The study presents an in-depth analysis of the impact of noise from mining operations, focusing on the spatial distribution of noise levels and their compliance with regulatory limits. Utilizing advanced modeling and visualization techniques, it demonstrates effective noise management strategies that ensure compliance with national regulations. Findings highlight the importance of integrating environmental assessments and technological innovations in mitigating noise pollution, underscoring the mining industry’s commitment to sustainable practices and community well-being. This research contributes valuable insights into environmental management, offering a model for balancing industrial activities with ecological and health considerations. Key findings emphasize the significance of integrating environmental assessments and technological innovations to mitigate noise pollution, showcasing the mining industry’s commitment to sustainable practices and community well-being. The study underlines the importance of noise management strategies that align with national regulations to protect both the environment and public health. Using advanced modeling and visualization techniques, the research offers valuable insights into environmental management, presenting a model for balancing industrial activities with ecological and health considerations. It contributes significantly to the understanding of noise pollution in the mining sector, proposing effective solutions for its control. This work is grounded in a broad review of literature on environmental pollution and specific studies on noise pollution’s effects on health, highlighting the broader context of industrial and urban noise sources. It presents a detailed analysis of noise levels around a specific mining operation, including modeling and visualization of noise propagation and its impact on surrounding residential areas. The conclusion drawn from this study is that through strategic planning, technological interventions, and adherence to regulations, mining operations can effectively mitigate noise pollution. This ensures that noise levels remain within acceptable limits, thereby minimizing their impact on nearby communities and contributing to a safer and more sustainable mining environment.

World is facing severe economic as well as environmental problems due to rapid industrialization, over-use of natural resources for extraction of raw material, and exponential growth of consumption patterns. On the other hand, the finite natural resources, especially in agriculture, are under constant threat of scarcity due to meeting the food/feed/fiber needs of growing population. The linear economic model worsens the situation as it is based on “take-make-dispose” approach and hence does not support recycling, repair, reuse, or remanufacturing of existing products. Circular economy (CE) has emerged as a significant approach in terms of waste reduction, natural resources conservation and sustainable development in many sectors including agriculture. It plays a vital role towards achieving the many of the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as poverty eradication (SDG 1), sustainable production and consumption patterns (SDG 12), dealing with the climate change (SDG 13), and protecting the ecosystem (SDG 13, 14). Circular economy offers a sustainable solution to the current non-environment friendly practices through different strategies and principles such as designing out the waste, keeping the products/material in use, regeneration of natural ecosystem, using renewable energy/sources, collaboration and system thinking, innovation and adoption of new technologies, and consumer engagement and behavior change.

Due to increasingly pronounced climate changes and intensified anthropogenic impacts on the environment, on one hand, and global economic growth and exploitation of scarce natural resources, on the other hand, there is a need to find a compromise solution that would ensure long-term, sustainable economic development. One of the optimal possibilities in this context is the development approach of the circular economy. This approach offers a sustainable response to environmental challenges by promoting principles such as waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. The circular economy finds its application in numerous sectors of economic activity, such as industry, agriculture, energy, water resource management, and others. The implementation of the circular economy involves meeting the four basic economic principles (4E): economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and the latest ecological principle. The realization of the basic principles of the circular economy includes various techniques for transforming natural resource management, i.e., maximizing the utility of available materials while minimizing waste production. In this context, technological innovations play a crucial role in enhancing the development of circular economic processes. New technologies are thus a prerequisite for increasing economic efficiency while simultaneously reducing the ecological footprint of the entire social community. Through examples from around the world, the chapter illustrates specific cases where the circular economy has already had a visible impact on reducing local pollution, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing industrial and agricultural waste, preserving water flows and soil, and protecting air quality. It also considers the challenges and potential solutions in implementing circular strategies in these areas. Furthermore, the role of international cooperation and the development of political frameworks that favor the expansion and adoption of circular initiatives are analyzed. The discussion is based on creating comprehensive strategies that connect different societal actors and create an efficient system of long-term sustainability and socio-economic stability. From all the above, it implies that the circular economy is a key tool for achieving long-term sustainable development, whose active application counteracts climate change and protects the planet for future generations.

