Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100132
Saeed Awadh Bin-Nashwan
Growing expectations from regulators and stakeholders have intensified the demand for greater transparency in corporate environmental performance. However, limited empirical evidence explains how firms’ internal sustainability skills and digital capacities shape carbon-related disclosure outcomes. To address this gap, this study develops a sustainability-driven intellectual capital model that reinterprets conventional green intellectual resources within a carbon disclosure context, with a specific focus on firm-internal capabilities. The analysis examines the roles of sustainability-related expertise and digital reporting systems in shaping carbon disclosure practices among manufacturing firms. Drawing on survey data from an emerging economy and employing a structural equation modeling approach, the findings show that internal sustainability competency capital and digital technologies exert significant positive effects on carbon disclosure, while firm size and ownership structure also exhibit significant associations, whereas organizational age does not. These results suggest that firms enhance carbon transparency primarily through internal capacity building and digital infrastructure development. The study concludes by discussing implications for organizations and policymakers seeking to strengthen the credibility and usefulness of corporate carbon disclosure through investments in human expertise and digital systems.
{"title":"Sustainability-driven intellectual capital model in carbon disclosure: Insights from PLS-SEM","authors":"Saeed Awadh Bin-Nashwan","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Growing expectations from regulators and stakeholders have intensified the demand for greater transparency in corporate environmental performance. However, limited empirical evidence explains how firms’ internal sustainability skills and digital capacities shape carbon-related disclosure outcomes. To address this gap, this study develops a sustainability-driven intellectual capital model that reinterprets conventional green intellectual resources within a carbon disclosure context, with a specific focus on firm-internal capabilities. The analysis examines the roles of sustainability-related expertise and digital reporting systems in shaping carbon disclosure practices among manufacturing firms. Drawing on survey data from an emerging economy and employing a structural equation modeling approach, the findings show that internal sustainability competency capital and digital technologies exert significant positive effects on carbon disclosure, while firm size and ownership structure also exhibit significant associations, whereas organizational age does not. These results suggest that firms enhance carbon transparency primarily through internal capacity building and digital infrastructure development. The study concludes by discussing implications for organizations and policymakers seeking to strengthen the credibility and usefulness of corporate carbon disclosure through investments in human expertise and digital systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145977473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-10DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100131
Lou Grimal , Inès di Loreto , Nadège Troussier
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed within companies with high environmental impacts, and is widely used in industrial contexts. More recently, LCA has gained importance in sustainable communities. Thus, in this paper we aim to answer the question: how legitimate is the LCA method for sustainable communities, regarding their values, practices and goal? For this purpose, we conducted an experiment rooted in a sustainable community. We observed the work of a focus group composed of seven residents of a sustainable community, who conducted an LCA with the support of an LCA expert (the researcher conducting the study). Each focus group session was recorded and analysed using a qualitative method (thematic coding). Focusing on moral and cognitive legitimacy, our study highlighted three main themes: the tracking of material flows within a community, the notion of complexity, and the dissemination of results. We identified certain tensions between LCA practices and the residents’ beliefs. Nonetheless, the output of LCA could still be valuable for residents, especially in terms of communicating their alternative way of life. It is also worth noting that the barriers to LCA adoption are similar in both industrial contexts and sustainable communities. We conclude on the need to better understand the role of LCA as a strategy for sustainable communities to upscale their way of life, while also acknowledging the persistent (and necessary) tensions in terms of values and organization.
