End Of Life Cycle Research Articles

Gross Primary Production of Rainfed and Irrigated Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in the Colombian Andean Region Using Eddy Covariance Technique

Potato farming is relevant for global carbon balances and greenhouse emissions, of which gross primary productivity (GPP) is one of the main drivers. In this study, the net carbon ecosystem exchange (NEE) was measured using the Eddy Covariance (EC) method in two potato crops, one of them with an irrigation system, the other under rainfed conditions. Accurate NEE partition into GPP and ecosystem respiration (RECO) was carried out by fitting a light response curve. Direct measurements of dry weight and leaf area were performed from sowing to the end of canopy life cycle and tuber bulking. Agricultural drought in the rainfed crop resulted in limited GPP rate, low leaf area index (LAI), and low canopy carbon assimilation response to the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Hence, in this crop, there was lower efficiency in tuber biomass gain and NEE sum indicated net carbon emissions to atmosphere (NEE = 154.7 g C m−2 ± 30.21). In contrast, the irrigated crop showed higher GPP rate and acted as a carbon sink (NEE = −366.6 g C m−2 ± 50.30). Our results show, the environmental and productive benefits of potato crops grown under optimal water supply.

Study of Life Cycle Assessment of Bricks and the Impacts to the Environment in Malaysia

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted in order to evaluate the environmental impacts of products chosen from the manufacturing phase and the end-of life cycle of the material and in clay brick and concrete were chose as the observed products. Brick is one of the important construction materials that can be seen at the surrounding. Main objective for this study is to investigate the impact of production of different types of brick to the level of emissions of carbon dioxide to the environment. Four stages of life cycle assessment were conducted before the result for the study analysis can be obtained and that stages including goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory (LCI), life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and the interpretation part. The results obtained from the simulation of the Simapro shown that the concrete contributes more negative impact compared production of clay brick in terms of global warming, ozone depletion, formation of fine particulate matter and ozone formation. Manufacture of clay brick contributes more negative impact to the ionizing radiation, freshwater eutrophication and mineral resource scarcity.

Global distribution of material inflows to in‐use stocks in 2011 and its implications for a circularity transition

Around 40% of global raw materials that are extracted every year accumulate as in-use stocks in the form of buildings, infrastructure, transport equipment, and other durable goods. Material inflows to in-use stocks are a key component in the circularity transition, since the reintegration of those materials back into the economy, at the end of the stock's life cycle, means that less extraction of raw materials is required. Thus, understanding the geographical, material, and sectoral distribution of material inflows to in-use stocks globally is crucial for circular economy policies. Here we quantify the geographical, material, and sectoral distributions of material inflows to in-use stocks of 43 countries and 5 rest-of-the-world regions in 2011, using the global, multiregional hybrid units input–output database EXIOBASE v3.3. Among all regions considered, China shows the largest amount of material added to in-use stocks in 2011 (around 46% of global material inflows to in-use stocks), with a per capita value that is comparable to high income regions such as Europe and North America. In these latter regions, more than 90% of in-use stock additions are comprised of non-metallic minerals (e.g., concrete, brick/stone, asphalt, and aggregates) and steel. We discuss the importance of understanding the distribution and composition of materials accumulated in society for a circularity transition. We also argue that future research should integrate the geographical and material resolution of our results into dynamic stock-flow models to determine when these materials will be available for recovery and recycling. This article met the requirements for a Gold-Gold JIE data openness badge described in http://jie.click/badges

Sustainability assessment of building life cycle costing: A case study of Calabar International Conference Center

This work presents a study of sustainability assessment of building life cycle (LCC). The analysis was conducted, information model developed. The LCC analysis was forecast for 50 years with the following discount rates 4%, 5%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 12% and 13%. The result showed, the lower the discount rates the higher the cost value and via vasa. The product of net present value (NPV) is > 0, indicating a significant benefit at the end of the study period. The construction cost was 73% of the total forecast costs of the building while operation, maintenance/repair, replacement and decommissioning cost ranks 2%, 8%, 13% and 4% respectively of the building costs. The total forecast life cycle costs ranked 30.24% of the construction cost. The energy costs contributed 54.78% of the total forecast cost. The energy costs were the most cost incurring factor, the use of alternative sources of power supply such as solar will serve as the best and more cost friendly alternative source of energy. The decommissioning costs at the end of CICC building life cycle stand at ₦355,807,000. The study explains a practical analysis on how a life cycle costing of Calabar International Conference Center project was analysed and forecast for a period of 50 years using different discount rates.

