| Abstract | Society is constantly striving to achieve a high enough level of protection for human health and the environment, including animal and plant health (COM, 2000). In most cases, policies making it possible to achieve this high level of protection can be determined on a satisfactory and acceptable scientific and technical basis. However, when there are reasonable causes for concern that potential hazards may directly or indirectly affect ecosystems and, at the same time, the scientific information is insufficient, inconclusive, or uncertain, the precautionary principle has been politically accepted as a risk management strategy in the EU and USA (Silva and Jenkins-Smith, 2007). The precautionary principle is now manifesting as the founding rule of the "law of uncertain science" (Rosario, 2020): uncertainty, relativization and the intrinsic nature of scientific acquisitions, combined with the incessant (and even sometimes "out of control") evolution of technologies, has led to an increase in the instances in which the application of the precautionary principle is seen as the only solution to analyze the problem. At the international level, the precautionary principle is recognized and enshrined in a number of legal acts, including the Rio Declaration, the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Climate Convention (UNFCCC) (Lavrik, 2022). At the EU level, the importance of applying the precautionary principle is also emphasized to uphold a high level of environmental protection (Art. 191 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU), and the principle is explicitly expressed in most of the environmental Directives. Guidance as to when, i.e., in what situations, the precautionary principle is applicable is provided by the European Commission: "Recourse to the precautionary principle presupposes that potentially dangerous effects deriving from a phenomenon, product or process have been identified, and that scientific evaluation does not allow the risk to be determined with scientific certainty" (COM, 2000). In the current column, the precautionary principle is analyzed in relation to the very "hot topic" of the management of sewage sludge. |
| Text | 468918 2022 10.31025/2611 4135/2022.15202 sewage sludge management Sludge Directive WWTPs emerging contaminants The role of the precautionary principle in the agricultural reuse of sewage sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants Pivato A, Beggio G, Bonato T, Butti L, Cavani L, Ciavatta C, Di Maria F, Ferrara R, Grenni P, Johansson O, Maggi L, Mazzi A, Peng W, Peres F, Pettersson M, Schievano A, Varghese G Alberto Pivato, Giovanni Beggio Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, via Marzolo 9, 35131, Padova, Italy Tiziano Bonato Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics DAIS , Ca Foscari University of Venice, via Torino 155, 30172 Luciano Butti Butti and Partners, Italy Luciano Cavani, Claudio Ciavatta, Federico Peres Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy Francesco Di Maria Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Universita di Perugia, via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy Rosario Ferrara, Department of Law, University of Turin, Italy Paola Grenni National Research Council, Water Research Institute CNR IRSA , Italy Oskar Johansson, Maria Pettersson Department of Business Administration, Technology, Art and Social Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden Lorenzo Maggi Chemservice S.r.l. Lab Analysis Group, via F.lli Beltrami, 15, 20026 Novate Milanese, Milan, Italy Anna Mazzi Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy Wei Peng Institute of Waste Treatment and Reclamation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, PR China Andrea Schievano University of Milan, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy George Varghese National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India Society is constantly striving to achieve a high enough level of protection for human health and the environment, including animal and plant health COM, 2000 . In most cases, policies making it possible to achieve this high level of protection can be determined on a satisfactory and acceptable scientific and technical basis. However, when there are reasonable causes for concern that potential hazards may directly or indirectly affect ecosystems and, at the same time, the scientific information is insufficient, inconclusive, or uncertain, the precautionary principle has been politically accepted as a risk management strategy in the EU and USA Silva and Jenkins Smith, 2007 . The precautionary principle is now manifesting as the founding rule of the law of uncertain science Rosario, 2020 uncertainty, relativization and the intrinsic nature of scientific acquisitions, combined with the incessant and even sometimes out of control evolution of technologies, has led to an increase in the instances in which the application of the precautionary principle is seen as the only solution to analyze the problem. At the international level, the precautionary principle is recognized and enshrined in a number of legal acts, including the Rio Declaration, the Convention of Biological Diversity CBD , and the Climate Convention UNFCCC Lavrik, 2022 . At the EU level, the importance of applying the precautionary principle is also emphasized to uphold a high level of environmental protection Art. 191 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU , and the principle is explicitly expressed in most of the environmental Directives. Guidance as to when, i.e., in what situations, the precautionary principle is applicable is provided by the European Commission Recourse to the precautionary principle presupposes that potentially dangerous effects deriving from a phenomenon, product or process have been identified, and that scientific evaluation does not allow the risk to be determined with scientific certainty COM, 2000 . In the current column, the precautionary principle is analyzed in relation to the very hot topic of the management of sewage sludge. 19 Published version https //digital.detritusjournal.com/articles/environmental forensic/1481 articolo pubblicato DETRITUS 19 2022_pages V XII_Environmental Forensic.pdf Articolo in rivista CISA PUBLISHER an imprint of EUROWASTE Srl 2611 4135 DETRITUS Multidisciplinary journal for Waste Resources and Residues DETRITUS Multidisciplinary journal for Waste Resources and Residues paola.grenni GRENNI PAOLA |