{"title":"Legitimacy of life cycle assessment for sustainable communities","authors":"Lou Grimal , Inès di Loreto , Nadège Troussier","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100131","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed within companies with high environmental impacts, and is widely used in industrial contexts. More recently, LCA has gained importance in sustainable communities. Thus, in this paper we aim to answer the question: <em>how legitimate is the LCA method for sustainable communities, regarding their values, practices and goal?</em> For this purpose, we conducted an experiment rooted in a sustainable community. We observed the work of a focus group composed of seven residents of a sustainable community, who conducted an LCA with the support of an LCA expert (the researcher conducting the study). Each focus group session was recorded and analysed using a qualitative method (thematic coding). Focusing on moral and cognitive legitimacy, our study highlighted three main themes: the tracking of material flows within a community, the notion of complexity, and the dissemination of results. We identified certain tensions between LCA practices and the residents’ beliefs. Nonetheless, the output of LCA could still be valuable for residents, especially in terms of communicating their alternative way of life. It is also worth noting that the barriers to LCA adoption are similar in both industrial contexts and sustainable communities. We conclude on the need to better understand the role of LCA as a strategy for sustainable communities to upscale their way of life, while also acknowledging the persistent (and necessary) tensions in terms of values and organization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145977474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-09DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100133
Laura Montes de Oca , Maria Navarro , Tyra Byers
Sustainability education is increasingly recognized as essential for preparing graduates to address global environmental, economic, and societal challenges. Yet limited research examines which program features most effectively foster lasting learning and professional readiness. This study explores the design and perceived impact of a university Sustainability Certificate Program (SCP) through alumni reflections, offering insights into program characteristics that support transformational learning. Using reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews from the 2018–2020 cohort, the study identifies four interrelated features that shaped outcomes: experiential learning opportunities that connected coursework with real-world application; inclusive and interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches; strong institutional and relational supports; and structured career preparation and professional development. Alumni described the SCP as a coherent, student-centered experience that cultivated sustainability competencies, personal growth, and long-term engagement with sustainability practices. Findings highlight how intentional integration of experiential strategies, competency-based design, and supportive learning environments can strengthen sustainability education. Implications include embedding applied learning across curricula, aligning pedagogy with competency frameworks, fostering inclusive learning communities that promote belonging, and linking academic experiences to career translation. While the study is limited by its small, self-selected sample and retrospective design, its insights are transferable to institutions seeking to design programs that bridge theory and practice and prepare graduates for sustainability-oriented careers.
{"title":"Understanding what makes sustainability education effective: Insights from a university certificate program","authors":"Laura Montes de Oca , Maria Navarro , Tyra Byers","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sustainability education is increasingly recognized as essential for preparing graduates to address global environmental, economic, and societal challenges. Yet limited research examines which program features most effectively foster lasting learning and professional readiness. This study explores the design and perceived impact of a university Sustainability Certificate Program (SCP) through alumni reflections, offering insights into program characteristics that support transformational learning. Using reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews from the 2018–2020 cohort, the study identifies four interrelated features that shaped outcomes: experiential learning opportunities that connected coursework with real-world application; inclusive and interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches; strong institutional and relational supports; and structured career preparation and professional development. Alumni described the SCP as a coherent, student-centered experience that cultivated sustainability competencies, personal growth, and long-term engagement with sustainability practices. Findings highlight how intentional integration of experiential strategies, competency-based design, and supportive learning environments can strengthen sustainability education. Implications include embedding applied learning across curricula, aligning pedagogy with competency frameworks, fostering inclusive learning communities that promote belonging, and linking academic experiences to career translation. While the study is limited by its small, self-selected sample and retrospective design, its insights are transferable to institutions seeking to design programs that bridge theory and practice and prepare graduates for sustainability-oriented careers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100133"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145977472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite growing global attention to sustainable entrepreneurship, limited understanding persists regarding how financial, institutional, and leadership dynamics jointly shape the green transition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Responding to this gap, the present study offers a novel, ecosystem-based perspective that examines how multiple drivers and barriers co-evolve to influence SME sustainability transitions. Drawing from institutional theory and the resource-based view, and using the United Arab Emirates as a representative context, the paper presents qualitative evidence from 96 stakeholders—including government officials, SME leaders, academics, consultants, and finance professionals. Findings include evidence of the complex interplay between internal capabilities and external institutional structures that determine the pace and depth of green transformation. The findings reveal that financial challenges—particularly high borrowing costs, investor risk aversion, and the absence of specialized green finance instruments—constitute the most significant barriers to sustainability adoption. Conversely, government support mechanisms, technological advancement, and leadership commitment act as powerful enablers, promoting innovation and resilience. The study further demonstrates that SMEs’ ability to signal environmental and social value to investors depends on coherent policy frameworks and integrated public–private financing mechanisms. By integrating insights informed by theory and empirical data, this research proposes a multidimensional framework linking green finance accessibility, institutional readiness, and organizational capability development, advancing theoretical understanding of SME sustainability transitions. The findings provide actionable guidance for policymakers, financial institutions, and ecosystem stakeholders seeking to strengthen national green SME ecosystems and offer comparative insights for other economies pursuing sustainable and inclusive growth.