Automated classification of civil structure defects based on convolutional neural network

Today, the most commonly used civil infrastructure inspection method is based on a visual assessment conducted by certified inspectors following prescribed protocols. However, the increase in aggressive environmental and load conditions, coupled with the achievement of many structures of the life-cycle end, has highlighted the need to automate damage identification and satisfy the number of structures that need to be inspected. To overcome this challenge, this paper presents a method for automating concrete damage classification using a deep convolutional neural network. The convolutional neural network was designed after an experimental investigation of a wide number of pretrained networks, applying the transfer-learning technique. Training and validation were conducted using a database built with 1352 images balanced between “undamaged”, “cracked”, and “delaminated” concrete surfaces. To increase the network robustness compared to images in real-world situations, different image configurations have been collected from the Internet and on-field bridge inspections. The GoogLeNet model, with the highest validation accuracy of approximately 94%, was selected as the most suitable network for concrete damage classification. The results confirm that the proposed model can correctly classify images from real concrete surfaces of bridges, tunnels, and pavement, resulting in an effective alternative to the current visual inspection techniques.

Women and mine closure: A case study of policy in South Africa

The social aspects of mine closure remain a challenge to the mining industry. Its tendency to deal with problems towards the end of a mine's life cycle, rather than planning for them from the start, is partly responsible for the gendered impact of mine closure. Using documentary evidence, the literature on how mining affects women, and the history of discrimination against black women in South Africa, we examine South African policy on women in mining and how mine closure affects them. The paper contributes towards a more nuanced understanding of the social aspects of mine closure. We recommend a more comprehensive policy focus on the local and regional social consequences of mine closure for women.

Closed Product Life Cycle as a Basis of the Circular Economy

Objective – The circular economy aims to preserve the value of products and materials within a closed supply chain. The existing models and decision-making methods for managing the end of the product life cycle are mostly focused on the economic aspects. While the circular economy is aimed at combining environmental, economic and social goals. This article aims to develop a model for enterprise decision-making on the disposal of used products, taking into account socio-environmental and economic factors. Methodology/Technique – The article analyzes the impact of digital technologies on the formation of closed supply chains and the development of a circular economy. At the same time, special attention is focused on the model of a closed product life cycle, as a fundamental element in the formation of a circular economy at the micro and nano levels, as well as the importance of using digital technologies at all stages of the product life cycle. Findings –The methods of product management at the end of the life cycle studied in the article have made it possible to form a simulation decision support model regarding the method of product disposal, taking into account environmental and economic feasibility. Novelty – This study identified the main trends in the development of closed supply chains under the influence of digital technologies in the context of a circular economy. Type of Paper: Review JEL Classification: F42, F43 Keywords: Circular Economy; Digital Technology; Decision-making Model; Closed-loop Supply Chains Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Vetrova, M; Ivanova, D. (2021). Closed Product Life Cycle as a Basis of the Circular Economy, Journal of Business and Economics Review, 5(4) 36–50. https://doi.org/10.35609/jber.2021.5.4(4)

Recycling of High-Value-Added Aramid Nanofibers from Waste Aramid Resources via a Feasible and Cost-Effective Approach.

