Environmental Sustainability Considerations Research Articles

Environmental sustainability: An exploratory study of the perceived knowledge, attitudes, and skills of occupational therapists practicing in Australia.

The threat of climate change to the health and wellbeing of the Australian population is well documented. Literature is emerging to support the role of occupational therapy in environmental sustainability. To date, the perspectives of occupational therapists practicing in Australia are yet to be explored. This study aimed to explore these perspectives, specifically occupational therapists' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding environmental sustainability. A mixed methods study using a cross-sectional survey design and convergence model was undertaken. A survey was developed using closed- and open-ended questions drawn from the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Guiding Principles for Sustainability. The online survey remained open from March to September 2021. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and inductive content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Merged integration was used to identify convergence and divergence between data sets and enable conclusions to be drawn. Responses were received from 37 participants. For occupational therapists practicing in Australia there appeared to be an incongruence between the importance of environmental sustainability in daily life compared to professional practice. In professional practice, there are several perceived barriers that are outside of the locus of control of the therapist. Therapists are motivated to engage in this concept but are unsure how to do so. Findings provide an initial understanding about environmental sustainability from the current perspectives of occupational therapists practicing in Australia. More structured guidance is required to integrate environmental sustainability considerations into professional practice. Future research should focus on developing a more in-depth understanding of the concepts preliminarily explored in this study.

Belly Up: How Corporate Interests Are Keeping an Unsustainable Tasmanian Aquaculture Afloat and Failing to Protect the Welfare of the Nonhuman Animals Affected

AbstractThe Tasmanian salmon industry has become one of the state's most profitable industries to date. Though production conditions notoriously lack transparency, there is a clear dependency on the mass production of complex nonhuman animals who are kept in inappropriate conditions and subject to harmful industry practices. This article explores why the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Agency recently approved the construction of the largest salmon hatchery in Australia, despite serious environmental sustainability and welfare concerns. It considers the likely impact of the new hatchery on the welfare of both the farmed nonhuman animals and the surrounding free-ranging life and advocates for industry improvements that are guided by considerations of nonhuman animal welfare and environmental sustainability.

A value-based approach to the adoption of cryptocurrencies

The use of cryptocurrencies offers attractive business opportunities, in the context of financial services, smart contracts and token-based business models. The objective of this study is to provide a value-based understanding of what drives people to use cryptocurrencies for value exchange. Based on the users’ perceived value of the technology, as logic of decision making, we explore the role of perceived financial value and the perceived emotional value in the intention to use the technology. The unified technology adoption theory provides the potential drivers of these value concepts, which are extended accounting for sustainability. Furthermore, to capture users’ evolving experience with blockchain technologies, we propose the concept of the cryptocurrency knowledge path, capturing the scope and depth of users’ knowledge on the applicability of cryptocurrencies, as potential influence on the value concepts in the decision to actively use cryptocurrencies. For the analysis, a structural model is set up and estimated using partial least square analysis (PLS-SEM). We identify a positive effect of both value concepts, financial and emotional value, on the intention to use cryptocurrencies. However, interestingly, we find that the emotional value assessment is fully mediated through the knowledge path. Furthermore, we find that environmental sustainability considerations are fully mediated through either of the two value concepts. These results provide guidance for a customer-centric, sustainable design and marketing of crypto-projects.

A Systematic Literature Review on Local Sustainability Assessment Processes for Infrastructure Development Projects in Africa

Reviews on sustainability assessment research have shown that Africa is lagging in this research area. As a result, few African countries have local sustainability assessment processes for infrastructure development. Considering the vital role of infrastructure to Africa’s development, the identification of only a few countries with local sustainability assessment processes raises questions on the overall state of sustainability assessment in the continent. To date, there is no study that gives a definite account of which African countries have local sustainability assessment processes for infrastructure. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review to identify and analyze local sustainability assessment process for infrastructure development in an African country. Using PRISMA to guide the review process, the study showed that six processes have been created for infrastructure development in Africa. The African countries with these processes are Egypt (three), Nigeria (one), Malawi and Kenya (one) and South Africa (one). The results showed that the sustainability assessment process correspond to most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets with social and economic considerations taking the lead in the processes created for energy and transport infrastructure development projects, whereas the sustainability assessment processes created for water supply, waste and communications infrastructure development projects have a balance of social, economic and environmental sustainability considerations. The review has revealed a need to create energy, transport and water supply infrastructure sustainability assessment processes that address current sustainability concerns such as climate change, social justice, equity, fairness and equality.