{"title":"Exploring the drivers of green SMEs: A multidimensional qualitative study","authors":"Hajer Zarrouk , Sonia Abdennadher , Laura Galloway , Jaber Jemai , Tayseer Mohammad Ismail , Mourad Elhadef , Morad Benyoucef","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100124","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100124","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite growing global attention to sustainable entrepreneurship, limited understanding persists regarding how financial, institutional, and leadership dynamics jointly shape the green transition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Responding to this gap, the present study offers a novel, ecosystem-based perspective that examines how multiple drivers and barriers co-evolve to influence SME sustainability transitions. Drawing from institutional theory and the resource-based view, and using the United Arab Emirates as a representative context, the paper presents qualitative evidence from 96 stakeholders—including government officials, SME leaders, academics, consultants, and finance professionals. Findings include evidence of the complex interplay between internal capabilities and external institutional structures that determine the pace and depth of green transformation. The findings reveal that financial challenges—particularly high borrowing costs, investor risk aversion, and the absence of specialized green finance instruments—constitute the most significant barriers to sustainability adoption. Conversely, government support mechanisms, technological advancement, and leadership commitment act as powerful enablers, promoting innovation and resilience. The study further demonstrates that SMEs’ ability to signal environmental and social value to investors depends on coherent policy frameworks and integrated public–private financing mechanisms. By integrating insights informed by theory and empirical data, this research proposes a multidimensional framework linking green finance accessibility, institutional readiness, and organizational capability development, advancing theoretical understanding of SME sustainability transitions. The findings provide actionable guidance for policymakers, financial institutions, and ecosystem stakeholders seeking to strengthen national green SME ecosystems and offer comparative insights for other economies pursuing sustainable and inclusive growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100124"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100125
Minh Ha Nguyen, Saniyat Islam, Caroline Swee Lin Tan
The global textile and fashion industry is the second-largest industrial polluter, driven by its linear 'take-make-dispose' model, necessitating a transformative shift toward the circular economy. Implementation faces unique challenges in developing countries where the economic cornerstone sector creates critical environmental tension. This qualitative study investigated the internal and external barriers and enablers influencing CE adoption among SMEs in the Vietnam F&T sector. Drawing on Resource-Based View and Institutional Theory, data were collected through in-depth interviews with SME representatives, academic researchers, and government officials. Thematic analysis revealed key internal constraints (financial pressure, technological limits, a profit-first mindset, and knowledge gaps) and external impediments (weak customer demand, supply chain fragmentation, limited policy incentives, and infrastructure gaps). Nevertheless, enabling factors emerged, including strong leadership commitment, innovative business models, sustainability-oriented human resources, and capital sourcing networks, supported externally by market demand, stakeholder collaboration, and government regulations. The findings underscored that Vietnam's primary challenge was the absence of formal domestic recycling and reverse logistics systems, hindering the utilisation of readily available textile waste resources. This situation presented a significant opportunity for Vietnam to develop a new, high-value domestic circular industry. The study offers practical insights for policymakers and industry leaders to support SMEs in this transition with key recommendations focusing on capacity-building, improving infrastructure, and developing clearer regulatory frameworks.
{"title":"An examination of barriers and enablers to circular economy transition among small and medium-sized enterprises in the Vietnamese fashion and textile industry","authors":"Minh Ha Nguyen, Saniyat Islam, Caroline Swee Lin Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100125","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100125","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global textile and fashion industry is the second-largest industrial polluter, driven by its linear 'take-make-dispose' model, necessitating a transformative shift toward the circular economy. Implementation faces unique challenges in developing countries where the economic cornerstone sector creates critical environmental tension. This qualitative study investigated the internal and external barriers and enablers influencing CE adoption among SMEs in the Vietnam F&T sector. Drawing on Resource-Based View and Institutional Theory, data were collected through in-depth interviews with SME representatives, academic researchers, and government officials. Thematic analysis revealed key internal constraints (financial pressure, technological limits, a profit-first mindset, and knowledge gaps) and external impediments (weak customer demand, supply chain fragmentation, limited policy incentives, and infrastructure gaps). Nevertheless, enabling factors emerged, including strong leadership commitment, innovative business models, sustainability-oriented human resources, and capital sourcing networks, supported externally by market demand, stakeholder collaboration, and government regulations. The findings underscored that Vietnam's primary challenge was the absence of formal domestic recycling and reverse logistics systems, hindering the utilisation of readily available textile waste resources. This situation presented a significant opportunity for Vietnam to develop a new, high-value domestic circular industry. The study offers practical insights for policymakers and industry leaders to support SMEs in this transition with key recommendations focusing on capacity-building, improving infrastructure, and developing clearer regulatory frameworks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100125"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100126
Ebaidalla M. Ebaidalla
Despite extensive investigation into the factors driving the clean energy transition, the impact of income tax on renewable energy consumption (REC) has been overlooked. This study employs a newly compiled tax dataset covering OECD economies from 1990 to 2020 to investigate the influence of income tax on REC. The study also analyzes the moderating effects of digitalization, globalization, and financial development. Applying the Cross-Section Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model, the findings reveal that income tax exerts an adverse long-run effect on REC, indicating that higher income taxes discourage the adoption of renewable energy. Digitalization and globalization have positive and significant impacts on REC, while financial development shows a negative association. Moreover, the findings reveal that digitalization and globalization mitigate the adverse influence of income tax on REC, whereas the moderating effect of financial development is insignificant. Robustness checks using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) model support these findings. The study recommends that fostering technological advancement and globalization are crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of fiscal policy in accelerating the low-carbon transition across OECD economies.