High-performance aramid fibers are extensively applied in the civil and military fields. A great deal of waste aramid resources originating from the manufacturing process, spare parts, or end of life cycle are wrongly disposed (i.e., landfill, smash, fibrillation), causing a waste of valuable resources as well as severe environmental pollution. Although aramid nanofibers (ANFs) have recently been recently reported as one of the most promising building blocks due to their excellent properties, they suffer from an extremely high production expenditure, thereby greatly hindering their scale-up application. Herein, in this paper, from a resources-saving and cost-reductional perspective, we present a feasible top-down approach to recycle high value-added ANFs with an affordable cost from various waste aramid resources. The results indicate that although the reclaimed ANFs have a molecular weight reduction of 8.1% compared with the recycled aramid fibers, they still exhibit a molecular weight of 43.0 kg·mol-1 that represents the highest value compared to other methods. It is noteworthy that the fabrication cost of ANFs is significantly reduced (∼7 times) due to the reclamation of waste aramid fibers instead of the expensive virgin aramid fibers. The obtained ANFs show impressive tensile strength (149.2 MPa) and toughness (10.43 MJ·m-3), excellent thermal stabilities (Td of 542 °C), and a high specific surface area (65.2 m2·g-1), which endows them to be promising candidates for constructing advanced materials. Compared to the aramid pulp obtained by the traditional recycling method, ANFs show significant advantages in dimensional homogeneity, aspect ratio, dispersibility, film-forming property, and especially the excellent properties of the ANF film. In addition, the scale-up preparation of ANFs from the recycled waste aramid fibers is carried out, demonstrating it is highly economically viable. Therefore, this work provides a highly feasible and cost-effective recycle system to reclaim the waste aramid resources together with significantly reducing the preparation cost of ANFs.

INNOVATION IN SOFTWARE. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE CHANGES THAT INDUSTRY 4.0 IS DEMANDING

Industry 4.0 has favoured the expansion of many technologies whose application boundaries are very diffuse. Although each technology can have very specific applications, when it is wanted to apply to Computer Aided Design, Manufacturing & Engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) System, they have to be implemented as a whole. The first CAD tools were developed during the middle part of the 20th century, and since then they are in the beginning of the design, but it manages many data that must be taken in advance for the further stages of the lifecycle of the product. Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality are closely related to the Digital Twin and interlaced with the Big Data, which are generated by CAD tools and all surrounding solutions, which applies some cloud/edge/fog computing to these data in a merged technology between finite state machines and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cognitive processes. To perform in an agile manner all these integrations requires a network which support different connection ways to add specific devices, i.e. Internet of Things (IoT), which can access to the data, creating and modifying them, in a different layer which affects to the basic information layer created by the CAD System in the shipyard. This network should be secured but at the same time open to allow distributed work, which must be tracked in such a way that records any modification of every working step done in an open, transparent, trusted and non-modifiable working method for all stakeholders involved in process, like: shipyard, engineering offices, classification society and ship owner. Results of the design should be easy integrated with future building ways like 3D printing, generating printing orders directly from the CAD model. All the above technologies are reviewed in this paper, as well as revisit the application of them in every shipbuilding phase, from design to manufacturing. An integrated Industry 4.0 CAD system should also be involved in operation and maintenance phases, i.e. it must cover all the vessel lifecycle end to end, from design to decommission.

Towards A Conceptual Framework of Sustainable Practices of Post-consumer Textile Waste at Garment End of Lifecycle: A Systematic Literature Review Approach

Fashion is characterised by rapidly changing trends and consumption patterns which have led to complexities and dynamism of the fashion supply chain (SC). Excessive generation of wastes highlights the need for innovative ways to address unsustainable practices by feeding the waste back into the supply chain system. This paper reviews the extant literature on sustainability within the fashion industry’s supply chain to establish available sustainability practices to manage post-consumer textile waste (PCTW) at garment end of lifecycle. Four sustainable practices emerged from the review—education and engagement, recovery and redistribution, reuse, and recycling—and are central to a framework that shows the interaction of garment end of lifecycle practices and could the achievement of strategic competitive advantage. Our findings emphasise the importance for interaction and collaboration between consumers and retailers and further involvement of the entire supply chain. In addition, sustainability paradoxes were evident across the sustainable practices. To avoid this, for retailers are urged to shift towards cradle to cradle (closed loop) lifecycle supply chains. Furthermore, retailers should evaluate the practices they adopt by questioning their aim in the achievement of sustainability. We suggest that firms should consider the entire supply chain when adopting a sustainable practice and each agent’s role in achieving the overall outcome of sustained competitive advantage.