Ultra-processed foods: a fit-for-purpose concept for nutrition policy activities to tackle unhealthy and unsustainable diets.

Modern nutrition science began approximately 100 years ago in the context of nutrient deficiency diseases. Nutrition research and policy activities were framed mostly within a reductionist paradigm in which foods were analysed as being a collection of their constituent nutrients. Today,nutrition problems extend to all forms of malnutrition as well as environmental sustainability considerations and are associated with food and dietary pattern exposures. In 2009, researchers investigating the nutrition transition in Brazil proposed that industrial food processing was a key determinant of nutrition problems. The NOVA food classification system which is based on the nature, extent and purposes of food processing was developed to operationalise this proposition. The ultra-processed food (UPF) concept within NOVA is receiving much attention in relation to nutrition research and policy activities. This commentary describes the UPF concept as being fit-for-purpose in providing guidance to inform policy activities to tackle unhealthy and unsustainable diets. There is now a substantial body of evidence linking UPF exposure with adverse population and planetary health outcomes. The UPF concept is increasingly being used in the development of food-based dietary guidelines and nutrition policy actions. It challenges many conventional nutrition research and policy activities as well as the political economy of the industrial food system. Inevitably, there are politicised debates associated with UPF and it is apparent a disproportionate number of articles claiming the concept is controversial originate from a small number of researchers with declared associations with UPF manufacturers. Prominent examples of these claims are assessed.

Ultra-processed foods: a fit-for-purpose concept for nutrition policy activities to tackle unhealthy and unsustainable diets.

Modern nutrition science began approximately 100 years ago in the context of nutrient deficiency diseases. Nutrition research and policy activities were framed mostly within a reductionist paradigm in which foods were analysed as being a collection of their constituent nutrients. Today, nutrition problems extend to all forms of malnutrition as well as environmental sustainability considerations and are associated with food and dietary pattern exposures. In 2009, researchers investigating the nutrition transition in Brazil proposed that industrial food processing was a key determinant of nutrition problems. The NOVA food classification system which is based on the nature, extent and purposes of food processing was developed to operationalise this proposition. The ultra-processed food (UPF) concept within NOVA is receiving much attention in relation to nutrition research and policy activities. This commentary describes the UPF concept as being fit-for-purpose in providing guidance to inform policy activities to tackle unhealthy and unsustainable diets. There is now a substantial body of evidence linking UPF exposure with adverse population and planetary health outcomes. The UPF concept is increasingly being used in the development of food-based dietary guidelines and nutrition policy actions. It challenges many conventional nutrition research and policy activities as well as the political economy of the industrial food system. Inevitably, there are politicised debates associated with UPF and it is apparent a disproportionate number of articles claiming the concept is controversial originate from a small number of researchers with declared associations with UPF manufacturers. Prominent examples of these claims are assessed.

Innovation in Healthy and Sustainable Food Product Development for Health and Aged Care: A Scoping Review.

Population ageing and climate change are issues of global concern. Subsequently, the need for healthy and sustainable food systems to meet the increasing demands for health and aged care is evident. This review aimed to systematically identify studies reporting new or innovative foods, drinks and snack products in health and aged care, and describe health and environmental sustainability considerations where reported. Methods were guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for scoping reviews and reported against the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Eligible studies were conducted in an inpatient healthcare setting or aged care facility where a new or innovative food, drink or snack product was evaluated with outcomes of product use, acceptability, cost, appropriateness for the population, and clinical or environmental sustainability outcomes in the last decade. Three databases were searched using a replicable strategy, with five publications of four studies included in the final library. Product innovations were led at the facility level and included testing dewaxed brown rice, talbinah, and an apple/pear juice fibre solution. Results suggest that food industry suppliers are operating in parallel with foodservices within hospital and aged care. Future intersection would be transformative for both industry sectors.