{"title":"Income tax and renewable energy consumption in OECD countries: The influence of digitalization, globalization, and financial development","authors":"Ebaidalla M. Ebaidalla","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100126","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100126","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite extensive investigation into the factors driving the clean energy transition, the impact of income tax on renewable energy consumption (REC) has been overlooked. This study employs a newly compiled tax dataset covering OECD economies from 1990 to 2020 to investigate the influence of income tax on REC. The study also analyzes the moderating effects of digitalization, globalization, and financial development. Applying the Cross-Section Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model, the findings reveal that income tax exerts an adverse long-run effect on REC, indicating that higher income taxes discourage the adoption of renewable energy. Digitalization and globalization have positive and significant impacts on REC, while financial development shows a negative association. Moreover, the findings reveal that digitalization and globalization mitigate the adverse influence of income tax on REC, whereas the moderating effect of financial development is insignificant. Robustness checks using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) model support these findings. The study recommends that fostering technological advancement and globalization are crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of fiscal policy in accelerating the low-carbon transition across OECD economies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100127
Lavanya Pisipati, Prajna Paramita Mishra
The Information Technology revolution of the current times and the growing demand for newer technology are rapidly depleting the lifespan of electronics, thereby generating massive amounts of E-waste. This makes practices like urban mining essential to prevent countries from incurring economic loss due to unrecovered materials from E-waste. While most developed countries are adopting numerous policies in this regard, developing countries like India still face challenges in fully operationalizing such practices. Thus, it is crucial to understand the underlying issues from the perspectives of various stakeholders involved in it. This study is one such attempt, which focuses on the Information Technology companies and recyclers based in Hyderabad, India, to understand their E-waste management. By engaging with the concerned stakeholders through a primary survey, the study finds that both companies and recyclers are progressing towards the adoption of circular E-waste management practices. In most cases, the companies, dispose of their E-waste by selling it to dismantlers or sending it for refurbishment. The authorised recyclers, on the other hand, are employing urban mining procedures to extract metals and materials from E-waste for further use. However, both stakeholders opine that the prevalence of the informal sector and lack of awareness are barriers to E-waste urban mining. Thus, the study elucidates the need for innovative policies in this regard and subsidizing formal recycling, while also increasing consumer awareness to promote circular E-waste management. The research expands the discussion in this field by incorporating the perspectives of one of the bulk consumers of E-waste, i.e., Information Technology companies, and highlights the practices adopted, barriers, and drivers to safe E-waste management.
