Environmental Sustainability Strategies Research Articles

Environmental sustainability of off-site manufacturing: a literature review

PurposeOff-site manufacturing (OSM) is a modern method of construction that brings various environmental sustainability benefits for stakeholders. The increasing take-up of OSM in practice has attracted much research interest in its environmental sustainability. However, a holistic understanding of these previous research studies is still lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to critically review the existing body of knowledge regarding the environmental sustainability of OSM.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis was adopted to systematically and objectively review 55 related historical studies.FindingsThree research themes were identified, including environmental sustainability assessment and performance, environmental sustainability strategies and critical environmental sustainability factors. A detailed discussion of the three themes was conducted to depict a whole picture of the current explorations in the research field. Additionally, a research framework was developed to articulate the interrelationship between the research themes and their specific research topics. Scientific research gaps were identified together with the future research directions in terms of sustainability strategies, performance impacting factors, sustainability indicators and drawbacks resulted from OSM application.Originality/valueThe literature review promotes construction stakeholders’ in-depth understanding about the environmental sustainability of OSM, which offers valuable implications for green industry practice. Additionally, it highlights the future research trends, which facilitates further explorations in the research area.

Linking Earth Observations for Assessing the Food Security Situation in Vietnam: A Landscape Approach

Land cover change and its impact on food security is a topic that has major implications for development in population-dense Southeast Asia. The main drivers of forest loss include the expansion of agriculture and plantation estates, growth of urban centers, extraction of natural resources, and water infrastructure development. The design and implementation of appropriate land use policies requires accurate and timely information on land cover dynamics to account for potential political, economical, and agricultural consequences. Therefore, SERVIR-Mekong led the collaborative development of a Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS) with key regional stakeholders across the greater Mekong region. Through this effort, a modular system was used to create yearly land cover maps for the period 1988 - 2017. In this study, we compared this 30-year land cover time-series with Viet Nam national forest resources and agricultural productivity statistics. We used remote sensing-derived land cover products to quantify landscape changes and linked those with food availability, one of food security dimension, from a landscape approach perspective. We found that agricultural production has soared while the coverage of agricultural areas has remained relatively stable. Land cover change dynamics coincide with important legislation regarding environmental management and sustainable development strategies in Viet Nam. Our findings indicate that Vietnam has made major steps towards improving its' food security. We demonstrate that RLCMS is a valuable tool for evaluating the relationship between policies and their impacts on food security, ecosystem services and natural capital.

Green synthesis of low-cost and eco-friendly adsorbent for dye and pharmaceutical adsorption: kinetic, isotherm, thermodynamic and regeneration studies

The green synthesis of low-cost, effective and environmentally friendly adsorbent via hydrothermal carbonization with less energy and time consumption to remove rhodamine B (RhB) and ibuprofen (IBP) from aqueous solutions was investigated. The samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, BET-surface area analysis, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis. In this study, several factors which can affect adsorption behaviors, such as the initial concentration, contact time, adsorbent weight, solution pH and temperature, were also evaluated. The adsorbent surface morphology result showed the construction of carbon spherical shape on the wrinkled and scaly adsorbent surface with the average diameter of particles around 2–5 μm. The data were well fitted to Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models with the maximum adsorption capacities for RhB and IBP being 70.92 and 63.69 mg g−1, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of RhB and IBP were spontaneous and endothermic. From the regeneration study, the used adsorbent was still maintained at 81.87 and 76% of the original condition after six successive regeneration processes. In general, this work presents a simple green synthesis method to enhance the performance and efficiency of adsorbent for RhB and IBP removal from aqueous solution. The overall results could be considered in wastewater treatment as a strategy for environmental sustainability.

