Cleaner Production Letters最新文献

Coordinated and cooperative efforts among international actors are necessary for climate policy effectiveness. From a macroeconomic perspective, the greater the synchronization of business cycles, the greater the potential for policy coordination and joint decision making. In light of the procyclical behaviour between the business cycle and the carbon emission cycle, this work tries to shed light on carbon emission fluctuations of sixteen major developed and developing economies during 1946–2021. In analogy with “classical” business cycle research, the analysis dates expansionary and contractionary phases, determines their durations and amplitudes. It also inspects emission synchronization between pairs and groups of countries in order to assess their degree of carbon integration. Carbon emission fluctuations are mostly an expansionary phenomenon. Compared to developed countries, developing countries feature on average longer cycles (i.e., a lower number of full cycles), less time spent in contraction, longer expansionary phases, shorter contractionary phases and larger absolute amplitudes. Pairwise carbon emission fluctuations are synchronized in 34.2% cases. Developed economies have their own common emission cycle. As for developing economies, results are heterogeneous. Only part of them, in fact, shows evidence of a common carbon emission cycle despite a relatively recent history of cooperation, heterogeneous geographical locations and socio-cultural features.

The shift from a linear economy to a circular bioeconomy comes with many challenges in culture, behavior, business, technology and institutions, requiring transformative change. Circular initiatives are considered starting points for such a transformation as they demonstrate tangible alternatives to a linear, fossil-based economy. However, detailed insights into the progress of circular impact made by these initiatives have been lacking. Furthermore, conceptualizations of their development have primarily focused on upscaling, neglecting the diverse and dynamic development trajectories these initiatives might take in practice. The research aim of this paper was to better understand how circular initiatives contribute to transformative change. This study empirically explored three different development trajectories of circular initiatives; deepening (become more radical and circular), broadening (connecting with other domains and agendas) and spreading (becoming larger and more numerous). Based on interviews and desk research, 31 circular initiatives in the Netherlands were studied– in the domains of agriculture, biobased materials, marine research, and nature. The results revealed eight configurations, which are combinations of mechanisms that together guided initiatives’ development: deepening of initiatives was triggered by 1) focus and 2) reorganization: broadening was driven by 3) unusual collaboration, 4) aligning interests and 5) establishing a focus; and spreading occurred through 6) increasing capacity, 7) credibility and 8) offering perspective. These eight configurations provided in-depth insights into the diverse and dynamic development of circular initiatives. The configurations highlighted the significance of the interplay of mechanisms in studying the development of initiatives and in designing strategies to guide current and future circular initiatives.

Plastic production has increased over the years and the packaging industry was responsible for 44% of the total plastic production. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), due to its favorable properties, is one of the most used polymers in this sector.

This study first aimed to compare the environmental performance related to the production of a novel recycled PET (rPET) form, namely, rPET flake, and then compare it with the production of virgin PET (vPET) and rPET pellet. Secondly, this study aimed to compare the environmental impacts of four water bottles with different compositions, namely, option A composed with only vPET, option B made with 50% vPET and 50% rPET pellet, option C made with 75% rPET pellet and 25% rPET flake, and option D made with 50% vPET, 25% rPET pellet and 25% rPET flake. Option A was designed as a single-use water bottle, while the remaining options (Options B, C and D) were thought to be reusable bottles, and for that reason were heavier and more robust compared to Option A. The environmental impact assessment followed the International Standard Rules of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and the impact assessment method used was the Environmental Product Declaration. Ecoibéria and Logoplaste provided the majority of the required data, and three functional units were considered. The first one was the production of 1 kg of PET, the second was the production of different water bottles, and finally, the third one was the consumption of 2 l of water with different water bottles. As a result, it was first observed that the production of rPET flake in comparison to vPET reduces, on average, 79% of the impacts, and rPET pellet reduces 10% of the impacts. Secondly, in the production of the different water bottles, Option A, the single-use bottle, presented the lowest environmental impacts in almost all categories. Finally, when taking into account the reusable factor, the use of single-use bottles presented the higher environmental impact in all categories, probably because of the dilution of the environmental impacts associated with the production of heavier and robust reusable bottles by the multiple times of uses of these bottles.

