With the supply/demand balance moving in favor of miners, the outlook for uranium stocks is the brightest it has been in years, according to McAlinden Research Partners.

A new assessment tool has been developed to evaluate the sustainability initiatives of government departments. On its first application, in the UK???s Department of Work and Pensions, it identified a good mix of practice alongside areas for improvement. The authors suggest that this method could be used elsewhere to assess how well an organisation is embedding the principles of sustainable development into all aspects of its business.

Adopting the Green Economy approach will reap greater environmental, social and economic benefits, compared with a society that focuses on economic growth as the measure for future development, according to a recent UN report. Using two per cent of global GDP to ???green??? key sectors could be enough to trigger the transition towards a green economy.

Populations of organisms that live on the bottom of an aquatic ecosystem, the benthic community, can be assessed to determine the health of the ecosystem. New research explores the many existing methods for assessing benthic communities to ensure that the most appropriate and useful tests are used under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Science for Environment Policy are very pleased to announce the launch of a new series of policy briefs. Entitled 'Future Briefs', these will explore emerging areas of research with implications for environmental policy.'Plastic Waste: redesign and biodegradability' is the first Future Brief, which will be published week commencing 27 June. Future Briefs will be available to download free from our website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/index_en.htm

A recent study suggests that a single integrative assessment of marine fisheries can be used to monitor progress against several different marine environmental policies. It used a relative ecological risk model to demonstrate how closing marine protected sites to trawlers and reducing trawling to maximum sustainable yield (MSY) levels would allow fisheries to meet the ecological objectives of both the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Habitats Directive.

A new study indicates that water management in the Netherlands uses a reliable warning system for extreme weather, which can incorporate wind and coastal surge level forecasts, as well as precipitation forecasts.

Scientists involved in a pan-European project to develop better methods of risk assessment say maps that show such cumulative risks geographically are easy to interpret and should be considered as practical tools for conveying risk information to decision makers and the general public.

A recent study has assessed the lifecycle environmental impact during the production and use phase of three battery types for plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and full performance battery electric vehicles (BEV). The study indicates that newer lithium-ion (Li-ion) technologies outperform current nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries and identifies processes contributing to 13 environmental impacts

Fragments of crushed rock released into the ocean during oil and gas exploration can physically bury organisms that live on the seafloor, accounting for 55% of offshore drilling???s environmental impact, according to a recent study. To allow more informed marine policy decisions, this physical impact must be recognised alongside the impact of chemicals released in drilling waste.

Stricter management of fisheries is needed to prevent overexploitation and decline of tuna and their mackerel relatives, according to an international study. The researchers say fisheries managers have wrongly treated upper limits for catches as target levels for fishing, contributing to global declines and the threatened status of some species.

A new analysis of how to encourage pro-environmental behaviour highlights four effective techniques: goal-setting, prompts or reminders, witnessing the behaviour of others and introducing new behaviours that correspond with existing beliefs.

A new tool has been developed, with input from the public, to measure and compare the quality of green spaces in urban areas. A UK case study suggests that litter and vandalism are among the factors most likely to prevent local residents from using and benefiting from green spaces.

A new German study suggests that residents??? level of satisfaction with their urban neighbourhood can be predicted from their perceptions of multiple and co-occurring burdens, such as poor air quality, lack of green space, noise and low cleanliness.

The last two decades have seen a series of new construction waste policies management in Hong Kong. One of the most significant is an offsite construction waste sorting (CWS) programme which, since its implementation in 2006, has separated 5.11 million tonnes of construction waste into different materials. The researchers suggest that the study provides an important reference for other countries working to minimise construction waste.

Citizen science is not only a tool for collecting valuable scientific data, it can also enable participants to reconnect with nature and encourage pro-conservation behaviour, new research has shown. Participants in a French butterfly monitoring programme reported making wildlife-friendly changes to their gardens as a result of taking part in the initiative.

A recent study compared the decentralised treatment of pharmaceutical contaminants in wastewater at hospitals with centralised treatment at conventional and upgraded wastewater plants. The results suggest that additional (post) treatments may not always provide significant benefits.