THE KATINGAN CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR BORNEO AS A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AT KATINGAN REGENCY, CENTRAL KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA

The largets capital of development is sourced from natural resources, therefore, to guarantee the continuous development, the management of natural resources and environment should be carried out professionally and wisely while still taking into account the conditions of the environment and available natural resources in accordance with the concept of sustainable development. The sustainable development strategy in the Katingan Conservation program for Borneo is an effort to improve development through improving the economy and people's welfare while maintaining the preservation of natural resources and the environment. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze a sustainable development strategy model through the Katingan Conservation Program for Borneo in Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan. With a qualitative descriptive approach where data collection is carried out by observation, interviews and documentation, the results of the research show that the strategy concept undertaken is through environmental sustainability strategies, economic sustainability strategies and socio-cultural sustainability strategies.
 Keywords: sustainable development, conservation of natural resources and environment.

Design and implementation of a preliminar dendromorphical or arborescent key for the identification of the botanical families of the arboreal species of San José de Cúcuta

The knowledge in biodiversity and the use of botanical terminology is fundamental for ordering and landscape conservation of a city. In San José de Cúcuta, there is no knowledge of tree arboreal species, leading to an inadequate use of trees, triggering inconveniences in electrical networks, aqueducts and sewage systems. The objective of the study was to design and implement an arborescent (or dendromorphic) key as a methodological tool for the identification of native (or naturalised) tree families located in the urban and peri-urban areas of the city of San José Cúcuta. It was considered preferentially the vegetative characteristics and those peculiarities of the plants that are readily observable such as phyllotaxy, the composition and edges of the leaves, the exudate, the presence of spines or aculeos, the presence or absence of glands, pulvinids or stipes, dead bark and live, smells, colors and scores on the sheets, etc. Once the families were identified through the key, a manual was elaborated describing the essential characteristics for their recognition, which includes detailed and panoramic images, as well as excellent morphological descriptions in order to make a comparison to verify if the identifier corresponds to the family found by implementing the use of the arborescent key. By the identification and management of trees, a diversification and appropriate selection of tree species can be established that can make a useful contribution to the physiological, sociological and economic well-being of urban society, contributing to the region's environmental sustainability strategy. The knowledge of tree species is a foundation to guide and define policies towards the landscape planning of the city, aimed at its protection and conservation, as well as the enjoyment of the benefits and ecosystem services provided by the urban vegetation of the city of San José of Cúcuta, recognized nationally as the "Green City of Colombia".

Environmental and managerial information for cleaner production strategies: An environmental management development perspective

Abstract This paper examines the uses and characteristics of environmental and managerial information for cleaner production (CP) strategies to achieve corporate sustainability from an environmental management development perspective. Based on a development stage model, an analytical framework was developed to identify the organizational uses and dimension characteristics of information for three different CP strategies, namely, efficiency, consistency and sufficiency. Based on twelve case studies of businesses in Sri Lanka, the uses and characteristics of information are explored at three different environmental management development stages (i.e. functional specialization, internal integration and external integration). Overall, the study found that the organizations at the functional specialization stage, with limited information uses and characteristics, adopt a narrow view of CP strategies by associating them with efficiency. As organizations progress to higher stages of environmental management development, the information uses and characteristics for CP are expanded to encapsulate sufficiency and consistency strategies while strengthening the efficiency uses. Further, the findings show that limited uses and characteristics of information in some respects such as for pricing decisions, internal reporting of environmental aspects (e.g. material, water and waste with the exception of energy) and external collaboration can undermine the efforts of companies to use CP strategies for corporate environmental sustainability.

Prácticas de recursos humanos que impactan la estrategia de sostenibilidad ambiental

Este artículo es una revisión de la literatura existente sobre investigaciones que han explorado el vínculo entre las prácticas de recursos humanos (RRHH) y la sostenibilidad ambiental en el contexto organizacional, para identificar con ello las prácticas de RRHH que impactan la estrategia de sostenibilidad ambiental. La contribución de este artículo para fines académicos y prácticos es establecer cuáles son los impactos en las estrategias de sostenibilidad ambiental y cómo pueden alcanzarse a través de la gestión estratégica de RRHH. Los principales hallazgos de esta investigación dan elementos para la construcción de un modelo de diseño e implementación para aquellas organizaciones que tienen la intención de ser más efectivas en su gestión ambiental y marcar el rumbo para futuros investigadores que quieran responder desde el campo de los RRHH a las necesidades globales de preservar y proteger el medio ambiente.