Current status on the biodegradability of acrylic polymers: microorganisms, enzymes and metabolic pathways involved.

Acrylic polymers (AP) are a diverse group of materials with broad applications, frequent use, and increasing demand. Some of the most used AP are polyacrylamide, polyacrylic acid, polymethyl methacrylates, and polyacrylonitrile. Although no information for the production of all AP types is published, data for the most used AP is around 9 MT/year, which gives an idea of the amount of waste that can be generated after products’ lifecycles. After its lifecycle ends, the fate of an AP product will depend on its chemical structure, the environmental setting where it was used, and the regulations for plastic waste management existing in the different countries. Even though recycling is the best fate for plastic polymer wastes, few AP can be recycled, and most of them end up in landfills. Because of the pollution crisis the planet is immersed, setting regulations and developing technological strategies for plastic waste management are urgent. In this regard, biotechnological approaches, where microbial activity is involved, could be attractive eco-friendly strategies. This mini-review describes the broad AP diversity, their properties and uses, and the factors affecting their biodegradability, underlining the importance of standardizing biodegradation quantification techniques. We also describe the enzymes and metabolic pathways that microorganisms display to attack AP chemical structure and predict some biochemical reactions that could account for quaternary carbon-containing AP biodegradation. Finally, we analyze strategies to increase AP biodegradability and stress the need for more studies on AP biodegradation and developing stricter legislation for AP use and waste control.Key points• Acrylic polymers (AP) are a diverse and extensively used group of compounds.• The environmental fates and health effects of AP waste are not completely known.• Microorganisms and enzymes involved in AP degradation have been identified.• More biodegradation studies are needed to develop AP biotechnological treatments.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-020-11073-1.

Estudo do ciclo de vida do ciclone subtropical Arani ocorrido no Atlântico Sul em março de 2011 através das reanálises ERA-Interim e CFSR

O ciclone Arani ocorreu em março de 2011 no oceano Atlântico Sul e foi classificado inicialmente como depressão subtropical. Ao atingir ventos superiores a 34 nós, passou à categoria de tempestade subtropical, sendo nomeado pela Marinha do Brasil como Arani, que significa tempo furioso em Tupi Guarani. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o ciclone Arani através do Espaço de Fase de Ciclones, construído com dados da reanálise ERA-Interim do European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), com 0,7º de resolução espacial, e, também, utilizando campos sinóticos e cortes verticais com os dados da reanálise do Climate Forecast System Reanalisys (CFSR), com 0,5º de resolução. Através dos diagramas de fase foi possível identificar a estrutura subtropical do ciclone Arani e o indício de uma transição de fase extratropical no final de seu ciclo de vida. Os resultados indicaram, também, que a qualidade dos diagramas de fase para ciclones com fraco núcleo quente e pequenas dimensões depende de modelos atmosféricos adequados e, por isso, os valores obtidos devem ser analisados com cautela quando se trata do uso de modelos globais. Neste caso, o estudo qualitativo dos diagramas se mostrou mais útil do que a análise puramente quantitativa. Apesar de discordar da informação de uma transição de fase extratropical no final do ciclo de vida do ciclone Arani, contida nos diagramas de fase empregados no estudo, a análise dos campos e dos perfis sinóticos contribuiu para o entendimento do desenvolvimento do ciclone e para a interpretação dos próprios diagramas de fase.

Antimicrobial Biomasses from Lactic Acid Fermentation of Black Soldier Fly Prepupae and Related By-Products.