A new tool to improve the measurement of waste management performance has been presented by a recent study. The researchers applied it to three high consuming cities aspiring to ???zero waste???, finding San Francisco to be closer to achieving zero waste than Stockholm and Adelaide, due to its emphasis on reusing solid waste.

A recent study has revealed how water use has changed across the world over the last 60 years. Growing populations and economic development, particularly in newly-emerging countries, have increased water demand, but technological developments have led to water efficiencies and savings, which moderate these demands.

A recent study has investigated how waste disposal sites in southern Italy have affected residents living nearby. Villagers reported being annoyed by odours, but the perceptions of residents living in the village closest to the facilities were possibly influenced by receiving financial compensation for the presence of the facilities.

International agreements to reduce plastic use are needed to address plastic litter in the marine environment, as well as increased public awareness of the problem, according to scientists at a workshop on the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive held in Italy in 2013. The issues discussed at the workshop have been summarised in a recent research paper.

Damage caused by boats anchoring in seagrass meadows off the coast of Sardinia continues despite restrictions, new research shows. The study's authors provide a number of recommendations to help protect seagrass. These include creating special anchoring areas in seagrass-free locations, and limiting the number of boats that enter a marine protected area.

The global production, trade and use of goods and services has a significant impact on the environment — and rates of consumption are rising. A new study combines two assessment methods to quantify the impact of European trade on the environment. It finds that, overall, the EU was a net importer of environmental impact from 2000 to 2010, that machinery, equipment and vehicles contributed most to the EU’s export impacts and that the EU’s trade balance (import impact minus export impact) is increasing over time. The two assessment methods complement one another well and could form the basis for future country or region-wide studies, suggest the researchers, by enabling a detailed analysis of individual steps within a product’s trade flow, while also providing a larger picture of the overall process.

In 1989, researchers dragged a plough harrow across the seafloor of the Peru Basin to recreate some of the effects of deep-sea mining. Twenty-six years later, a new team of researchers returned to the site to assess whether there were any long-term ecological effects. They found that the seabed ecosystem remained disrupted, with significantly fewer suspension feeder species, such as anemones and sea sponges, than in undisturbed areas of seafloor. This suggests that deep-sea mining could cause irreversible changes to marine food webs in highly disturbed areas.

As 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), begins to replace conventional manufacturing, the environmental impacts of its implementation must be assessed. This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental and resource implications of using AM to manufacture the metal parts of an engine in a light distribution truck. In the LCA, the impacts of both present and possible future states of AM technology were compared with current conventional manufacturing. The results suggest that there are potential environmental and resource benefits1 to AM technologies, but that these benefits rely on the achievement of a clean energy source and further technological development.

Approximately 88 megatonnes (Mt) of food are wasted every year in the European Union, causing 186 metric tons (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) — a universal measure for all greenhouse gases. The impact of food waste on the climate, acidification and eutrophication is around 15–16% of the environmental impact of the entire food chain. In developed countries, food waste is high at the point of consumption— so significantly reducing food losses would require a food-waste reduction in households and the food-services sector.

Improved public communications and standardised collection systems can greatly increase uptake of safe and sustainable waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) disposal and recycling. This is according to new insights from Italy and Romania, where WEEE collection rates have risen in response to these measures.

A new tool to improve the measurement of waste management performance has been presented by a recent study. The researchers applied it to three high consuming cities aspiring to ‘zero waste’, finding San Francisco to be closer to achieving zero waste than Stockholm and Adelaide, due to its emphasis on reusing solid waste.

New research has compared the environmental impact of four alternative methods of water supply in Copenhagen. Results indicated that rain and stormwater harvesting is the most environmentally sound approach, whilst desalination currently has a large environmental impact, mainly due to electricity use. However, if freshwater extraction is included as an impact, the environmental credibility of desalination is improved.

Increasing resource efficiency is a central aim of European environmental policy, and effective waste management must play a key role in this. A new report assesses waste management in 32 European countries, and identifies key lessons. Landfill taxes and mandatory separate collections of different waste types are highlighted as particularly successful policy instruments.

