Eco-efficiency Value Research Articles

Correction to: Combined analyses of costs, market value and eco-costs in circular business models: eco-efficient value creation in remanufacturing

Correction to: Combined analyses of costs, market value and eco-costs in circular business models: eco-efficient value creation in remanufacturing

Determination of eco-efficiency level of solid waste management of polypropylene cloth on motorcycle tire industry in Cileungsi (West Java)

Sustainability is now accepted by all stakeholders as a guiding principle for both public policy making and corporate strategies. However, the biggest challenges are still in the real and substantial implementation of the sustainability concept. The Motorcycle Tire Manufacturing Industry produces a by-product in the form of solid waste Polypropylene Fabric which is produced from one of its production processes, namely the Calendering process. Therefore, efforts need to be made to manage the waste resulting from the production process to become something more valuable so that a better level of eco-efficiency can be obtained. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of eco-efficiency of Polypropylene Fabric solid waste treatment produced from the calendering process and provide recommendations in an effort to improve the value of eco-efficiency. The quantitative method is used to calculate the efficiency of polypropylene fabric solid waste management that can still be taken from the waste. Based on the results of laboratory calculations and checks it was found that there was an eco-efficiency value of 30% for the reuse of waste polypropylene cloth and there were economic benefits of Rp. 355,877,264 in 2018 (based on forecasting the addition of waste in the future).

Combined analyses of costs, market value and eco-costs in circular business models: eco-efficient value creation in remanufacturing

Eco-efficient Value Creation is a method to analyse innovative product and service design together with circular business strategies. The method is based on combined analyses of the costs, market value (perceived customer value) and eco-costs. This provides a prevention-based single indicator for ‘external environmental costs’ in LCA. The remanufacturing of products is an environmental and sustainable approach, in the circular economy, and can deliver lower eco-costs of materials depletion and pollution. From a business point of view, however, remanufacturing seems to be viable in B2B niche markets only. In consumer markets, remanufacturing is less common. The question is how can remanufacturing become a viable business solution for mainstream consumer markets. Traditional ‘green’ marketing approaches are not enough: green has a positive, but also negative connotations, so marketing approaches are complex. By using the Eco-efficient Value Creation method, marketing strategies for the roll-out of remanufacturing in mainstream consumer markets, can be revealed. This approach has led to the development of five aspects, which are key to innovative circular business models, for remanufacturing: (1) buyers differ from the buyers of the ‘new product’ (2) quality must be emphasised in all communications (3) risk must be taken away from the buyer (4) top level service is required to convince the buyer (5) a ‘green’ brand may support the remanufactured product image.

Feedback-Based Eco-Design for Integrating the Recency, Frequency, and Monetary Value of Eco-Efficiency into Sustainability Management

Customer feedback is used to understand customer requirements. Early design phases require the consideration of items including manufacturing, the environment, and sustainability management. Therefore, it is crucial that eco-efficiency is taken into account in the early design phases. Traditionally, eco-efficiency is considered only in terms of eco-design issues, not customer requirements based on business values such as Recency, Frequency, and Monetary (RFM) value. In the meantime, integrating innovation from eco-design is one important aspect. Here, I propose that customer feedback-based eco-efficiency and TRIZ-based innovation can be considered in early eco-design based on the RFM value for sustainability management. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy-based AHP were integrated to explore the relative weights of RFM variables for business value evaluation. The innovative method of the paper is using a TRIZ contradiction matrix associated with engineering parameters for eco-design. The experimental study has been carried out, and it meets the forecasting business value for green product usage. The business value was used as the decision-making factor in order to evaluate both environmental and marketing performance.