The history of agriculture is a long chain composed of numerous revolutionary innovations that have occurred, and continue to occur, following industrial revolutions and the advancements of modern science; in the 20th and 21st centuries, this progress has been much faster than ever before. There is no specific year that marks the founding of agriculture in human civilization; it cannot be precisely determined, as it was not a singular event but rather a process that spanned centuries. Researchers agree that Homo sapiens began to abandon the nomadic way of life, domesticate wild animals, and gather and plant cereal seeds in the early Neolithic period (Neolithic Revolution), when there was a rapid retreat of glaciers to the north and a warming of the climate. Most researchers believe this occurred around 10,000 years ago, although some suggest it may have been 12,000 or even 15,000 years ago. One of the first regions where humans engaged in agriculture was the area known as the Fertile Crescent, which spans the region that today includes Israel and Lebanon in the west and Iraq and Iran in the east, around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The development of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution enabled population growth, the establishment of settlements, and the rise of more complex societies. It was a period of transformation in human history that laid the foundations for modern agriculture and food systems on which today's global population relies. The development of the economy, including agriculture, from its very beginnings has been based on the use of natural resources as one of the main factors of industrial production. The increasing exploitation of these resources raises questions about how long this process can continue, considering that many of these resources are non renewable. It is estimated that by 2050, the population will reach 9 billion, for whom food must be provided! In addition to not very optimistic economic forecasts, another dark cloud, taking on increasingly negative proportions, looms over nature. Environmental degradation, as an ecological problem, has become not only relevant but also crucial for survival. The primary need to produce more food regardless of the ecological consequences, is responsible for the alarming degradation of the environment. Soil is the most important resource in food production. The increasing exploitation of soil, combined with strong industrialization and urbanization, is leading to a reduction in arable land and the contamination of cultivated land, threatening food production and biodiversity. In some areas, these relationships have reached critical levels. The degradation of agricultural land is adversely affected by many factors, with the most aggressive being: erosion (caused by wind, water, and sun), industrial pollutants, mineral fertilizers, pesticides, lack of windbreaks, illegal waste dumping, traffic impact, etc. Phosphorus fertilizers introduce heavy metals, primarily cadmium, into the soil, which then enters the human body through plants and animals, potentially causing serious diseases. Pesticides, various solvents, and packaging used for storage and transport are very dangerous substances that can negatively impact soil fertility. Additionally, conventional agriculture significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Industrial production, including conventional agriculture, operates on a linear economy model, whose principle of "take-make-use-dispose" is one of the main polluters of the environment. Modern science proposes new agricultural production concepts, such as precision, smart, regenerative, and digital agriculture, which contribute to the rational use of natural resources. In a time of unreasonable natural resource consumption, environmental degradation, and global climate change on one hand, and increasing food demand on the other, a new model in agriculture—circular agriculture—represents a promising strategy to support sustainable, restorative, and regenerative agriculture. Circular agriculture, which operates on the principle of "take make-use-return," aims to reduce waste, increase resource efficiency, and improve sustainability. Circular agriculture focuses on optimizing resource use, minimizing waste, and promoting sustainable food production. This paper provides a brief overview of the impact of the four industrial revolutions on the development of agriculture, with a more detailed analysis of the application of achievements from the third and fourth industrial revolutions. The negative impacts of linear agriculture on the environment and the contribution of circular agriculture to the rational use of natural resources, reduction of soil degradation, mitigation of climate change, and production stability are presented. The practices of the circular economy and the barriers to its implementation are also discussed.

Although often presented as a revolutionary innovation, the circular economy is not a new idea. It is another reconciliation and compromise between economic and environmental problems expressed by the terms "sustainable growth", "green growth" and "sustainable development". The various strategies aimed at prolonging the use of resources gathered under the banner of the circular economy are not individually new, and if the concept offers any novelty, it is by offering a new framing of these strategies, as well as the possibility of connecting them. The circular economy is built on a heterogeneous collection of scientific and semi-scientific concepts, such as: ecological economy, industrial ecology, cradle-to-cradle design, blue economy, biomimicry, ecological efficiency, cleaner production, etc. Over a hundred definitions of circularity can be found in the literature, which means that the term means different things to different people. This could be because the concept and its application were almost exclusively developed and led by practitioners, i.e. policy makers, companies, business consultants, business associations, business foundations, etc. The result is a perception that the circular economy does not address the ontological and epistemological questions, such as what counts as ethical value, that underlie the complex and interconnected environmental, social and economic issues we face today. It's really easier to say what the circular economy isn't than to say what it is. The circular economy "is not a theory but a new approach to industrial production and consumption." Rather, it is a multiplicity, an umbrella concept that generates enthusiasm because it seemingly provides a new framework capable of solving many problems, but comes under increased scrutiny when attempts at operationalization surface unresolved questions about its definition. The variety of meanings given to the circular economy may explain the appeal of the term, but it also makes it difficult to know what it is really about. The main advantage of the circular economy is the optimal method of production in various industrial sectors: (1) It implies the lowest possible level of waste material that can no longer be recycled, (2) Each activity of the production process produces the smallest possible amount of waste for a specific activity. The key shortcomings of the circular economy are: (1) It is much more expensive to produce a long-lasting product than a larger quantity of equivalent disposable products,(2)- He does not pay attention to people as factors of production.

