Efficiency of a pilot scheme for the separate collection of the biowaste from municipal solid waste in Spain

According to EU regulations, member states shall take measures to encourage the recycling of biowaste in a way that fulfils a high level of environmental protection. In Spain, the separate collection of biowaste is only implemented in some regions. For this reason, a pilot scheme based on an information campaign and the location of a specific brown container for biowaste in specific zones of the city was carried out in Castelló de la Plana (Spain) over a period of six months. In this period, the collection and composition of the biowaste was monitored in depth with the goal of determining the evolution of the efficiency of the new collection system over time. In the zones, the quality rate in the biowaste container increased as the pilot study progressed, finally reaching 90%. The rate of biowaste separation also increased in the three zones over time, although in different ways, which means that there is greater collaboration on the part of citizens. On the other hand, an analysis of the rate of net biowaste daily collection from zones 2 and 3 has shown that their value increases as the rate of containerization of biowaste decreases. Therefore, to obtain better results it will be necessary to increase the containerization of biowaste, that is, to reduce the distance from the citizen to the container. It can thus be said that there is a positive evolution of the experience, which boosts confidence when it comes to implementing the system throughout the city.

Investing in the future

The Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot Scheme is a joint project from the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Commission (EC) aimed at supporting training and development investment for employees. Through improving access to finance for small and medium businesses in search of funding to invest in education and upskilling, this €50 million pilot scheme is expected to benefit around 1.5 million businesses. The initiative launched in 2020 and, beyond this, aims to become a mainstream financial instrument across Europe within the 2021-2027 EU financial framework.

Methodological Aspects for the Implementation of the Air Pesticide Control and Surveillance Network (PESTNet) of the Valencian Region (Spain)

A large amount of pesticide, applied mainly during agricultural practice, is released into the atmosphere, decreasing air quality and potentially causing public health problems. The Valencian region, after Andalusia, is the Spanish region with the highest consumption of pesticides owing to its large areas of agricultural land and the existence of crops that require intensive use of pesticides. In this work, we describe the sampling and analytical tools developed in the last decade and their transference to the Regional Department for Environment, where the main objective of the research was the creation and implementation of an Air pesticide control and surveillance network (PESTNet) in the Valencian region in Spain. To be able to confirm that the established strategies were appropriate, a pilot scheme comprising three different sampling stations (two rural and one urban) was developed and implemented in 2020. The results showed that as many as 30 pesticides were detected in the three sampling stations, with the frequency detection ranging from 6% (beta-endosulfan, chlorpropham, endosulfan-sulfate, kresoxim-m, prochloraz) to 100% (azoxystrobin, chlorpyrifos-m, metalaxyl-M). On the other hand, the concentrations of the pesticides found oscillated between 14.4 (boscalid) and 4373.0 pg m−3 (chlorpyrifos-m). Moreover, a risk assessment was carried out, and no risks were observed for the studied population (infants, children, and adults) in the evaluated stations.

Investing in the future

The Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot Scheme is a joint project from the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Commission (EC) aimed at supporting training and development investment for employees. Through improving access to finance for small and medium businesses in search of funding to invest in education and upskilling, this €50 million pilot scheme is expected to benefit around 1.5 million businesses. The initiative launched in 2020 and, beyond this, aims to become a mainstream financial instrument across Europe within the 2021-2027 EU financial framework.

Policing mental illness: Police use of section 136 – Perspectives from police and mental-health nurses

Ideological shifts in mental health-care policy such as deinstitutionalisation have meant police have had to make decisions about the care of persons with a mental-health crisis. This study examines how police in five English counties respond to crisis calls when employing the powers afforded in section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, and the effectiveness of the national Street Triage pilot scheme. Qualitative interviews with 30 police officers and mental-health nurses (MHN) were collected as data sources. The analysis shows that police have previously struggled with the significant number of crisis calls, whilst also finding mental-health services inadequately sourced, leading to some detentions in police cells as alternatives to health-based places of safety. However, the scheme has made positive changes in alleviating these issues when MHN are co-located with police, highlighting the need to strengthen their partnership by facilitating the sharing of information, responsibilities and decision making in order to ensure police cells continue to be avoided as alternative places of safety.