Two life cycle assessment (LCA) based methods to analyse and design complex (regional) circular economy systems. Case: making water tourism more sustainable

There is a need for metrics to analyse complex business models in the circular economy. Life cycle assessment (LCA) currently is the best defined system to analyse the environmental aspects, and is capable to analyse circular systems, Product Service Systems, and systems for recycling. However LCA falls short of analysis of the added value of business models. Since new sustainable business models are part of the transition towards a circular economy, there is a need for combined analyses of value and eco-burden.This paper applies the LCA-based Eco-costs Value Ratio (EVR) Model to analyse potential negative environmental effects of business initiatives on a system level, and to provide a theoretical approach to the design of sustainable business models by means of a three dimensional approach of costs, eco-costs and market value. Two methods are applied for analysis and design: Eco-efficient Value Creation (EVR benchmarking) and the Circular Transition Framework (describing stakeholder activities which are required for the transition towards sustainable business models).The practical case of the analysis, design and implementation of a business model for sustainable water recreation in Friesland (a province in the Netherlands) is used to validate the usefulness of these two LCA-based methods.The conclusion is that the approach of Eco-efficient Value Creation helps to avoid many pitfalls of the design of circular business models (e.g. having a positive result on product level, but having a negative effect on societal level; having a positive effect on the environment but having insufficient customer perceived value to overcome fierce market competition). The Circular Transition Framework reveals pitfalls and opportunities in implementation (e.g. the coordination between business models and governmental policies).

Transportation related carbon, energy and water footprint analysis of U.S. manufacturing: An eco-efficiency assessment

In this paper, two-step hierarchical methodology is utilized to quantify the transportation related carbon, energy and water footprint (FP) of nation’s manufacturing sectors and evaluate the environmental vs. economic performance based on eco-efficiency scores. The methodology consists of an integrated application of the economic input output life cycle assessment (EIO-LCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approaches. In the first phase, EIO-LCA is employed to quantify the environmental impacts associated with the activities between 276 manufacturing sectors and the transportation industry and the second phase compares the overall environmental impact vs. economic benefit tradeoff by determining the eco-efficiency value of each sector. Results of EIO-LCA indicated that food manufacturing is found to be as the major driver of carbon, energy and water FP categories with an approximate share of 22% of the total impact on freight transportation activities in the transportation industry. Additionally, based on DEA-based sustainability performance assessment results, vast majority of U.S. manufacturing sectors were found to be inefficient (eco-efficiency <1). Only tobacco manufacturing was found to be eco-efficient among 53 major manufacturing sectors and the U.S. average was obtained as 0.5. Results indicated that inefficient U.S. manufacturing sectors need to reach an average reduction of 50% on the carbon, energy and water FP impacts to reach the 100% eco-efficiency frontier. Additionally, the weight of the transported goods was incorporated into the economic output as $/ton-km carriage, which yielded highly correlated results with the initial assessment based on total economic output only.

Innovation in product and services in the shipping retrofit industry: a case study of ballast water treatment systems

Eco-innovation research pays increasing attention to business models and their contribution to the diffusion of environmental technology into socio-technical systems. The extent to which a business model hampers or promotes certain types of eco-innovations remains an open question. In order to shed light on this issue, the authors develop a conceptual framework to show how a specific type of business model (Product-Service Systems) could be applied to the context of the maritime industry. With a focus on the Danish maritime industry, the case study addresses two questions: Which business models are being used to develop, install and service the ballast water treatment technology? And, How can these business models add value to the ballast water treatment systems in the market? The case shows that different business models are applied depending on whether the installation is on new or retrofitted vessels. Both installation and operation stages of ballast water treatment systems provide opportunities for collaboration among stakeholders. Based on the Eco-costs/Value Ratio model, the authors perform an analysis of on-board and port-based ballast water treatment systems with the aim to propose a possible product-service system. These results suggest that port-based systems have the highest potential for eco-efficient value creation and a possible product-service system can be designed for this kind of technology. The article highlights the point that authorities need to improve regulations to stimulate port-based ballast water treatment systems rather than on-board ballast management systems.

Eco-efficient value creation of cork products: an LCA-based method for design intervention

Abstract Cork, a natural, recyclable, non-toxic and renewable resource, which stems from the bark of a cork oak in the Mediterranean cork forest (Montado), is an excellent material for Sustainable Product Design. This article describes a project, developed for the Portuguese Cork Industry, on the sustainable innovation of cork products, using the method of “Design Interventions” for new product development, combined with the method of “Eco-efficient Value Creation”. Design Intervention is a method to generate innovative products in a structured way with a team of designers, focussing on maximum customer perceived value. The method has four levels: project strategic level, concept development level, design implementation level and product diffusion level. It includes workshops, combined with work in the design studios of the individual designers. The design concepts are analysed with respect to sustainability, and the market value of the prototypes are tested. Eco-efficient value creation is LCA based method with a double objective: 1. reduce the eco-burden of a product (and/or service), and at the same time, 2. enhance the customer perceived value. In this method, the combination of customer perceived value and eco-burden of the product is optimised, aiming at a high level of eco-effectiveness. The eco-burden is determined by means of Life Cycle Assessment (according to ISO 14040/44). The customer perceived value is determined by the price of the product in the market. The project showed that this two dimensional approach, generated good results: 27 out of the 36 new designs ended up with better characteristics (lower eco-costs at a higher value) than their reference products. Products have been exhibited in several international cities, and are sold in design shops.