The problem of air pollution has been a challenge for modern humanity in recent times. The environment, including the air, is burdened by a large amount of pollutants that are released into the environment. The atmosphere contains primary and secondary pollutants, emitted as basic or specific pollutants. Air pollution is present in industrial areas and larger cities, with the fact that there are no areas without any impact of air pollution. Air pollution is also present in the Republic of Srpska, as is the case in other areas. Areas of increased pollution in Republic of Srpska, with high concentrations of pollution, can further worsen the impact on the population and lead to unwanted health effects.

Environmental pollution is a big problem for all countries of the world, especially developing countries. Pollution is very present in our country and manifests itself through air, water and soil pollution, but also the increased presence of noise, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation in the environment. Environmental protection is an area of great interest for citizens and competent authorities, especially in the perspective of European integration, and represents a major challenge for the authorities of each country. The environment is one of the most important chapters in the negotiations for accession to the European Union (EU). This chapter deals with EU and Republic of Srpska regulations, with an analysis of the situation in various areas of the environment. It is the obligation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republic of Srpska to implement the aforementioned regulations into the national legislation. A major problem of environmental management is the implementation and application of regulations due to various factors such as: the state of industrial development, national policy, financial situation, lack of trained personnel and laboratories, etc.

Waste is a by-product of human activities and living. With the increase in the number of inhabitants, the standard of living and urbanization, the quantities of municipal waste are increasing day by day. Every segment of waste management starting from generation, through collection, storage, transport, treatment and disposal can pose a potential hazard to human health and the environment. Waste management in Republic of Srpska is organized at the regional level. Since only waste disposal is still present in the Republic of Srpska, the regional approach implies that there is a landfill on the territory of one of the local self-government units, where all local self-government units in the region dispose of waste. In addition, waste disposal in illegal and unregulated landfills is still evident. LGUs or utility companies often face a lack of money to organize waste collection, with the result that not all households are covered by waste collection. In recent years, a lot has been invested in infrastructure, such as the filling of containers and containers and the purchase of new or newer used waste collection vehicles. Future directions of improving the waste management system in Republic of Srpska must go in the direction of sustainable waste management, ie waste management in a way to reduce the negative impact on human health and the environment, as well as avoiding leaving this problem to future generations.

Harmful effect of noise to the human health are various, begining from psihological to the irreversible damage of hearing. In order to prevent negative impact to the living and working environment, especially at the urban and industrial places where noise influence is the largest, at the specific location noise estimation must be performed before sources are build. Action of protection as well as reduction of the noise based on law and technical regulations, followed by detailed investigation are mostly applied in Banja Luka, the largest city of Republic of Srpska with huge dense of population and intensive traffic jam. Beside traffic noise, which has strongest effect to the human health, theoretical predictions are also performed for directional speakers, mostly temporary active in urban location during cultural manifestation. Theoretically obtained results from simulations are projected to the map of noise, where are further defined borders between places with enlarged noise in comparatione with referent levels, given by international standards but in agreement with national legislative. Review of data and their analysis in order to determine degree of the environment contamination in the Republic of Srpska with noise is the primary goal of this study. The measurement methods and theoretical assessment tools used for detection and prediction of these physical pollutants, which tend to grow permanently due to lifestyle, are also presented.

The level of radio frequency radiation is followed by the growth of the new telecommunication technologies and the needs of the user. In order to prevent increasing of exposure over doses of electromagnetic radiation permitted for the general population, it requires to planing the construction of antenna systems and examine the living as well as working environment in their surroundings. City zones are potentially the most vulnerable on the exposure to high-frequency non-ionizing radiation, described below with examples of sensitive locations in Banja Luka such as the vicinity of schools, kindergartens and the hospital center. Review of data and their analysis in order to determine environment contamination level in the Republic of Srpska with non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation is the primary goal of this study. The measurement methods and theoretical assessment tools used for detection and prediction of these physical pollutants, which tend to grow permanently due to lifestyle, are also presented.

