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Microplastics are found in marine and freshwater environments; however, their specific sources are not yet well understood. Understanding sources will be of key importance in efforts to reduce emissions into the environment. We examined the emissions of microfibers from domestic washing of a new microfiber polyester fleece textile. Analyzing released fibers collected with a 200 μm filter during 10 mild, successive washing cycles showed that emission initially decreased and then stabilized at approx. 0.0012 wt%. This value is our estimation for the long-term release of fibers during each washing. Use of detergent and softener did not significantly influence emission. Release of fibers during tumble drying was approx. 3.5 times higher than during washing.

As a contribution to the technological innovation-natural resource rent-environment literature, this study examines the technological innovation and natural resource rent in an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) multivariate framework. We employed reliable, robust, and efficient novel panel estimations methods on a sample of 10 newly industrialized countries (NICs) over the periods 1990 and 2018. To achieve our study objective, we employ the method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) approach to analyze the effects of the exogenous variables over the range of diverse quantiles of carbon emissions. Results generated from the MMQR mimic that of the three heterogeneous linear panel estimations (fully modified ordinary least square, the dynamic ordinary least square, and the fixed effects ordinary least square) in terms of the sign and magnitude. The result affirms the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in NICs across all quantiles (0.1–0.95). In addition, technological innovation and renewable energy consumption improve environmental quality in NICs across quantiles (0.1–0.95), while the joint impact of technological and natural resource rent mitigates environmental degradation from lower to higher quantiles (0.1–0.90). Moreover, technological innovation is found to exert an indirect favorable impact on the environment through the pathway of natural resources. Thus, technological innovation can be anticipated to enhance sustainable natural resources exploration in the NICs. In line with these crucial outcomes, this research proposes that the NICs should promote technological innovation, promote sustainable natural resource exploitation, and expedite economic expansion rates via the sustainable transformation of their production and consumption processes.

It is now well established that the oceans contain significant accumulations of plastic debris but only very recently have studies began to look at sources of microplastics (MPs) in river catchments. This work measured MPs up- and downstream of six wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in different catchments with varying characteristics and found that all led to an increase in MPs in rivers. Nevertheless, the data collected indicated that there were other important sources of MPs in the catchments studied and that these may include atmospheric deposition, agricultural land to which sewage sludge has been applied, and diffuse release of secondary MPs following the breakdown of larger plastic items. MPs were comprised mainly of fibres, fragments, and flakes with pellets and beads only dominating at one site. Variation in MP pollution occurred over time and this difference was greater at some sites than others. A key research need is the further study of MP sources in river catchments to facilitate management efforts to reduce their presence in freshwater and marine environments.

The COVID-19 pandemic not only has created a global health crisis but also has dramatic effects on the environment. To fight the spread of Coronavirus, governments imposed social distancing policies, which caused negative and positive impacts on the environment. Victoria, the second-most populated state in Australia, was hit by two waves of COVID-19. During the second wave of the pandemic, Victoria, especially Melbourne, experienced one of the most stringent and longest lockdowns globally. In this study, the changes in mobility trends, traffic, air pollution, noise pollution, and waste generation during the first and second waves of COVID-19 in Victoria are evaluated and compared. It was observed that the pandemic had both positive and negative impacts on the environment. During the second wave of the pandemic in Victoria, the mobility trends of public transport hubs, retail and recreation venues, and workplaces experienced a significant drop in movements at respective values of 85%, 83%, and 76% compared to the period of 5 weeks from 3 January to 6 February 2020. PM 2.5 levels were lower by 23% at Alphington and 24% at Footscray from 16 March to 1 May 2020 compared with the average PM 2.5 levels in the past 4 years. It was estimated that the respective daily generations of used face masks during the first wave and second wave of the pandemic in Victoria were approximately 104 and 160 tons.

As the whole world is witnessing what novel coronavirus (COVID-19) can do to the mankind, it presents several unique features also. In the absence of specific vaccine for COVID-19, it is essential to detect the disease at an early stage and isolate an infected patient. Till today there is a global shortage of testing labs and testing kits for COVID-19. This paper discusses about the role of machine learning techniques for getting important insights like whether lung computed tomography (CT) scan should be the first screening/alternative test for real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction ( RT-PCR ) , is COVID-19 pneumonia different from other viral pneumonia and if yes how to distinguish it using lung CT scan images from the carefully selected data of lung CT scan COVID-19-infected patients from the hospitals of Italy, China, Moscow and India? For training and testing the proposed system, custom vision software of Microsoft azure based on machine learning techniques is used. An overall accuracy of almost 91% is achieved for COVID-19 classification using the proposed methodology.

This study attempts to unveil an additional dimension to economic freedom within the framework of the environmental Kuznet curve (EKC) hypothesis using the panel data for BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) economies over the period 1995–2018. Firstly, the study found that the EKC hypothesis is valid only in the long run for the panel countries. Secondly, we found that economic freedom mimics the pattern of economic output. Thus, when economic freedom is employed in lieu of economic growth, the EKC hypothesis is also validated only in the long run. Importantly, when both economic freedom and output are employed alongside, they produce the same carbon mitigation effect in each of the short-run and long-run periods. Thirdly, the country-specific evidence of the role of economic freedom and output in environmental quality is not less of a U -shaped relationship in the short run. Lastly, the impact of the bloc’s energy mix (coal, natural gas, and oil energy utilization) on environmental quality is undesirable in both the short and long run; only in South Africa natural gas has the potential to mitigate carbon emissions. Overall, the study offers relevant policy measures for attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target to combat climate change and its impacts.