Worldwide, thousands of insect species are consumed as food or are used as feed ingredients. Hermetia illucens, ‘black soldier fly’, is one of them, and a large amount of puparia and dead adults flies are accumulated during rearing. These materials represent important wastes but no studies are still present in the literature regarding their functional properties and potential reuse. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a heterogeneous group of bacteria contributing to various industrial applications, ranging from food fermentation, chemicals production to pharmaceuticals manufacturing. A LAB feature of industrial interest is their ability to produce antimicrobial metabolites. Considering the scientific and commercial interest in discovering novel antimicrobials, this work will be direct towards fermentation of insect-derived biomasses: puparia and adults insect at the end of life cycle. To the best of our knowledge, the in vitro antimicrobial activity of fermented insects is tested for the first time. This study aimed also to evaluate differences in the composition between fermented and unfermented insects, and to study whether the fermentation and the type of LAB used played a crucial role in modifying the composition of the substrate. Results firstly highlighted fermentability of this species of insects, showed that fermented black soldier flies puparium possess a high antimicrobial activity against tested pathogens. Moreover, result of chemical composition showed that fermented biomass had a higher percentage of fat and a more complex fatty acids profile.

Benchmarking of sustainability to assess practices and performances of the management of the end of life cycle of electronic products: a study of Brazilian manufacturing companies

The relentless pursuit of lower production costs causes companies to invest in more efficient production systems so that they can remain economically competitive, while the actions focusing on more sustainable operations from an environmental point of view are usually performed to meet the political government regulating environmental control. However, it is common for companies to focus their efforts to minimize the environmental impacts at an early stage of the product life cycle, neglecting sustainability management in the post-use phase. Given the context, this study seeks to develop sustainability indicators that can be used by the electronics industry to assess the level of practice and performance during production that are related to product recovery after the use phase, in order to better understand how companies are acting to reduce the environmental impacts of their products at the end of their life cycle. Initially, critical success factors related to environmental management of the product’s end-of-life are obtained. Then, some of those critical success factors are prioritized, giving rise to the indicators of sustainability used in the benchmarking method. Benchmarking was performed in electronics Brazilian companies, and the data was obtained by means of a questionnaire and interviews. It is concluded from the results that the proposed indicators are suitable for measuring the levels of practices and performance of the participant companies in environmental management at the end of the product life cycle as the indicators were able to portray faithfully the reality of each company.Graphic abstractPractices and performances in the studied Brazilian companies

ISO 20022: Understanding the scale of change

Payments are set to undergo phenomenal change. The industry-wide move from existing payment messaging formats to ISO 20022 incorporates cross-border, high-value payments/wire transfers and will touch the payment life cycle end to end. As the implementation deadlines draw nearer, the implications for banks are more wide-reaching and involved than many have yet to fully comprehend. This paper examines what is changing, what banks will need to consider and the opportunities that are being presented.

Disassembly Evaluation During the Conceptual Design Phase to Ensure a Better Valorisation of Products at the End of Life Cycle

Disassembly Evaluation During the Conceptual Design Phase to Ensure a Better Valorisation of Products at the End of Life Cycle

The Social Management of Human Resources in Organisations

This study aims to show the social role of human resources function in the institution which believes that the person is a strategic partner and a source of its distinction and its ability to realize unprecedented achievements.
 As a member of the community it is required to commit social and ethical responsibilities towards human resources in all the stages going through, either when applying for a job in the institution as shown attract and selection processes, or in recruitment when its shown by extent of security and safety at work, health care, fair salary, leadership and supervision type, recognition and appreciation, giving opportunities for learning, encouraging progress and creativity, or at the end of career life cycle and separation from work.

Life Cycle Assessment of Compostable Coffee Pods: A US University Based Case Study

Single-serve machines have proven to be a rapid and convenient mechanism for preparing coffee for consumption. However, disposing the single-use coffee pods accompanying each use creates insurmountable waste in landfills. With the introduction of biobased products being certified as industrially compostable, there is scope for an effective waste stream for nearly all biobased products that avoids adding to landfills. The case presented in this paper demonstrates the success of composting compostable coffee pods within a local industrial-scale composting facility. Utilizing the existing local composting facility at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, a life cycle assessment was performed to calculate the overall embodied energy and related environmental impact(s) to determine the feasibility of using compostable coffee pods over conventional plastic ones. Testing showed complete degradation within 46 days, proving composting to be a feasible waste stream option and a sustainable marketing edge while treading the path toward a circular economy. Cost savings of 21% were realized in terms of waste disposal, in addition to creating a value-added product at the end of the coffee pods life cycle, with nutrient-rich compost being recirculated to campus gardens and farms.