(Invited) Development of Standards and Best Practices for Materials Testing in Low Temperature Electrolysis

As part of any overall strategy for environmental sustainability, a source of renewable hydrogen is needed, as a chemical feedstock as well as part of the portfolio of energy storage solutions. Currently over 95% of hydrogen is made from fossil fuels through natural gas reforming or coal gasification. However, water electrolysis has decreased significantly in capital cost and increased in scale. At the same time, renewable electricity costs have also dropped, especially in periods of high capacity, providing a potential pathway for competitively priced “green” hydrogen from water splitting. Still, continued materials and manufacturing research is essential to achieve cost parity with fossil fuels and produce renewable hydrogen at scale. As new materials are developed, it is important to make accurate comparisons to a common baseline, to understand the potential for improvement over existing technology and to compare different pathways. Currently, research on electrolysis materials published in the scientific literature tends to be scattered across a range of test conditions and configurations, making these comparisons difficult. For example, catalysts may be tested with a range of membranes, at different temperatures, with different counter electrodes, and different electrolytes. In addition, test configurations can impact performance and cause variation in results even for the same materials. Having a standard baseline set of conditions can ground the results, even if additional tests are also performed to look at benefits of specific conditions for specific materials. There are currently efforts in both Europe and the United States to select common standards and define test parameters and configurations for low temperature electrolysis. The U.S. Department of Energy is funding a team to coordinate similar work across all of the major water splitting pathways: low temperature electrolysis (primarily ion exchange membrane-based), high temperature electrolysis (primarily solid oxide), solar thermochemical water splitting (STCH), and direct photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC). This talk will describe status of this project, including a workshop held in October 2018 and follow up work for specific materials tests.

Beach vegetation as an indicator of human impacts in arid environments: Environmental conditions and landscape perception in the Canary Islands

Human occupancy of beaches is an important cause of environmental and landscape transformations, some of which are identifiable through vegetation analysis. Commonly, arboreal vegetation has been socially perceived in a positive way, as it contributes to the creation of environments appreciated as beautiful and natural. This type of vegetation has been recreated in urban coastal areas worldwide, including those located in arid environments where it is not always common or endemic to these areas. The typology of plant species, human impacts on beach environments, and the social perception of vegetation contrast were analyzed to understand the landscape influence and human impact on beach environments from arid regions. The study was carried out on 12 beaches with different degrees of human occupation (4 urban, 4 semi-urban and 4 natural) in Gran Canaria island (Spain). The results indicate that the number of exotic and ruderal (first to colonize human disturbed environments) species increases with human occupation of the beaches. A greater number of arboreal species were identified on urban beaches, while shrub and herbaceous species were more common on less occupied beaches (semi-urban and natural). However, when surveyed, the users of semi-urban and natural beaches, considered that arboreal vegetation compose a more attractive landscape than other with herbs or shrubs, even though tree species appear occasionally on these types of beaches. This inconsistency identifies a conflict of values between the development and conservation of beaches in arid environments. This study can be used to establish environmental sustainability strategies on beaches. Conservation and environmental information about ecosystem services related with indigenous plant species is and important issue for integrated management on beaches from arid regions, especially those that may be urbanized in the near future.

Environmentally friendly disposition decisions for end-of-life electrical and electronic products: The case of computer remanufacture

Increasing concerns about environmental sustainability strategies, take-back laws and natural resource limitation has highlighted the impact of disposing end-of-life (EOL) electrical and electronic products. To cope with this challenge, manufacturers have integrated reverse logistics into their supply chain or chosen to outsource product recovery activities to third parties. This research studies the remanufacturing processes of reusable products and parts, cost and demand of remanufactured products and parts to determine return quality thresholds during multiple production period. We present a general framework for a third party remanufacturer, where the remanufacturer has the alternative of supplying parts to external suppliers or bringing the disassembled parts to ‘as new’ conditions. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem, where with proposed discretization, the problem turns into a quadratic mixed integer programming (QMIP) problem. Finally, the impact of the quantity of returns, operational cost and upper bound disposal rate using a case numerical study of a personal computer (PC) remanufacturing facility has been studied.