This paper assesses the Environmental Kuznets curve based on quantile behavior of the relationship between economic growth, forest area, agriculture production, renewable energy, and environmental degradation. The current literature generally used a single indicator to address environmental issues; however single indicator neither measures overall environmental conditions nor does specify that the environment issue is generally diminishing. Our study is the first one that used ecological footprint (EF) as an indicator to test environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for Pakistan by employing recent approach of quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) initiated by Cho et al. (J Econ 188(1):281–300, 2015 ). The result of this study validates the EKC hypothesis for Pakistan and shows quantile-dependent relationship, and in that case, using the conventional methods may somewhat lead to biased results. Moreover, the rejection of the null hypothesis of parameter constancy is also confirmed by Wald test. In the long run, the findings of renewable energy consumption and forest area show significant negative effects on ecological footprints, which indicates that by increasing renewable energy usage and forest area, ecological footprints can be minimized. Interestingly, the short-term effects of agricultural production findings on EF show statistically negative results. This illustrates that EF can also be reduced in the agriculture sector by adopting environment-friendly technologies. In order to create efficient policies for environment deterioration, the empirical findings of the current analysis can be used as a guideline for policy implications.

During the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, the important role of plastic becomes evident since vital equipment such as respirators have plastic parts, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE), which avoids the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is made of plastic. So, plastic during a pandemic is considered a life savior in the struggle against the virus. However, the same material that is a protector becomes a polluter when inadequately disposed of in the environment, generating or worsening socio-environmental problems, such as pollution of water bodies by plastic. This work proposes a reflection about the role and the importance of plastic in our society, bringing an overview of its main applications and consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic, correlating its use with aspects related to environmental problems and public health. Some questions revolving around the concerns caused by plastic pollution are posed, and some possible solutions to the problems are outlined.

Plastic pollution has enormous impacts on freshwater and marine ecosystem health, and it is one of the topmost environmental concerns of the current geological period (i.e. the Anthropocene). Thus, the goal of our study was to provide baseline information and bridge the information gap on the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in African freshwater systems, using two tributaries of the Gulf of Guinea (Ogun and Osun Rivers) in Nigeria as a case study and three freshwater insect species of different feeding guilds as bioindicators. A total of 29 individuals of the insect species were chemically digested and subsequently analysed for MP presence under a digital microscope and a micro-Fourier-transform infrared (μFTIR) spectroscope. Collector-gatherers ( Chironomus sp. and Siphlonurus sp.) recorded the highest MP load per gram wet weight, while the predatory Lestes viridis recorded the lowest. The highest diversity of polymers was recorded in Chironomus sp. of Ogun River, i.e. styrene ethylene butylene styrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), chlorinated polyethylene, polypropylene (PP), and polyester, while two polymers each were recorded in Siphlonurus sp. (i.e. polyester and ABS) and L. viridis (i.e. polyester and PP) of Osun River. We conclude that collector-gatherers like Chironomus sp. and Siphlonurus sp. could be best employed as MP bioindicators in freshwater systems. However, their suitability as MP bioindicators should be further investigated in different freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Graphical abstract

This study gives a depiction of what are the general directions taken by international institutions so to tackle the current health emergency and the most pressing environmental issues, such as climate change and COVID-19 (Schaltegger, 2020; Adebayo et al., 2021). The role of companies is crucial under disruptive events, such as a crisis or, more in line with the present time, a pandemic, and the pursue of the shareholder value cannot be the essence and the only objective in doing business anymore, since also ESG (i.e., environmental, social, and governance) dynamics have to be taken in due consideration. Moreover, an adequate and effective corporate governance should lead to higher disclosure quality, which subsequently should help protect the entire planet and ecosystems as well. In this context, the principal role of accounting and corporate reporting activities should be oriented towards making emerge what is and what is not done by companies in their business operations, and the disclosure of financial information is currently deemed inappropriate for pursuing a sustainable growth in the medium and long run (Schaltegger, J Account Org Change 16:613–619, 2020; Kirikkaleli & Adebayo, Sustain Dev 29:583–594, 2020; Tettamanzi, Venturini & Murgolo Wider corporate reporting: La possibile evoluzione della Relazione sulla Gestione Bilancio e Revisione, IPSOA - Wolters Kluwer, Philadelphia, 2021). Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate what international and European institutions have planned to do in order to align corporate objectives with environmental and societal needs in the coming years (Biondi et al., Meditari Account Res 28:889–914, 2020; Songini L et al. Integrated reporting quality and BoD characteristics: an empirical analysis. J Manag Govern, 2021). As of today, our analysis finds that IFRS Foundation (at global level) and EFRAG (at European one) have been taking steps toward the aforementioned issues so to propose disclosure standards more in line with sustainability and environmental needed improvements. In fact, we tried to give a depiction of what are the actual and future strategies that both these institutions are going to put in place: this snapshot will give scientists, engineers, lawyers, and business people an overview of what should be like the corporate world of the near future, from a corporate reporting/accounting perspective (so to better understand what will be expected from companies of all the industries worldwide).