Health and environmental impacts of plant-rich dietary patterns: a US prospective cohort study

Diets that are rich in animal-based foods threaten planetary and human health, but plant-rich diets have varied health and environmental effects. We aimed to characterise a healthy dietary index and three plant-based indices by their environmental impacts and associations with risk of cardiovascular disease. In this prospective cohort study, we used data from a food-frequency questionnaire in the US-based Nurses' Health Study II. Participants were categorised by quintiles of four dietary indices, including the alternative healthy eating index-2010 (AHEI), plant-based diet index (PDI), unhealthy PDI, and healthy PDI. We calculated environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions and irrigation water, nitrogenous fertiliser, and high-quality cropland needs), and relative risks (RRs) of cardiovascular disease from 1991-2017, comparing quintiles. We included 90 884 participants in the health-impact analysis and 65 625 participants in the environmental-impact analysis. Comparing the top and bottom quintiles, higher AHEI scores were associated with a decreased cardiovascular disease risk (relative risk 0·77 [95% CI 0·66-0·89]); 30% lower greenhouse gas emissions (Q5 2·6 kg CO₂ equivalent vs Q1 3·7 kg CO₂ equivalent); and lower fertiliser, cropland, and water needs (all p_trends<0·0001). Similarly, the highest healthy PDI and PDI quintiles were associated with a decreased cardiovascular disease risk (healthy PDI 0·71 [0·60-0·83] and PDI 0·74 [0·63-0·85]) and lower environmental impacts (PDI water needs p_trend=0·0014; all other p_trends<0·0001). Conversely, the highest unhealthy PDI quintile had a higher cardiovascular disease risk compared with the lowest unhealthy PDI quintile (1·15 [1·00-1·33]; p_trend=0·023) and required more cropland (p_trend<0·0001) and fertiliser (p_trend=0·0008). Dietary patterns that are associated with better health had lower greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogenous fertiliser, cropland, and irrigation water needs. Not all plant-based diets conferred the same health and environmental benefits. US dietary guidelines should include nuanced consideration of environmental sustainability. US National Institutes of Health.

Assessing and choosing the optimum blend of biodiesel, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and petroleum diesel based on sustainability in Indonesia

AbstractThe trend towards increasing biofuel blending mandates in several countries has raised a sustainability trilemma, especially for biofuels derived from palm oil. This study aims to find the most sustainable hydrogen production technology for the production of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and biofuel blending. It assesses the sustainability of palm‐oil‐derived biofuel blending of biodiesel (FAME), HVO, and petroleum diesel. There are three hydrogen production options for HVO: steam methane reforming (SMR), biomass gasification (BG), and electrolysis from solar energy (PVELC). The use of any production option depends on a combination of fuel quality standards and the prioritized sustainability considerations. The fuel quality aspects consist of constraints on the quality of the blend based on EURO‐2, EURO‐4, and EURO‐5 fuel standards, while sustainability priorities lead to varying policy preferences involving economic, environmental, and social sustainability considerations. There are two approaches to determine the most sustainable blend: using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method and using the sustainability index. The results show that scenarios that favor the economic dimension tend to produce a higher FAME blend, whereas those that prioritize the environment emphasize higher HVO blending with PVELC as the hydrogen production technology. Finally, any scenario that prefers the social aspects tends to produce higher biofuel blending. Overall, to achieve higher sustainability, higher biofuel blending is needed. The policy analysis section concludes that the biofuel policy direction should focus more on combining HVO and FAME so that each can offset the disadvantages of the other. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Efficient removal of tar employing dolomite catalyst in gasification: Challenges and opportunities.