Climate change has become a global problem, and the construction industry (CI) contributes significantly to this challenge. To circumvent these effects, the circular economy (CE) concept should be implemented in the CI. Developing economies could possess significant potential for implementing CE principles to attain sustainability, particularly in the CI. However, achieving this would require professionals in the CI to adopt some key competencies that should propel success in circular construction. Therefore, this study aims to identify the key competencies required by professionals in the CI to attain circular construction using Ghana as a case study. A quantitative research approach and purposive sampling technique were adopted. After an extensive literature review which showed several key competencies, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among five large construction firms and fifty-two responses from experienced professionals in the industry were obtained. Relative importance index and principal component factor analysis (PCFA) were adopted to evaluate the obtained data. Key significant competency skills for construction professionals to propel circular construction were identified such as specification writing for components and materials, designing for multiple-use cycles, and designing for near-zero energy buildings, among others. Three components were extracted from the PCFA which served as the guidelines for enhancing the competency skills of construction professionals namely, implementing sustainable circular practices, embracing sustainable operations management techniques, and adopting sustainable design principles. In addition, to enhance its practical implications, a competency implementation framework was also developed for construction professionals of developing economies to propel the adoption and evaluation of their competency skills toward circular construction.

As industries move actively towards sustainable operations, communicating the value created as a result of implementing social sustainability practices is still a challenge for researchers and practitioners. Understanding the rationale behind the implementation of sustainability practices can improve adoption and communication amongst supply chain actors. This study aims to investigate the drivers of social sustainability practices in the European Leather Supply chain through the lens of the stakeholder and institutional theory. A qualitative approach is applied in which primary and secondary data are used to achieve the study's aim and objectives in the context of the European leather supply chain. Data was thematically analysed based on the key themes developed in the initial conceptual framework. The study's key findings show that internal and external drivers that serve as antecedents for implementing social sustainability practices can be general or specific, providing another paradigm to Sustainability driver studies. Internal drivers rather than external drivers were observed to clearly relate to and explain sustainability practices implemented. The results from the study show that the application of the intersection between Institutional Theory and Stakeholder Theory can assist in explaining the relationship between social sustainability drivers and practices. The study proposes a framework for managers that can assist leather brands in understanding and explaining the importance of implementing social sustainability practices to key stakeholders whilst actualising short- and long-term business goals.

The impact of COVID-19 on different types of firm strategies, and how those firms responded to the effects of the pandemic is a subject of great interest for researchers, policymakers and firm managers. This paper studied the effects and response of eco-innovative Norwegian firms to the immediate effects of the pandemic. Given the strategy, structural, and leadership changes required for firms engaged in successful eco-innovation, such firms are assumed to possess a higher degree of dynamic capabilities that not only can mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic, but more importantly allow them to respond innovatively to those effects. Utilizing a dataset from a survey of Norwegian firms in 2020, the results of econometric modelling based on factor analysis of firm perception, showed that firms that introduced product/service eco-innovations, or process eco-innovations during COVID-19 were significantly positively affected by the pandemic compared to other firms. In addition, these firms significantly introduced more innovations in other areas of operations as a direct consequence of the pandemic. However, the results also showed that firms that introduced product/service eco-innovations were also more negatively affected by the pandemic. These results confirmed that while the higher degree of dynamic capabilities attributed to firms engaging in eco-innovations can significantly contribute to their ability to be positively affected and respond more innovatively to an unexpected external shock, it does not make them entirely immune to the negative effects.

