The Deposit-Refund System (DRS) was introduced in Hungary in 2024 as a new element of the country’s waste management framework to strengthen circular economy objectives. Before the system implementation, consumer attitudes and expectations were explored in a large-scale survey conducted by Sz?cs et al. (2024), which identified both promising support and considerable concerns regarding the system’s economic, environmental, and practical implications. Building on this earlier research present study looks at the first year of the Hungarian DRS operation and focuses on how consumers experienced the system compared to their earlier expectations. Based on a nationwide reach consumer survey (N = 527) conducted in mid-2025, reveals that 96.6% of the respondents used the system at least once, and over 75% expressed positive or neutral experience. Overall environmental motivation and general understanding of the system were strong. However, technical problems such as machine malfunctions (reported by 72.7% of respondents) and practical issues (like limited storage space at home) still cause difficulties. Interestingly, respondents with higher environmental awareness tended to evaluate the system more positively, even when they encountered these problems. Although acceptance of the DRS has grown in some groups, ongoing challenges related to convenience, infrastructure, and communication continue to influence overall satisfaction. By comparing preliminary attitudes with implementation experiences, this study provides a systematic evaluation of the DRS’s first-year performance and offers evidence-based insights for policymakers, system operators, and stakeholders to improve effectiveness and public trust in long term.
Natural mineral soil amendments are receiving renewed attention in organic and regenerative viticulture because they can connect traditional local resources with soil remediation, soil-life restoration and climate adaptation. This partly protocol-based scoping narrative review synthesises evidence on rock powders, zeolites, clays, carbonates, gypsum, perlite, vermiculite, alginite and humic mineral materials. The review evaluates their roles in nutrient buffering, pH and cation-exchange regulation, water retention, microbial habitat formation, heavy-metal immobilisation and carbon-stabilising soil structure. It argues that mineral amendments are most effective when used with organic matter, cover crops, reduced tillage and locally adapted vineyard-floor management, rather than as stand-alone substitutes for fertilisers. Comparative tables and decision matrices are provided to link amendment choice to soil pH, texture, salinity, contamination risk, climate stress and organic certification rules. The paper highlights Central European resources, especially volcanic and organic-mineral deposits, while placing them in a global viticultural and agroecological context. The main limitations are slow and site-dependent nutrient release, potential contamination, over-mineralisation, extraction and transport impacts, cost, and uneven field evidence in vineyards. Future research should prioritise long-term replicated vineyard trials, microbial and rhizosphere indicators, life-cycle assessment and practical guidance for certified organic farms.
Researchers increasingly encounter the term ecosystem when discussing short rotation coppice (SRC) on agricultural land. It is used even though the basic literature has never precisely defined this ecosystem and determined its classification as a forest or agroecosystem. The study was based on official catalogues of biotopes and plant communities in Central and Eastern Europe (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary), as well as on our 15-year research in Slovakia. We evaluated (i) the structure and functions of forests, agroecosystems, and SRCs, and (ii) their ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem disservices (EDS). Individual characteristics and processes were assessed and compared using principal component analysis. It was found that 50% of the evaluated structural and functional properties of SRCs are similar to forests and 40% to agroecosystems (10% are significantly transitional). In the case of ES and EDS, the similarity of SRC was 10% to forests and 20% to agroecosystems, with a strongly transitional state found in 70% of cases. SRC has a tree layer (canopy) with the characteristics of forest stands, and the herb layer is mainly formed by species from agroecosystems, whose development is, however, limited and they grow near their pessimum (lower light intensity, etc.). SRC can be considered a new, transitional type of ecosystem that cannot be clearly assigned to existing categories. This finding is relevant not only for ecology but also for economics and has practical implications for ecosystem classification, land-use legislation, and conflict resolution between farmers and foresters.
Harvest-time conditions can vary considerably within a single day, yet their influence on wine aroma development is still not fully understood. In this study, the effect of thermal conditions at harvest—comparing night and midday picking—was examined in relation to the volatile composition and sensory expression of Hárslevel? wines from the Tokaj region. The work is considered within the broader context of low-input and climate-adaptive winemaking, although no direct environmental measurements were performed. Grapes were harvested on the same day, either during the night under cool pre-dawn conditions (18 °C) or at midday under higher ambient temperatures (28 °C), and processed using controlled microvinification protocols. Bioprotection with Metschnikowia pulcherrima was applied either alone or in combination with SO?. Volatile compounds were analysed by HS-SPME–GC–MS on a semi-quantitative basis, and the resulting dataset was evaluated using exploratory multivariate approaches. Sensory assessment followed OIV guidelines and was interpreted primarily as descriptive qualitative evaluation. Across treatments, wines produced from night-harvested grapes were more often associated with volatile compounds linked to fresh, floral and citrus-related sensory attributes. By contrast, wines obtained from midday-harvested grapes tended to show riper aromatic profiles together with higher perceived acidity. The use of bioprotection was associated with a greater diversity of fermentation-derived aroma compounds; however, it did not eliminate the differentiation related to harvest-time conditions. A similar pattern was observed in the sensory data, where wines from night-harvested grapes were generally described as having higher aromatic purity, freshness and overall harmony. Taken together, these observations point to a potential role of harvest-time conditions—including temperature and associated environmental factors—in shaping aromatic expression in dry white wines. Under the conditions of this study, cooler harvest conditions—especially when combined with bioprotection—appear to support aroma preservation and stylistic balance. At the same time, the study did not include direct measurements of environmental performance. For this reason, any interpretation of these practices as climate-adaptive should be understood in a conceptual and process-oriented sense, rather than as quantitatively demonstrated sustainability outcomes.
Tokaji natural sweet wines are climate-sensitive cultural-heritage products. Their production depends on Botrytis cinerea, autumn humidity, dry ripening periods and grape varieties authorized by the Tokaj PDO, while their market future depends on consumer learning, gastronomy, wine tourism and regional sustainability. This exploratory mixed-methods study reframes consumer acceptance of Tokaji sweet wines as a socio-ecological resilience problem. A structured narrative review of peer-reviewed and official sources was combined with an anonymous cross-sectional online survey of Hungarian adult wine consumers not working in viticulture or winemaking (N=100; 30 July 2024-26 August 2024). Respondents were classified as current Tokaji sweet-wine consumers/buyers (n=37), rejecters (n=43) and potential consumers (n=20). Likert-scale variables were analysed by descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis tests, Holm-adjusted Mann-Whitney comparisons and Spearman rank correlations. Flavour was the most important wine-choice factor in all groups (mean 4.73-4.80/5) but did not differ significantly between groups (H=0.12, p=0.944). Group differences were strongest for sweet-wine beliefs: rejecters agreed more with the statement "I do not like the flavour of sweet wine" (mean 3.21) than current consumers (mean 1.41), while current consumers attached higher symbolic and gift value to Tokaji sweet specialities. Because the sample was small, urban, highly educated and non-representative, the results should be interpreted as pilot evidence. The paper proposes a regenerative wine-tourism and consumer-education model linking product knowledge, food pairing, heritage interpretation and climate-adaptive viticulture to the resilience of the Tokaj cultural landscape.