Fossil fuels are currently the dominant source of electricity and energy production around the world. Biomass is one of the most referred renewable carbonaceous resource(s) that can be employed for the waste-to-energy concept. Syngas obtained from biomass gasification can be utilized for a variety of key industrial purposes, including internal gasification engine operation, power generation, and hydrocarbon compound production using the Fisher-Tropsch technique. However, the existence of impurities such as hydrogen sulfide, tar, and particulate matter along with other undesirable chemicals present in syngas are major disadvantages of biomass gasification. Tar is the most difficult among all the pollutants to be removed from syngas; it also causes serious problems in downstream syngas applications. For decades, studies have been performed with various catalysts to remove the tar. Dolomite has shown positive response for tar elimination and hydrogen-enriched gas production. Several studies have been carried out on dolomite for eliminating the tar from syngas. This review encompasses sources of solid waste, the mechanism of catalysis, and in-situ and ex-situ usage of dolomite in the gasification process. It addresses the key issues such as fragmentation and attrition, elutriation, and coke formation along with dolomite's usefulness in amalgamation with other catalysts, environmental consequences, and economic viability of dolomite applications. It also discusses the challenges and opportunities for tar removal using catalysts, with a specific focus on dolomite along with economic and environmental sustainability considerations.

Would a zero-growth economy be achievable and be sustainable?

The argument for zero economic growth comes from environmental sustainability considerations. But can zero economic growth be achieved in a demand-driven economy? What are the macro conditions under which it could be achieved, and would it be sustainable? There is a range of issues which would have to be resolved if a zero-growth economy is to be achieved and sustained. The first concerns the routes through which net investment would be constrained to zero. The second relates to the issue of whether the rate of profit would go to zero in a zero-growth economy, and hence the question of whether zero growth is compatible with capitalism. Or are there routes such as continual budget deficits and reduced savings which would maintain a non-zero rate of profit? And then whether budget deficits and reduced savings are sustainable. The third relates to the nature of the banking system (and any related monetary growth imperative) and the implications of sustained zero/negative rates of interest. An outcome of zero growth would obviously involve a constant level of GDP (though not necessarily of economic and social activity). Would there be forces which generate a supply of labour larger than ‘full employment’, and would productivity continue to rise?

Environmental consequences of foreign direct investment influx and conventional energy consumption: evidence from dynamic ARDL simulation for Turkey.

The preponderance of emerging economies confronts significant trade-offs between economic growth and environmental sustainability considerations, and Turkey is no exception. This study draws strength from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs-7,11,12 & 13). To this end, the present study explores the role of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the case of Turkey for annual frequency data from 1970 to 2020. The present study leverages on the novel dynamic autoregressive-distributed lag (DARDL) methodology and Bayer and Hanck combined cointegration test. The combined Bayer and Hanck cointegration test alongside ARDL bounds test traces equilibrium relationship between economic growth, urbanization, FDI, energy use, and CO2 emission over the investigated period. Empirical results from the DARDL simulation analysis validates the EKC hypothesis. These results suggest that environmental quality is being compromised for economic growth at the earlier stage of economic growth (scale stage). The EKC phenomenon is affirmed as a 1% increase in economic growth increase emission level by 0.1580% and quadratic economic growth decrease emission by 0.1095% in the short and long run, respectively. Similarly, urbanization and energy used in both the short and long run also worsen environmental quality while FDI influx in the long run improves environmental quality in Turkey. These outcomes have far-reaching environment-urbanization growth implications. From a policy lens, the current study subscribed to the environmental stick policies and investment on strategies on a paradigm shift from fossil-fuel energy consumption base to renewables. Further insights are highlighted in the concluding section.

Environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare and agricultural employment: evidence from ECOWAS

Environmental sustainability considerations in socio-economic welfare has been argued in recent welfare literature. With an emphasis on the role of agricultural employment, this present study explores environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare in ECOWAS, which features countries abundant in agriculture resources, although with low levels of socio-economic welfare and low carbon emissions. The study utilises a balanced panel data set of observations in respect of all fifteen ECOWAS countries over the period of 2010 to 2019. The Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI) was used to measure environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare. On the other hand, agricultural employment was measured using the percentage of the employed population earning their livelihoods from agricultural employment. Panel data fixed effects estimation was used to estimate the model for the study, and the findings were that agricultural employment had a significant adverse influence on environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare as measured by HSDI, while a further comparison of the findings with that of welfare measured using HDI indicated that agricultural employment also adversely affected HDI. The study recommends that socio-economic welfare be assessed from the view point of environmental sustainability, and the governments of ECOWAS member countries provide strong governance including strong laws and policies to ensure that socio-economic welfare that is environmentally sustainable is realised as abundant agricultural resources as well as agricultural employment are well managed.