Selection of the Sustainable Area for Rubber Plantation of Thailand by Eco-efficiency

The objective of this study was to analyse the suitable area for rubber plantation enlargement in Thailand by eco-efficiency assessment. This research evaluated the eco-efficiency value for rubber plantation in each part areas of Thailand including the north, the center, the northeast, the east and the south in 2010. Five phases of aged rubber trees used in this research were 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18 and more than 18 years. Material and energy consumptions were used as the key of environmental indicators for assessing the eco-efficiency. The result was found that the northern part showed the best eco-efficiency value for current rubber plantation because the labour cost, main cost of material consumption indicator, in the northern part was cheapest. Nevertheless, the highest eco-efficiency value of rubber plantation based on aged rubber trees in the northern part was 16 – 18 years of aged rubber trees. Regarding snapshot graph analysis of the northern part of Thailand concerning the eco-efficiency of rubber plantation based on aged rubber trees in the northern part located in half eco-efficiency. Therefore, the finding of this research suggested that the suitable part area of Thailand for enlargement of rubber plantation in new area was the northern part, which was contrast with National Strategy for Rubber Plantation of Thailand. Hence, this point should be impact into strategic development for rubber plantation in Thailand.

The Economic Value of Corporate Eco-Efficiency

This study adds new insights to the long-running corporate environmental-financial performance debate by focusing on the concept of eco-efficiency. Using a new database of eco-efficiency scores, we analyse the relation between eco-efficiency and financial performance from 1997 to 2004. We report that eco-efficiency relates positively to operating performance and market value. Moreover, our results suggest that the market's valuation of environmental performance has been time variant, which may indicate that the market incorporates environmental information with a drift. Although environmental leaders initially did not sell at a premium relative to laggards, the valuation differential increased significantly over time. Our results have implications for company managers, who evidently do not have to overcome a tradeoff between eco-efficiency and financial performance, and for investors, who can exploit environmental information for investment decisions.

Eco-efficiency evaluation of the petroleum and petrochemical group in the map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, Thailand

Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate (MTPIE), located in Rayong province, eastern of Thailand, was developed by the state enterprise, Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, Ministry of Industry, to serve industries that use natural gas as the main raw material development. This research presents the eco-efficiency evaluation of the petroleum and petrochemical group (PP) in the MTPIE. There are 31 factories in the PP group, which can be divided into three categories: upstream, intermediate, and downstream. The eco-efficiency values of the PP group were evaluated according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development recommendations. The comparison of eco-efficiency values between three industrial categories in the PP group demonstrates that factories in the downstream category obtained particularly good eco-efficiency results concerning material consumption, water use, and hazardous waste generation. The eco-efficiency trends of the PP group were simply analyzed by snapshot graph. With the availability of the data on environmental indicator, the water use indicator was selected to be an example indicator for analyzing the eco-efficiency trends of the PP group. The eco-efficiency snapshot concerning the net sale and water use during the year of 2003–2005 showed that the eco-efficiency trends of the PP group in the MTPIE shifted from half eco-efficient in 2004 to fully eco-efficient in 2005. This research can provide a basic framework on eco-efficiency evaluation for the industrial sector in Thailand, which will feed into strategic development, and would enable public participation in the discussion on branch developments and contributions to national trends.