Understanding Farmers’ Behavior towards Sustainable Practices and Their Perceptions of Risk

Farmers, as the first link in the agri-food value chain, are key in assuring its sustainability. Farmers’ behavior and attitudes towards implementing sustainable farm practices is influenced by their perceptions of risk affecting the farm and their household, either directly or indirectly. In this study, we elicit farmers’ perceived risk perception and preferences and test their robustness and validity using a sample of Greek smallholder farmers since they represent the majority of Greek holdings. Results suggest that farmers exhibit risk aversion in most situations of farm-level decision making. In many situations, farmers will prefer on-farm environmental sustainability strategies over other risk mitigation strategies. More specifically, higher age, higher education, farm size, proportion of rented land, and the existence of a farm succession plan reveal an increase in farmers’ preference for on-farm environmentally sustainable strategies and suggest reduced incentives towards implementing other on-farm or off-farm solutions.

A Mixed Method Inquiry of Gas Flaring Consequences, Mitigation Strategies and Policy Implication for Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria

The issue of gas flaring in Nigeria has become a topical one in view of the devastating effect it has in the socio-economic lives of the people in the affected areas. This paper investigates the environmental implication and mitigating strategies of the victims in Nigeria. Mix method was adopted by conducting 60 semi-structured interviews in three communities. The data was transcribed and analyzed using ATLAS.ti and content analysis. Findings show that gas flaring is the major problem facing the Niger Delta communities having negative effects on resident’s health, source of income and farm produce without any legal framework to curb it. Findings also show that people mitigate by using self-strategies such as nose mask, fertilizer for farm produce and boiling of drinking water. Data collected from government shows that there is an annual increase in gas production but gas flaring decreases at a slower rate as depicted in the graph. The paper is the first to conduct research on the coping strategy of the victims of gas flaring in Niger Delta and the importance of technology in eradicating gas flaring. The study recommended technology transfer from technologically advanced countries in capturing the associated gas instead of flaring it. Keywords: Gas flaring, Environmental legislation, Health, Ecological Sustainability, Mitigating Strategy, Government. DOI : 10.7176/JEES/9-2-07

Analyzing environment sustainability enablers using fuzzy DEMATEL for an Indian steel manufacturing company

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the Environmental Sustainability Enablers (ESEs) for an Indian steel manufacturing company to select the appropriate set of ESEs for implementing and enhancing environmental sustainability.Design/methodology/approachA methodology using fuzzy Decision-Making Trail and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) is proposed to analyze ESEs capturing multiple experts’ qualitative judgments on their mutual impacts. It is applied to an Indian steel manufacturing company to understand the salient features of the concept.FindingsThe relevant 18 ESEs were classified into cause and effect group and also interactions (i.e. influencing and influenced) of each ESE with other ESEs were evaluated. It was observed that the five ESEs (i.e. competitors’ environmental sustainability strategy, environmental compliance certification, government regulations and incentives, influence of external factors and air pollution controlling system) are the most prominent in the cause group.Research limitations/implicationsThe results obtained are specific to an Indian steel manufacturing company and it cannot be generalized for steel manufacturing sector. However, the current paper can show direction to carry out such work in other manufacturing companies.Practical implicationsThe proposed methodology will be helpful for allocating efforts and resources to enhance the impact of ESEs for successful achievement of environmental sustainability.Originality/valueNo such paper has been reported in the literature with an objective to develop structural framework for Indian steel manufacturing company to improve environmental sustainability.