Trends in lactose-derived bioactives: synthesis and purification.

Lactose obtained from cheese whey is a low value commodity despite its great potential as raw material for the production of bioactive compounds. Among them, prebiotics stand out as valuable ingredients to be added to food matrices to build up functional foods, which currently represent the most active sector within the food industry. Functional foods market has been growing steadily in the recent decades along with the increasing awareness of the World population about healthy nutrition, and this is having a strong impact on lactose-derived bioactives. Most of them are produced by enzyme biocatalysis because of molecular precision and environmental sustainability considerations. The current status and outlook of the production of lactose-derived bioactive compounds is presented with special emphasis on downstream operations which are critical because of the rather modest lactose conversion and product yields that are attainable. Even though some of these products have already an established market, there are still several challenges referring to the need of developing better catalysts and more cost-effective downstream operations for delivering high quality products at affordable prices. This technological push is expected to broaden the spectrum of lactose-derived bioactive compounds to be produced at industrial scale in the near future.Graphical abstract

The Appearance of Economic, Social, Financial and Environmental Sustainability Aspects in the Practices of the National Bank of Hungary

Sustainability is at the heart of the challenges in the 21st century. Economic, social, financial and environmental sustainability also fundamentally determine the functioning of the economic system, which means that the convergence process, guided by new visions, can only be organised around the idea of sustainability. The revolution in thinking on sustainability has also reached the community of central banks, and the National Bank of Hungary was one of the first central banks to take meaningful steps to integrate environmental sustainability considerations into the regulatory framework of the banking system, reserve management, monetary policy, collateral management and data disclosure. In its strategy documents, the Bank has defined its mission to be an active participant in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Factors affecting the number of building defects and the approaches to reduce their negative impacts in Malaysian public universities’ buildings

PurposeThe largest share of a building maintenance budget goes towards preventing or repairing building defects. Also, building defects shorten a building’s lifetime, impact the user’s safety and health, prevent the buildings from performing their functions well and repairing building defects generates waste. Therefore, this study aims to specify the factors that affecting the number of building defects and how to reduce their negative impacts.Design/methodology/approachA case study was used as a research strategy and convergent parallel mixed methods were used as research design. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently, followed by independent analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data, and then merged the two sets of results according to the procedure of using the convergent parallel design. Descriptive statistics analysed quantitative data, whilst qualitative data was analysed by the content analysis technique.FindingsThe findings of this study explored the factors that affect the number of defects in buildings, the significant factors were related to the building’s life cycle in terms of design, construction, operation and maintenance phase; relevant attributes were construction teams, building users and maintenance teams. The study also addressed the approaches to minimise the negative impacts of those factors. Their negative impacts mainly contributed to increased building defects that increase maintenance costs, affect users’ safety and health, reduce buildings’ lifespan and cause environmental impact due to resource extraction.Originality/valueThe existing studies have not adequately addressed the significant factors that affect the number of building defects. Also, emerging technologies and environmental sustainability considerations related to building defects have not been linked in previous related work. Therefore, the present study has contributed to filling this gap.