{"title":"Urban mining and resource recovery: Electronic waste management of Information Technology companies and recyclers in Hyderabad, India","authors":"Lavanya Pisipati, Prajna Paramita Mishra","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100127","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Information Technology revolution of the current times and the growing demand for newer technology are rapidly depleting the lifespan of electronics, thereby generating massive amounts of E-waste. This makes practices like urban mining essential to prevent countries from incurring economic loss due to unrecovered materials from E-waste. While most developed countries are adopting numerous policies in this regard, developing countries like India still face challenges in fully operationalizing such practices. Thus, it is crucial to understand the underlying issues from the perspectives of various stakeholders involved in it. This study is one such attempt, which focuses on the Information Technology companies and recyclers based in Hyderabad, India, to understand their E-waste management. By engaging with the concerned stakeholders through a primary survey, the study finds that both companies and recyclers are progressing towards the adoption of circular E-waste management practices. In most cases, the companies, dispose of their E-waste by selling it to dismantlers or sending it for refurbishment. The authorised recyclers, on the other hand, are employing urban mining procedures to extract metals and materials from E-waste for further use. However, both stakeholders opine that the prevalence of the informal sector and lack of awareness are barriers to E-waste urban mining. Thus, the study elucidates the need for innovative policies in this regard and subsidizing formal recycling, while also increasing consumer awareness to promote circular E-waste management. The research expands the discussion in this field by incorporating the perspectives of one of the bulk consumers of E-waste, i.e., Information Technology companies, and highlights the practices adopted, barriers, and drivers to safe E-waste management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100127"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100122
Johan Miyatani, Charlotta Söderberg
Achieving an environmentally sustainable society and meeting international obligations such as the U.N. Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the EU Green Deal requires all policy sectors to integrate environmental sustainability. Education, as a sector shaping our citizens of tomorrow, has a critical role in this transition.
This study explored how sustainability objectives are prioritized within educational policies, using Sweden as a case study to assess the preconditions for effective environmental education in upper-secondary classrooms.
Applying Environmental Policy Integration as a theoretical framework, the research employs content analysis and crisp set analysis to examine policies governing classroom practices and identify the value hierarchies embedded regarding sustainability. The analysis focuses on the national curriculum (2011) and the syllabi for the eight common subjects in two versions: the 2011 and 2025 revisions.
Findings revealed that Swedish upper secondary policy predominantly favors the social dimension of sustainability. Environmental priorities present in the national curriculum do not consistently trickle down to subject syllabi, and only the subject of science displayed a principled priority of the environment; although this was only evident in earlier versions of the syllabi.
This study concludes that for education to meaningfully contribute to a sustainability transition, policies need a stronger environmental emphasis, particularly policies that inform teachers’ everyday work and the exercise of public authority, such as subject grading criteria.
{"title":"Enabling environmental education – value hierarchies of sustainability objectives for upper-secondary school","authors":"Johan Miyatani, Charlotta Söderberg","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100122","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100122","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Achieving an environmentally sustainable society and meeting international obligations such as the U.N. Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the EU Green Deal requires all policy sectors to integrate environmental sustainability. Education, as a sector shaping our citizens of tomorrow, has a critical role in this transition.</div><div>This study explored how sustainability objectives are prioritized within educational policies, using Sweden as a case study to assess the preconditions for effective environmental education in upper-secondary classrooms.</div><div>Applying Environmental Policy Integration as a theoretical framework, the research employs content analysis and crisp set analysis to examine policies governing classroom practices and identify the value hierarchies embedded regarding sustainability. The analysis focuses on the national curriculum (2011) and the syllabi for the eight common subjects in two versions: the 2011 and 2025 revisions.</div><div>Findings revealed that Swedish upper secondary policy predominantly favors the social dimension of sustainability. Environmental priorities present in the national curriculum do not consistently trickle down to subject syllabi, and only the subject of science displayed a principled priority of the environment; although this was only evident in earlier versions of the syllabi.</div><div>This study concludes that for education to meaningfully contribute to a sustainability transition, policies need a stronger environmental emphasis, particularly policies that inform teachers’ everyday work and the exercise of public authority, such as subject grading criteria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100122"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Computer reuse is promoted as a strategy to reduce environmental impact, create local employment, and provide digital access. However, the development of sustainability indicators to inform policy has remained limited. This is due to the lack of empirical data on device lifespans and regional context, which forces Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) practitioners to rely on generic assumptions that limit the accuracy of impact estimations. This study addressed these gaps by developing an LCA-based calculation criterion designed to integrate multiple parameters using device-level data. The criterion is specifically tailored to provisioning scenarios targeting digitally excluded communities and was partially applied using a Dataset and lifespans of 710 refurbished devices from the eReuse initiative in Spain. Three provisioning scenarios (single user, two users with reuse, two users with new devices) were evaluated for Spain and extrapolated to South Africa and Sweden with contrasting electricity mixes to quantify the influence of energy in use. Reuse proved more advantageous than supplying new devices in terms of GWP per hour of digital access, and a one-at-a-time sensitivity analysis showed that the magnitude of this benefit is highly sensitive to device lifespans and electricity emission factors. Future integration of digital product information into LCA is expected to enhance the precision of sustainability indicators used to inform policy.
