To spread or not to spread? Assessing the suitability of sewage sludge and other biogenic wastes for agriculture reuse.

Sewage sludge (biosolids) management represents a worldwide issue. Due to its valuable properties, approximately one half of the EU production is recovered in agriculture. Nevertheless, growing attention is given to potential negative effects deriving from the presence of harmful pollutants. It is recognized that a (even very detailed) chemical characterization is not able to predict ecotoxicity of a mixture. However, this can be directly measured by bioassays. Actually, the choice of the most suitable tests is still under debate. This paper presents a multilevel characterization protocol of sewage sludge and other organic residues, based on bioassays and chemical-physical-microbiological analyses. The detailed description of the experimental procedure includes all the involved steps: the criteria for selecting the organic matrices to be tested and compared; the sample pre-treatment required before the analyses execution; the chemical, physical and microbiological characterisation; the bioassays, grouped in three classes (baseline toxicity; specific mode of action; reactive mode of action); data processing. The novelty of this paper lies in the integrated use of advanced tools, and is based on three pillars:•the direct ecosafety assessment of the matrices to be reused.•the adoption of innovative bioassays and analytical procedures.•the original criteria for data normalization and processing.

Innovations for Reducing Methane Emissions in Livestock toward a Sustainable System: Analysis of Feed Additive Patents in Ruminants.

An important challenge for livestock systems is the mitigation of environmental impacts while ensuring food security, and feed additives are considered as one of the most promising mitigation strategies. This study analyzed the innovation landscape of feed additives to reduce methane emissions in ruminants. The analysis is based on patent data to evaluate the development, scientific importance, and market-level impact of the innovations in this field. The results reveal that the EU is on the innovation frontier, with substantial and quality patent production. The innovation field is dominated by private players, characterized by high specificity in the R&D pipeline. Additives derived from plant or botanical extracts, together with 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), represent the emerging innovations, indicating a clear orientation toward more sustainable livestock systems. Despite the regulatory and semantic limitations related to the use of patent databases, data reveal a growing innovation activity at global level, which could lead to macroeconomic benefits for the entire livestock sector.