The Western Balkan region is known for emitting alarmingly high sulphur dioxide amounts from coal-fired power plants. Though a number of environmental regulations have been introduced in recent years (e.g. desulphurisation installations, construction of modern power plants), the pollution burden is still much higher than recommended by the authorities. A number of different montoring systems are required to observe the growing pollution situation in the Western Balkan region, partly caused by a high energy demand from outside (e.g. Western Europe).Several of the top ten SO2 polluters in Europe are located in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Here we present the first in situ measurements of sulphur dioxide in this region conducted with a German research aircraft in cooperation with local scientists in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Two of the strongtest emitting coalfired power plants were selected for the measurements in autumn 2020: Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nikola Tesla in Serbia (Nikola Tesla). The measurements were mainly conducted in the boundary layer (below ~1 km altitude in winter). Downwind of the power plants, extremely high SO2 mixing ratios exceeding 100 parts per billion (ppb = nmol mol-1 ) were measured at a distance of ~20-40 km from the sources. The SO2 plumes from the power plants were trapped in well-defined inversion layers between ~500-1000 m altitude. The airborne measurements can be used to validate synchronous spaceborne SO2 measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) onboard the Sentinel-5P satellite. A first intercomparison indicates some problems with dense smoke clouds frequently covering these countries in the winter months. However, it turned out that the Nikola Tesla flight is to some extent suited for a TROPOMI-SO2 validation, since it was obtained during cloud-free conditions with a well-defined vertical extension of the probed SO2 plume (needed to estimate the Vertical Column Density, VCD, measured by the satellite). In addition, these airborne measurements accompanied by model simulations can be used to determine the SO2 emission strength of the power plants and to compare it to the source strength reported by the power plant operators. The results indicate a reasonable agreement between the airborne measurements, model results, emission inventories, and satellite measurements for the Nikola Tesla power plants.

The concept of sustainable use of pesticides implies a series of rules, procedures and skills in the use of pesticides that are prescribed by the relevant legislation in the European Union, and which countries that are in the process of joining it are obliged to follow and apply. These prescribed norms include the development of a national action plan to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides; application of the principle of integral protection of plants; establishing a continuous training system for professional users of pesticides, distributors and advisors; establishment of appropriate conditions for the sale and distribution of pesticides; handling and storage of pesticides and disposal of their packaging and residues; regular control of pesticide application devices; keeping records and databases; informing the public and raising the level of awareness about the sustainable use of pesticides; application of measures to reduce the risk of pesticide use; the application of special practices in the use of pesticides, including aerial spraying, special measures for the protection of aquatic environments and drinking water, the application of pesticides on public and green areas, the reduction of pesticide use in certain areas, and the protection of bees during the application of pesticides, as well as the application of risk indicators, reporting and exchange of information on the sustainable use of pesticides. The purpose of this legislation is to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides and reduce the risks and negative effects from the use of pesticides in a way that ensures a high degree of protection of human and animal health, along with the protection and preservation of the environment and biodiversity, as well as the introduction of mandatory application of the basic principles of integral protection of plants for control of harmful organisms, including alternative approaches and techniques, such as non-chemical plant protection measures with the aim of achieving sustainable and competitive agriculture.

A broad range of ecological issues may be traced back to agricultural soil management methods that have a significant influence on ecosystems health across the globe. Agriculture has a major influence on the environment via soil quality deterioration or degradation. There are several types i.e., salinity, erosion, water logging and soil pollution with organic and inorganic contaminants and contributing factors to soil degradation. The inclusion of sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to the soil use as zero hunger (SDG 2), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), climate action (SDG 13), life on land (SDG 15) contributes and important in human wellbeing via producing food crops (SDG 2), increasing economic growth (SDG 8), sequestering atmospheric emissions for climate change mitigation (SDG 13), and betterment of life on earth (SDG 13). Factors include non-suitable agricultural practices, usage of wide fields without limits to impede water flow, and improper ploughing techniques. The key element to limit the soil degradation is reducing pressure on natural resources and their over-exploitation. In this chapter, authors have discussed the soil degradation, causes and their remedies in detail.

Water is a unique and irreplaceable natural resource of limited quantities and uneven spatial and temporal distribution. All life forms and all human activities are more or less related to water, clearly showing the importance of the relationship with water. It is a necessary resource in households as drinking water, washing and food preparation, in agriculture for irrigation, and in industry it plays an important role in almost all industrial processes. Economic development and urbanization lead, on the one hand, to a large increase in water demand, and on the other hand to the threat to water resources and the aquatic environment. Water can thus become a limiting factor in development, a threat to human health and the sustainability of natural ecosystems. Until recently, there was a centuriesold illusion of water inexhaustibility, and the concept of minimum investments for the purification of used water and water protection in general appeared. Much of the water used is not purified before it is discharged into watercourses and thus pollutes the water mass and reduces the resources of drinking water. Providing enough drinking water is one of the world's most important issues today. Therefore, it is especially important for every society to balance these relations and devise policies and strategies for the regulation, exploitation and protection of water resources.

Uncontrolled acetylene release during production processes, transportation, or storage can lead to explosions and detonations endangering safety of people and material assets. This paper investigates the impact of accidental release of acetylene gas in surrounding areas. The ALOHA software has been used in this paper to modelling of acetylene release. The modelling was performed for an accidental release of 2,000 kg acetylene from direct source for one minute. F or a typical average atmospheric condition in location, this accidental acetylene release would cause a red zone of 197 m (15,000 ppm) and yellow zone of 483 m (2,500 ppm) to downwind from the source. Inadequate storage can lead to accidental situations and negative impact on people and the environment.