Knowledge Exchange is a rapidly emerging phenomenon in the higher education sector. Nevertheless, it remains a niche area with limited studies examining the impact of knowledge exchange for sustainability on students. This research adopted a systematic literature review approach to review sustainability-oriented project-based learning and student knowledge exchange with a view to developing a framework to measure the impact of student knowledge exchange for sustainability. The literature review was based on 38 journal papers selected out of 3578 search results with an application of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow chart methodology. A qualitative content analysis was used to identify and explore the main concepts and variables to evaluate the content of the articles selected by SLR. The results showed three main categories to be systematically measured to understand their impact: (i) capacity building, (ii) affective domain, and (iii) career readiness. Capacity building requires measuring students' sustainability knowledge, competence, and skill levels. The affective domain evaluates changes in students' perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours identified as affective learning outcomes for sustainability. Career readiness assesses a student's level of preparation for the workplace. These variables/constructs informed the development of a framework to measure the impact of student KE for sustainability in a systematic and comprehensive way. The proposed framework is the study's main contribution, supporting measuring the impact of student knowledge exchange for sustainability. It provides a way to address impact holistically and define what specific variables/constructors should be measured to quantify students' impact.

Hydrogen is a promising alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replace fossil fuels globally. However, the feasibility of this alternative is subject to various factors beyond market conditions, including political, economic, and technological conditions. The goal is to assess the potential opportunities and challenges the macroenvironment presents for developing hydrogen energy use in Brazil. The PESTEL framework was utilized, drawing on bibliographic, documentary, and survey data to evaluate the political (e.g., government management), economic (e.g., macro and microeconomic indicators), social (e.g., patterns and trends in social behavior), technological (e.g., research and innovation), environmental (e.g., characteristics and problems in the natural environment), and legal (e.g., rules, regulation and laws) segments from 2009 to 2021. The political segment significantly impacts the potential for developing the hydrogen sector. While the economic segment poses several threats, the technological, legal, and environmental segments represent significant opportunities. This analysis provides valuable insights into the macroenvironment's characteristics and its influence on developing hydrogen as a sustainable energy resource in Brazil.

New ventures that strive for sustainability are crucial in offering solutions to grand social and environmental challenges, but they often face unique tensions. Previous tensions research has primarily examined incumbent firms, thereby limiting the transferability of findings to new venture contexts. Using a conceptual framework based on paradox theory, we explore the tensions that result from the intent to create social and environmental value in addition to economic value. Using content analysis, eight new ventures were investigated longitudinally at the pre-seed and seed phases. The findings reveal that new ventures face different tensions in the categories of organizing, performing, belonging, and learning. Additionally, the study reveals how entrepreneurs manage these tensions. The findings expand on the sustainability management literature and provide a foundation for more research on new ventures’ tensions. Entrepreneurs can draw on our study to identify and potentially overcome these tensions to create value along the triple bottom line.

Cities concentrate a large amount of people and activities thus being responsible for large amounts of resources being consumed which generate significant impact footprints contributing to climate change both directly and indirectly. In the meantime, circular economy is seen a promising concept to improve resource efficiency. Circular economy strategies are an emerging and important paradigm that can have an important effect in reducing CO₂ emissions.

This study aims at evaluating how circular economy strategies can reduce CO₂ emissions in cities with different contexts to find similarities and differences between them. The studied cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna, and Malmö.

A scenario analysis study is done for two scenarios: 1) Business-As-Usual scenario (BAU) and 2) Circular Economy scenario (CE) from year 2017–2050, using multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis. The most CO₂-intensive Exiobase sectors associated with downstream consumption in households and government were identified as CO₂ emission hotspots, and emission reduction targets were identified and applied to these sectors.

The main results from the study show that although Vienna and Malmö have applied sustainability strategies for quite some time, the results do not show that CE strategies work better in the European cities compared with Chinese cities. The results also suggest that the greatest potential and effectiveness in reducing consumption lies in the sectors of energy use and materials consumption for all cities. It can also be seen that CE scenarios have higher potential for CO₂ emissions reduction when compared to the BAU scenarios but the reduction level in Shanghai and Malmö is weaker compared to Vienna and Beijing, which indicates the effectiveness of current CE strategies in reducing Beijing and Vienna's emissions. It also suggests that for Shanghai and Malmö, more ambitious CE strategies should be considered. Finally, comparing the distribution of emissions among the four cities it can be seen that consumption of Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna relies highly on domestic production whilst Malmö is more dependent on international production.