Green Product Innovation Strategies for Environmental Sustainability in the Construction Sector

Environmental Sustainability and ecological benefits through green products innovations has recently gained significance due to increase in issues such as global warming, CO2 emissions, increase in waste and other ecological hazards. In the construction sector, green products innovations emphasize upon waste reduction or material recycling, energy conservation and control of pollution. Despite international certifications and LEED ratings, there are still barriers that retard the growth of green product innovation projects. This study investigated green product innovation through a multiple case study analysis of several building projects in three construction firms in the industrial towns of Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. The study was carried out around three variables, viz. energy conservation, materials reduction, and pollution control in the project life cycle. In-depth interviews and a study of documentation revealed such dimensions of green product innovation that are essential for a construction company to adhere to. The study also found out barriers that need to be addressed to in order to achieve green Saudi Arabia. Finally, the study suggested developing skills of company personnel and reviewing of the regulations in order to motivate companies to involve themselves more in green projects.

Scelte strategiche e pratiche ambientali nelle Pmi alberghiere. Verso un nuovo modello di business sostenibile

Purpose of the paper: Analysis of the environmental sustainability strategies of small and medium hotel enterprises (SMHEs) in community destinations. The goal is to investigate whether and how the adoption of environmental management practices (EMPs) have changed, and whether and how local key stakeholders have influenced eco-friendly behaviour. Methodology: The research carried out in 2015 in joint with the Statistical Office of Province of Trento involved all the hotels of Trentino (N=1,514) though a CAWI survey (redemption rate 88.9%). The data analysis followed two steps: 1) frequencies analysis addressed to identify the EMPs adopted and to compare the data with the survey conducted in 2005; 2) Multiple Correspondence Analysis and hierarchical ascendant cluster analysis to identify hotel profiles with different environmental commitment. Findings: Increase of EMPs investments. The adoption of EMPs depends on the “proactive” and “reactive” clusters sustainability awareness, on the acknowledged ethical value and on the stakeholders’ power and pressure on the DMO. Research limits: Focus on a single community destination. Practical implications: Small hotels can also adopt EMPs but that would require in primis a change in the traditional business model adding environmental sustainability aims. Stakeholder pressure supports the enterprise strategies. Originality of the paper: The research contributes to the scientific debate on EMPs adoption and stakeholder power and pressure on environmental sustainability strategies of SMHEs.

Achieving triple bottom line sustainability in supply chains

PurposeCompanies are increasingly challenged by sustainability-related supply chain risks. Research has developed linking supply chain sustainability priorities, practices and triple bottom line performance; however, risk is rarely included in these models. The purpose of this paper is to understand the link between sustainable supply chain strategies, practices and performance, and to test the importance of risk management practices in this relationship focusing on the product category level.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a survey of supply managers in four countries with 305 responses, with a focus on upstream supply chain strategies at the product category level.FindingsThe environmental and social sustainability strategies lead to sustainable supply sustainable performance, through focused practices in either area, but the effect on operational and cost performance is not significant. Social supply chain strategies positively impact environmental and cost performance when mediated by risk assessment practices.Originality/valueThis paper shows a more nuanced view of the impact of supply chain practices on the strategy–performance link. It is one of the first papers to empirically test the role of risk practices in sustainable supply chain management and emphasize the importance of alignment across the main dimensions of sustainability to achieve positive sustainable performance outcomes, but not necessarily cost and operational performance. Unlike other studies, social sustainability priorities may positively impact environmental and social performance and is linked to cost advantage when implemented with risk assessment practices.

Hotel Profiles Based on Environmental Management Practices: Evidence from a Study at an Alpine Destination

This paper analyzes the investment in environmental management practices (EMPs) adopted by hotels within a community destination. The aim is twofold: (a) to understand whether hotels have changed their EMPs in the last ten years and, if so, how; (b) to analyze the link between hotels’ environmental commitment and propensity of collaboration among local stakeholders. The research, carried out in 2015, involved all the hotels (N = 1.514) of Trentino, a community destination in the Italian Alps, through a CAWI survey (redemption rate 88.9%). The data analysis followed two steps: (1) frequency analysis to identify the EMPs adopted by hotels and to compare the data with the survey conducted in 2005; (2) multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical ascendant cluster analysis to identify hotel profiles with different levels of environmental commitment. The results revealed new and original aspects of the propensities of hotels to invest in EMPs and identified three different environmental hotel profiles: not eco-friendly, proactive, and reactive. Proactive and reactive hotels have a greater propensity to invest in EMPs and to collaborate with the Destination Management Organisation and with other hotels. The research contributes to the scientific debate on EMP adoption and the extent to which stakeholder power and pressure influence the environmental sustainability strategies of hotels.