(Invited) Recycling Considerations for PEM Electrolysis Materials

Hydrogen from water electrolysis has been touted as a green alternative to displace existing hydrogen feedstocks derived from fossil fuels. Proton exchange membrane (PEM)-based electrolyzers are one commercial pathway with the potential to meet the cost, performance, and application requirements. However, to truly represent a sustainable pathway, the production lifecycle needs to be considered, especially related to critical materials such as catalysts and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) such as Nafion™ and other polyfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes. PFAS are beginning to be regulated globally, with a goal of phasing them out where possible. Recycling programs for the polymers used in electrolyzers can assist in keeping them exempt from PFAS regulations, due to the minimized environmental impact and lack of related emissions. In addition, PEM electrolyzers use a significant amount of platinum group metals, including iridium, one of the scarcest naturally occurring elements. Addressing these issues through recycling of key components is an important part of large scale commercialization and deployment.The need for recycling is based on both scarcity and environmental sustainability considerations. Customers are starting to ask more questions about supplier philosophy and documentation of environmental practices. Many manufacturing companies are certified to the ISO9001 quality standard, but many are now looking to be also certified to ISO14001, the environmental standard. ISO14001 represents certification to a group of standards designed to minimize a company’s negative impact on the environment. These standards show a voluntary commitment to environmental regulation and can give companies a competitive advantage when dealing with customers concerned about the environment. While recycling of any particular chemicals is not specifically required by ISO14001, the standards include lifecycle assessments, integration of environmental aspects into product design, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and related topics where recycling would have positive impact on the metrics.For platinum group metals, recycling is required to meet the projected capacity demands for electrolyzers before 2050. Many analyses are projecting gigawatt annual capacities for electrolysis within the next 10 years, and in fact several European countries have already made commitments to site part of this capacity. With 7-10 year stack life, recovering stacks to recycle the platinum group metals is important to sustain the existing fielded capacity as more electrolyzers are deployed. Recycling other components such as titanium, stainless steel, and fluoropolymers provides some additional value stream from reclamation as well. For maximum benefit, material collection methods need to be set up within the manufacturing facility, to capture waste materials and scrap, as well as through the field population, so that systems no longer being operated can be reclaimed for materials. This talk will cover some of the business considerations for effective recycling, as well as current practices.

Insights from behavioural economics to enhance the environmental dimension of sustainable development

Individuals everywhere and every day take decisions and make choices that affect the environment either positively or negatively. By understanding and analysing the determinants and incentives of humans' decision-making process, behavioural economics helps change behaviours toward more sustainable practices using efficient and well- designed policies. Using a survey targeting 4000 households' participants from 11 Egyptian governorates in 2019, the paper explores attitudes' determinants and behaviour's motivations concerning environmental concerns, which- in turn- help policymakers to design effective policies considering households' attitudes. Using a structural equation model, the paper examines the critical links among attitudes, values, and behaviours related to sustainability. It provides empirical evidence from a data set collected from the surveyed sample. The paper also indicates how insights and tools from behavioural economics could help understand attitudes, values, and behaviours. The current study builds on contemporary literature and develops last research to explore how behaviour economics helps policymakers design cost-effective policies to change behaviours toward sustainable environmental practices. The results indicated that behavioural economics has a minimal role in designing sustainable development policies and environmental interventions in Egypt- as a developing country- and showed that there is an overall willingness to change the way of thinking toward more environmentally friendly choices, specifically if policy interventions derive the behaviours in that direction. Finally, many essential recommendations and policy implications were concluded to develop public policies according to environmental sustainability considerations.

Who cares? Don't underestimate the values of SEA monitoring!

Until now, monitoring of large-scale regional funding programmes has been rare, although their large scope and abstract planning targets generally involve high levels of uncertainty. This study applies and examines a newly developed methodological approach for monitoring such programmes. It also critically reflects to what extent the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) contributes to a better consideration of environmental sustainability and to a learning effect among the stakeholders as well as within the decision-making process. The interviews conducted during the SEA monitoring revealed a very low recognition of the SEA, and its content, among project applicants of the transnational regional funding programme. They further show that more information on the SEA and its recommendations to mitigate negative environmental impacts would be beneficial in the future. Overall, the monitoring confirmed, however, that the institutions responsible for the programme were aware of the benefits of considering environmental sustainability. The long-term application of SEA in an iterative process provided positive learning effects on environmental sustainability and awareness for environmental aspects. This study also shows how SEA monitoring can serve as a tool to enhance visibility and foster communication among decision makers and applicants.

Material application methodologies for winter road maintenance: a renewed perspective

Winter roadway operations, commonly known as snow and ice control operations, are one of the most critical functions of state, provincial, and local transportation agencies in cold regions. These operations aim to provide safety and mobility through the timely and effective application of materials and mechanical removal. The most common materials used are salt (sodium chloride, solid or liquid brine), magnesium chloride-based, calcium chloride-based deicers, agro-based additives and blends, and abrasives. In practice, the specific choice and application method and rate of these materials are dependent on pavement temperature, precipitation type, level of service goals, budget, and environmental sustainability considerations. Best practices of material application are designed to apply the right type and amount of materials in the right place at the right time. This review presents a literature review and agency interviews that were conducted to gather information about the use of materials, including types of materials, application strategies, application rates, and application equipment.