Human Rights as a Sustainability Goal

Editor’s Note: The oil and gas industry is under public scrutiny on a host of health, safety, environmental, and sustainability issues. These concerns affect how companies operate and interact with the public. This series sheds light on how the industry is actively addressing these challenges now and in its goals for the future. As has been pointed out before in JPT and elsewhere, “sustainability” is a multifaceted word. The industry has seen the risks inherent in each upstream sector defining the word in narrow ways. These multiple perspectives are a natural result of a global scope, despite a growing ability of the parts to work in harmony, especially during a time when unity in the face of the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is a necessity. Nevertheless, social responsibility remains a critical component of any drive to achieve sustainability. Central to social responsibility is the notion of safeguarding human rights, an idea seldom mentioned specifically in the literature. Three recent SPE conference papers, however, prove that this concept remains prominent in the minds of industry professionals. Two papers discuss the importance of guaranteeing the respect of human rights along the supply chain, where developing-world labor is at particular risk of being preyed upon without recourse to justice. A third paper links the human rights aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the broader idea of sustainability by explaining the benefits of institutionalized transparency in reporting the social impact of oil and gas operations. All authors argue that from both ethical and economic perspectives, human rights are a key component of sustainability. Petronas authors provide an overview of the implementation of human rights measures in the operator’s supply chain since the establishment of the company’s Human Rights Commitment in 2015 (SPE 195408). It involved embed-ding relevant human rights elements throughout the entire supply chain management process, starting from contractor licensing and registration to the performance evaluation of contractors at the end of the contract life cycle. The four human rights elements comprise fair and humane labor practices, security training that emphasizes avoiding the use of excessive force, the review of supply chain contractor adherence to humane practices, and the promotion of health and safety in communities involved in the supply chain. Further-more, the operator adopted a covenant the authors refer to as the Contractors’ Code of Conduct on Human Rights that is mentioned explicitly in general terms and conditions of all contracts. The authors demonstrate that a proactive approach in managing human rights is crucial to sustaining the company’s long-term growth. The implementation of human rights in the supply chain is a continuous journey as the company develops partnerships with contractors in the future; thus, continuous collaboration between both company and contractors is key to the success of this shared commitment. This collaboration will also meet growing stakeholder expectations for the operator to safeguard human rights. The operator has emphasized the positive effects of these measures on contractors, who are empowered to understand how operationalizing human rights can benefit the industry in the long term.

BIM-Based End-of-Lifecycle Decision Making and Digital Deconstruction: Literature Review

This article is the second part of a two-part study, which explored the extent to which Building Information Modelling (BIM) is used for End-of-Lifecycle (EoL) scenario selection to minimise the Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW). The conventional literature review presented here is based on the conceptual landscape that was obtained from the bibliometric and scientometric analysis in the first part of the study. Seven main academic research directions concerning the BIM-based EoL domain were found, including social and cultural factors, BIM-based Design for Deconstruction (DfD), BIM-based deconstruction, BIM-based EoL within LCA, BIM-aided waste management, Material and Component Banks (M/C Banks), off-site construction, interoperability and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The analysis highlights research gaps in the path of raw materials to reusable materials, i.e., from the deconstruction to M/C banks to DfD-based designs and then again to deconstruction. BIM-based EoL is suffering from a lack of a global framework. The existing solutions are based on local waste management policies and case-specific sustainability criteria selection. Another drawback of these ad hoc but well-developed BIM-based EoL prototypes is their use of specific proprietary BIM tools to support their framework. This disconnection between BIM tools and EoL tools is reportedly hindering the BIM-based EoL, while no IFC classes support the EoL phase information exchange.