The contribution of leading firms in environmental sustainability: dampening the detrimental effect of political capital ties

As a possible determinant of environmental sustainability, innovation management has grasped the attention of researchers. In the present research, we investigated the effect of political capital ties on firm’s contribution to environmental sustainability. We also examined how observed government support, an indicator of the inherent dependencies among political capital ties, moderates the effects of changes on innovation performance which plays a mediating role in the relationship of political capital ties and firm’s contribution in environmental sustainability. We got empirical data of 4807 listed firms of China (2010–2015) and diffused political capital ties to form a two-dimensional matrix on analysis of 36 interviews. Our study suggests that political capital dampens inputs for innovation resulting in a proliferation of innovation performance. This paper also guides that how moderation of enabling the effect of political capital ties is explained and measured through important dimensions of project initiation, high-tech accreditation and government subsidies in the context of government support. The present study also sheds light on new ways in which upper echelons theory, transaction cost and resource dependence theory can be integrated for more advanced research on political capital ties to evolve an optimal corporate strategy for environmental sustainability.

Business Group Affiliation and Corporate Sustainability Strategies of Firms: An Investigation of Firms in India

In spite of an overwhelming importance of business groups (BG) in the economic development of many countries, systematic inquiry on how the BGs and their affiliated firms approach and contribute to shared value creation and sustainable development is rare. In this paper we address this research gap by investigating two related questions—do BG-affiliated firms differ from non-BG firms in their corporate sustainability strategy (CSS) and how does BG affiliation influence the relationship between stock of fungible resources and CSS of firms? Drawing from the BG literature we theorize that BG-affiliated firms tend to adopt of both environmental and social sustainability strategies more than non-BG firms. We also argue that although according to resource-based view, the stock of fungible resources of firms positively influences CSS, BG affiliation negatively moderates the relationship between stock of fungible resources and CSS of firms. Stock of fungible resources matters less for BG-affiliated firms in undertaking CSS as they have access to resources of the BG network. We test our theoretical predictions using a proprietary data set of 163 Indian publicly listed firms, out of which 76 are BG-affiliated firms belonging to 74 BGs. The data for corporate environmental and social sustainability strategies have been obtained by administering a survey instrument among the top level executives of the participating firms. We find support for our theoretical predictions that signify that BGs and their affiliates make important contributions to shared value creation and sustainable development in emerging economies like India.

Eco-Dimensionality as a Religious Foundation for Sustainability

Academics have critiqued the Abrahamic faiths, particularly Christianity, as inadequate to respond to today’s environmental dilemmas due to abstract theological qualities like the concept of a unified or transcendent God. Christianity and Islam are the earth’s most populous religions, however, and they are growing in the global south. A literature review finds that both indigenous and world religions develop strategies for environmental sustainability. Examples include: Amazonian fisheries, Islamic gardens, monastic forest management, Baptist LEED certified buildings, and Christian agrarian stewardship. These cases share a characteristic termed eco-dimensionality, defined as the integrative expression of environmental values, caretaking norms and sustainable practices in all aspects of religion, that recognizes and specifically adapts to keystone environmental processes and ecosystemic or geo-physical diversity. Religious eco-dimensionality incorporates: inventorying biota and ecosystems, recognizing environmental spatial and temporal dynamics at multiple scales, understanding communitarian and anti-communitarian human behaviors, structuring social networks, adopting sustainable technologies, and developing an integrative repertoire of religious symbols, aesthetic endeavors and ceremonies. Eco-dimensionality can evolve to address new issues. Negatively stereotyping faith traditions can inhibit constructive conversations concerning environmental issues and development of religious symbols and practices enhancing eco-dimensionality.