{"title":"Assessing the impacts of computer reuse for digital inclusion from product information","authors":"Mireia Roura, Leandro Navarro, Roc Meseguer, Sergio Giménez","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100123","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100123","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Computer reuse is promoted as a strategy to reduce environmental impact, create local employment, and provide digital access. However, the development of sustainability indicators to inform policy has remained limited. This is due to the lack of empirical data on device lifespans and regional context, which forces Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) practitioners to rely on generic assumptions that limit the accuracy of impact estimations. This study addressed these gaps by developing an LCA-based calculation criterion designed to integrate multiple parameters using device-level data. The criterion is specifically tailored to provisioning scenarios targeting digitally excluded communities and was partially applied using a Dataset and lifespans of 710 refurbished devices from the eReuse initiative in Spain. Three provisioning scenarios (single user, two users with reuse, two users with new devices) were evaluated for Spain and extrapolated to South Africa and Sweden with contrasting electricity mixes to quantify the influence of energy in use. Reuse proved more advantageous than supplying new devices in terms of GWP per hour of digital access, and a one-at-a-time sensitivity analysis showed that the magnitude of this benefit is highly sensitive to device lifespans and electricity emission factors. Future integration of digital product information into LCA is expected to enhance the precision of sustainability indicators used to inform policy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100123"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145694809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100118
Riccardo Losa , Stina Torjesen
Digital technologies have been increasingly adopted to facilitate the adoption of circular economy. A prominent example is the Digital Product Passport (DPP), designed to enhance product sustainability by collecting and disclosing comprehensive lifecycle information. International efforts toward the DPP include systems in the US, EU and China which leverage digital technologies to enhance products traceability, circularity, and sustainability across various industries. A DPP for batteries (DBP - Digital Battery Passport) is currently being implemented under the EU Battery Regulation and is entering into force in the European market in February 2027. Past studies have examined DPPs’ data requirements, principles, and challenges, but few have assessed their effectiveness in fostering circularity, and none have evaluated their role in the development of a circular battery sector in Europe. This study explored whether DBP’s potential circularity benefits are valid or compromised by implementation challenges and practical limitations. 35 industry stakeholders were interviewed, and literature and policy documents reviewed. The findings indicated that the DBP supports the emergence of circular battery value chains and facilitates both re-use and recycling. However, while data for recycling is easier to provide, the information needed for re-use is seen by stakeholders as posing availability and intellectual property challenges. This ties in with additional biases in the EU Battery Regulation that potentially favor recycling (i.e., targets for recycled content and recovered materials). Facilitating recycling over re-use is sub-optimal from an environmental perspective, and the article suggested a set of solutions to the DBP’s challenges, including for the recycling bias.
{"title":"The quest for more circular battery value chains: Implementing the EU digital battery passport and remaining challenges","authors":"Riccardo Losa , Stina Torjesen","doi":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.clpl.2025.100118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital technologies have been increasingly adopted to facilitate the adoption of circular economy. A prominent example is the Digital Product Passport (DPP), designed to enhance product sustainability by collecting and disclosing comprehensive lifecycle information. International efforts toward the DPP include systems in the US, EU and China which leverage digital technologies to enhance products traceability, circularity, and sustainability across various industries. A DPP for batteries (DBP - Digital Battery Passport) is currently being implemented under the EU Battery Regulation and is entering into force in the European market in February 2027. Past studies have examined DPPs’ data requirements, principles, and challenges, but few have assessed their effectiveness in fostering circularity, and none have evaluated their role in the development of a circular battery sector in Europe. This study explored whether DBP’s potential circularity benefits are valid or compromised by implementation challenges and practical limitations. 35 industry stakeholders were interviewed, and literature and policy documents reviewed. The findings indicated that the DBP supports the emergence of circular battery value chains and facilitates both re-use and recycling. However, while data for recycling is easier to provide, the information needed for re-use is seen by stakeholders as posing availability and intellectual property challenges. This ties in with additional biases in the EU Battery Regulation that potentially favor recycling (i.e., targets for recycled content and recovered materials). Facilitating recycling over re-use is sub-optimal from an environmental perspective, and the article suggested a set of solutions to the DBP’s challenges, including for the recycling bias.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100255,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Production Letters","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145623415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号