Reduction of acidification from electricity — Generating industries in Taiwan by Life Cycle Assessment and Monte Carlo optimization

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a rather common tool for reducing environmental impacts while striving for cleaner processes. This method yields reliable information when input data is sufficient; however, in uncertain systems Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is used as a means to compensate for insufficient data. The MC optimization model was constructed from environmental emissions, process parameters and operation constraints. The results of MC optimization allow for the prediction of environmental performance and the opportunity for environmental improvement. The case study presented here focuses on the acidification improvement regarding uncertain emissions and on the available operation of Taiwan's power plants. The boundary definitions of LCA were established for generation, fuel refining and mining. The model was constructed according to objective functional minimization of acidification potential, base loading, fuel cost and generation mix constraints. Scenario simulations are given the different variation of fuel cost ratios for Taiwan. The simulation results indicate that fuel cost was the most important parameter influencing the acidification potential for seven types of fired power. Owing to the low operational loading, coal-fired power is the best alternative for improving acidification. The optimal scenario for acidification improvement occurred at 15% of the fuel cost. The impact decreased from 1.39 to 1.24 kg SO 2-eq./MWh. This reduction benefit was about 10.5% lower than the reference year. Regarding eco-efficiency at an optimum scenario level of 5%, the eco-efficiency value was − 12.4 $US/kg SO 2-eq. Considering the environmental and economical impacts, results indicated that the ratio of coal-fired steam turbine should be reduced.

Counting biodiversity waste in industrial eco-efficiency: fisheries case study

The foundation for the creation of eco-efficiency metrics for industrial impacts on biodiversity is considered. Because biodiversity is the essence of life itself, these metrics are essential for effectiveness in the theory and practice of eco-efficiency, particularly in the case of primary natural resource extraction industries such as fishing and forestry. The case of fishing is examined, with particular attention to by-catch, lost nets, and habitat damage caused by mobile fishing gears. It is appropriate to examine fishing because industrial era impacts on marine biodiversity have been severe and are driving large and deleterious changes in marine ecosystems. For discarded by-catch, it is proposed that an eco-efficient metric for the value per unit mass of discarded fish can be set to be equivalent to that of the market value of the utilized catch. In estimating the eco-efficient value of the catch, the value of the discarded fish is then subtracted from the market value of the catch. Fish killed in lost nets can be treated similarly. It is more difficult to address marine habitat damage by mobile fishing gear, which has the highest potential for ecological injury. By using the approach proposed, negative eco-efficiencies are obtained under circumstances in which the collateral damage to biodiversity exceeds the economic benefit obtained. This is a logical outcome given the long-term effects of biodiversity decline. A metric is also proposed for assessing whether avoidance of harm to biodiversity, in the form of switching fishing gear, is required. Lastly it is proposed that metrics might be developed to provide eco-efficiency credit for companies taking effective actions to improve, or actively participate in, ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Product quality-based eco-efficiency applied to digital cameras

When calculating eco-efficiency, there are considerable confusion and controversy about what the product value is and how it should be quantified. We have proposed here a quantification method for eco-efficiency that derives the ratio of the multiplication value of the product quality and the life span of a product to its whole environmental impact based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In this study, product quality was used as the product value and quantified by the following three steps: (1) normalization based on a value function, (2) determination of the subjective weighting factors of the attributes, and (3) calculation of product quality of the chosen products. The applicability of the proposed method to an actual product was evaluated using digital cameras. The results show that the eco-efficiency values of products equipped with rechargeable batteries were higher than those products that use alkaline batteries, because of higher quality values and lower environmental impacts. The sensitivity analysis shows that the proposed method was superior to the existing methods, because it enables to identify the quality level of the chosen products by considering all products that have the same functions in the market and because, when adding a new product, the calculated quality values in the proposed method do not have to be changed.

The Economic Value of Corporate Eco-Efficiency

This study adds new insights to the long-running corporate environmental-financial performance debate by focusing on the concept of eco-efficiency. Using a new database of eco-efficiency ratings, we analyze the relation between eco-efficiency and financial performance from 1997 to 2004. We report that eco-efficiency relates positively to operating performance and market value. Moreover, our results suggest that the market's valuation of environmental performance has been time variant, which may indicate that the market incorporates environmental information with a drift. Although environmental leaders initially did not sell at a premium relative to laggards, the valuation differential increased significantly over time. Our results have implications for company managers, who evidently do not have to overcome a tradeoff between eco-efficiency and financial performance, and for investors, who can exploit environmental information for investment decisions.