Biopotentiality as an index of environmental compensation for composting plants

• The concept of landscape has been more explained.
• More references on biopotentiality have been added.
• The objective of the paper has been better commented.
• Sentences, figures and tables have been added in order to better explain the approach and the results.
• The results have been better justified.

The Biopotentiality Index is a landscape ecology indicator, which can be used to estimate the latent energy of a given land and to assess the environmental impacts due to the loss of naturalness on a landscape scale. This indicator has been applied to estimate the effectiveness of the measures put in place to provide an environmental compensation for the revamping of a composting plant. These compensation measures are represented by a green belt with a minimum width of 25 m all around the plant, representing both a windbreak and a buffer zone, and by two wide wooded zones acting as core natural areas.This case-study shows that the compensation index could be used as a key tool in order to negotiate the acceptance of waste treatment plant with the population.