May lichen biomonitoring of air pollution serve for the implementation of waste management policies?

There is a high public concern for the environmental and health impact connected with waste management, and the public acceptance of incinerators, waste disposal sites and other related facilities is generally low since these are often causing concern for the population living nearby. Biomonitoring of air pollution is a reliable tool for the implementation of environmental policy on air quality and atmospheric pollution control, and it can be successfully applied for the implementation of waste management strategies. This chapter summarizes evidences on the usefulness of lichen biomonitoring as a tool for the implementation of environmental friendly waste management policies. There is enough evidence that lichen biomonitoring can be profitably used to detect spatial and temporal biological effects caused by airborne pollutants released by solid waste incinerators, landfills and composting facilities. An integrated use of lichen based methods, i.e., methods with a stronger link to source attribution (e.g., bioaccumulation), methods reflecting ongoing processes (e.g., ecophysiological responses and bioaccumulation with transplants) and their environmental effects (e.g., biodiversity assessments), can provide useful biological outputs for decision-makers to establish correct science-based environmentally sustainable waste management policies.