environment, including water, sediments, and soil and (2) the environmental impact of MPs, particularly their presence and effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The review included peer-reviewed articles from Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, Google Scholar and two iberoamerican open access databases (Redalyc and SciELO). It was found that LAC has only contributed to 5% of the global scientific output on microplastics, and overall the highest contributor within the region was Brazil (52%), followed by Chile (16%) and Mexico (13%). An additional section analyzing the barriers to conducting microplastic research in LAC and their exacerbation by the current COVID-19 pandemic was included to provide additional context behind the relatively low scientific production and improve recommendations encouraging research in this region.

Recent developments in Life Cycle Assessment

2009
Journal Article

Life Cycle Assessment is a tool to assess the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product’s life cycle, i.e., from raw material acquisition, via production and use phases, to waste management. The methodological development in LCA has been strong, and LCA is broadly applied in practice. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of recent developments of LCA methods. The focus is on some areas where there has been an intense methodological development during the last years. We also highlight some of the emerging issues. In relation to the Goal and Scope definition we especially discuss the distinction between attributional and consequential LCA. For the Inventory Analysis, this distinction is relevant when discussing system boundaries, data collection, and allocation. Also highlighted are developments concerning databases and Input–Output and hybrid LCA. In the sections on Life Cycle Impact Assessment we discuss the characteristics of the modelling as well as some recent developments for specific impact categories and weighting. In relation to the Interpretation the focus is on uncertainty analysis. Finally, we discuss recent developments in relation to some of the strengths and weaknesses of LCA.
Journal of Environmental Management