As the development of nanomaterials increases, a recent study recommends combining life cycle analysis and risk assessment to improve our understanding of the potential environmental and human health impacts of products containing nanomaterials.

A recent study has compared the environmental impact of a range of building materials. Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and water demand can all be reduced by switching to renewable sources of energy, improving technologies and promoting eco-friendly alternative materials.

A recent study has concluded that the green infrastructure concept has been successful in integrating green space policy with economic development policies in the north-west region of the UK, by emphasising the links between the economic benefits of green spaces and growth policies.

Environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviour do not necessarily translate into real benefits for the environment, according to the results of a new study. The study shows that people who think they are environmentally aware – and even those who, in some respects, seem to behave in an environmentally friendly way – actually have just as large an impact on the environment as other consumers.

New research has assessed the environmental impact of gold production using life cycle assessment and estimated embodied energy and greenhouse gases, embodied water and solid waste burden that each tonne of gold produces, using various processes.

The EU Joint Research Centre has produced a new part of the handbook that provides guidelines for developing and using Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), which evaluate the environmental impacts of products, focusing specifically on life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). It recommends that assessments should be comprehensive, accessible and easy to apply in order to make LCA a more mainstream concept in decision-making.

Using high-strength concrete in construction could help to reduce its impact on the environment, according to a study by French researchers. The researchers compared the environmental impacts of bridges built from ordinary and high-strength concrete and found that the high-strength solution had a lower impact on the environment overall.

A new study indicates that ‘commitment’ interventions are effective in encouraging environmentally-friendly behaviour, both in the short- and long-term. However, to increase the effectiveness of such interventions, whereby people promise or pledge to perform certain behaviours, more research is needed on the psychological processes behind their effects.

There is a wide range of systems for assessing and communicating the sustainability of buildings, but the variation can be confusing. Recent research has analysed the elements needed for effective assessment and examined the needs of stakeholders to inform the presentation and communication of assessment results.

‘Payment for ecosystem services’ (PES) has become a commonly used term in recent years, yet the concept is not well defined. A new study reviewing PES theory, concepts and practice from around the world provides a valuable overview, concluding that more can be done to share learning.

A new concrete-reinforcement system, used by the LIFE INSU-SHELL1 project, replaces steel rods with non-corrosive textile structures to reduce the amount of concrete needed in construction. This nearly halves the global warming potential of traditional steel-reinforced concrete which is the largest producer of CO2 emissions in the building industry.

Staff in buildings that have been certified as ‘green’ under the LEED scheme are just as satisfied with their indoor working environment as people working in non-LEED buildings, according to research on commercial buildings. The study suggests that investment in the thermal and acoustic aspects of buildings, however, would further improve occupant satisfaction.

A new study finds that a quarter of fish products labelled as ‘cod’ or ‘haddock’ in Dublin, Ireland, are in fact completely different species of fish. This indicates that fish consumers are being misled by inaccurate labels, which could compromise sustainable fishing and consumption efforts.

According to new research, improved communications and financial assistance could encourage private forest owners to engage more willingly in forest management. Personal economics, moral obligations, traditional ideas of how a forest should look and fear of forest fires were found to influence whether forest owners participate in management activities.

A review of the community-led research programme Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) – a UK national programme that brings scientists and communities together to investigate environmental issues – concludes that it benefits both science and the public. The public’s involvement not only raises their awareness of their relationship with the environment, but also contributes to securing a sustainable future.

Researchers have used the psychological concept of ‘commitment’, normally used to understand relationships between people, to investigate our relationship with the environment. The results indicate that an individual’s commitment to the environment is important in their ecological behaviour, for example, their willingness to use public transport and make sacrifices for the environment.

People who are committed to reducing their environmental impact at home do not necessarily behave in the same way when on holiday, according to a new study. The study presents a more complex view of consumer environmental behaviour than is often used to inform policymaking.

Standardised methods of categorising environmental data are needed at European and international levels for effective international policies. A recent study has concluded that a European framework that harmonises environmental data at the continental scale corresponds well with national classification systems, although some modifications may be needed to capture small-scale regional variations.