Green Principles Research Articles

Applicability of Clay/Organic Clay to Environmental Pollutants: Green Way—An Overview

Natural clay mineral and its modifier called modified clay have been used in many environmental applications for a number of years. However, they are not capable enough to achieve a higher conversion rate and so-called ecological sustainability. This can be due to a lack of understanding of the selectivity of the clay and its modifier or a lack of compatibility between clay and pollutants. Recently, the development and implementation of green principles into practice have become an emerging field that brings together green chemistry and engineering practices to achieve a pollutant-free environment (air, water, and soil). This review summarizes the role of clay/modified clay in pollution control and discusses the role of green chemistry in creating global sustainability. In this context, this review sheds light on the complete classification of the clay family to identify its properties and to critically examine the applicability of clay and modified clay for air, water, and soil pollution control over the past decade. This is the unique point of this review, showing how the properties of clay/modified clay can be useful for removing any type of pollutant without focusing on a single type of pollutant or clay. Furthermore, the importance of green materials in clay research, as well as the future area of application, was discussed. Overall, this review places value on multidisciplinary researchers to determine the role of the green pathway in the application of clay and modified clay in achieving environmental sustainability.

From the concept of sustainable development to ESG and BCG concepts in public administration: a critical analysis of the conceptual and terminological field

The article presents the genesis of the concept of sustainable development, discusses its structure, diff erences and similarities between diff erent approaches to its creation, issues of responsible investment, analysis of reporting and accounting for ESG risks. Th e authors examine the global shift in the ESG agenda from the standpoint of the specifi cs of public administration and the global turn towards the integration of biological, cyclical and green principles into the economy in diff erent countries (BCG). The results of a comparative analysis of the basic principles of various approaches in creating the concept of sustainable development are proposed to be used to develop strategies for sustainable development in various sectors of the economy, which is an important step towards a more responsible and sustainable development of society.

Benchmark Approach for Efficiency Improvement in Green Supply Chain Management with DEA Models

Nowadays, concerns about environmental issues are increasing. Therefore, companies and producers are under pressure from government rules and regulations on one hand, and on the other hand, maintaining customer satisfaction concerning cares about the environment. Green supply chain management (GSCM) is a procedure to increase efficiency and decrease environmental effects for companies that collaborate with customers and suppliers. According to GSCM, there is some research about applying green aspects of purchasing, design, manufacture, distribution, packaging, marketing, and reverse logistics of supply chains to improve their company’s performance regarding environmental issues. Moreover, recently, DEA as a nonparametric model is used to evaluate the efficiency and performance of supply chains as decision-making units (DMUs). However, previous studies on efficiency improvement in GSCM did not investigate the effect of some economic and environmental factors together such as service level, emissions (CO2), and size of the supply chains (arcs) on the efficiency of the whole supply system. These factors are essential as they can affect the manager’s ability to distinguish the true performance of a green supply chain. Thus, evaluating the efficiency of GSCM by DEA models and imposing the green principles to find out the efficient ones for increasing management performance is vital. Fulfilling the mentioned research gap, this paper developed a benchmark approach to verifying efficient DMUs and potential efficient DMUs which may improve costs and efforts to become efficient. In the case study, the benchmarks and potentially efficient DMUs are found by DEA standard models and slight adjustment is conducted for potentially efficient DMUs to change their status to efficient DMUs. Moreover, the effect of some green principles on the efficiency value of DMUs is verified using Tobit regression before and after the mentioned modification. A set of realistic results provided for the priority of potential DMUs modification confirmed the applicability of the proposed procedure.

The Challenges of Integrating the Principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering to Heterogeneous Photocatalysis to Treat Water and Produce Green H2

Nowadays, heterogeneous photocatalysis for water treatment and hydrogen production are topics gaining interest for scientists and developers from different areas, such as environmental technology and material science. Most of the efforts and resources are devoted to the development of new photocatalyst materials, while the modeling and development of reaction systems allowing for upscaling the process to pilot or industrial scale are scarce. In this work, we present what is known on the upscaling of heterogeneous photocatalysis to purify water and to produce green H2. The types of reactors successfully used in water treatment plants are presented as study cases. The challenges of upscaling the photocatalysis process to produce green H2 are explored from the perspectives of (a) the adaptation of photoreactors, (b) the competitiveness of the process, and (c) safety. Throughout the text, Green Chemistry and Engineering Principles are described and discussed on how they are currently being applied to the heterogeneous photocatalysis process along with the challenges that are ahead. Lastly, the role of automation and high-throughput methods in the upscaling following the Green Principles is discussed.

Developing a Conceptual Model of Hotel Employees' Pro-Environmental Behavior Based on the Local Genious of Bali

Bali as a tourist destination that has been known in the world has local wisdom that is continuously maintained through environmental education mechanisms to lead to environmental conservation and development that is sustainable. This study aims to identify local wisdom, behavior patterns of hotel employees who are pro-environmental. The research method is exploratory to inventory various indicators related to the implementation of local wisdom, the behavior patterns of hotel employees in supporting pro-environmental behavior. Data collection techniques using interview guidelines, and literature study. The informants were employees of 10 hotels in Bali which were selected purposively. The results show that local wisdom, such as Trikaya Parisuda (TKP) and Catur Paramita (CP), has been internalized by hotel employees as an initiative and effort to continue to maintain the sustainability of the surrounding environment. The presence of hotel employees working in the tourism industry sector provides characteristics about the importance of creating services with green principles. As a result, this research is expected to be one of the green practice concept models, namely activities to create and manage industries with the concept of sustainable business, namely the benefits of sustainable (economic) business, sustainability for the natural environment, and sustainable for the social environment of the hospitality industry.

Does implementing green operation management affect the Sustainability of port operations in Labuan Bajo?

Labuan Bajo Seaport's maritime logistics ecosystem serves the marine logistics supply chain as an essential part of economics and social development in the region. It is one of the economic regions that need to be developed where green operations management must be applied to suppress the negative impact of port operations. The research aims to analyze the influence of green marketing, business, and operation management on Sustainability. A cross-sectional study has been conducted in this research with data processing using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling. The population is the stakeholder of Labuan Bajo seaport, and the samples are 100 with a purposive sampling method. Findings show that green marketing has influenced business, operation management, and Sustainability. However, the green industry also influenced green operation management and impacted Sustainability. The study indicates that Sustainability can be achieved when the seaport operates using green principles from planning to monitoring by the involvement of the stakeholder.

Green chemical analysis: main principles and current efforts towards greener analytical methodologies.

Green chemistry, green analytical chemistry and green sample preparation are related areas that have been developing since the 90s, aiming to moderate the adverse impacts of chemical practices on the environment and human health. Presently, a set of green principles has been established, which is a collection of rules that need to be followed to perform chemical practices with a lower negative impact on the environment. Herein, we comprehensively review green chemical analysis by combining historical aspects and ongoing efforts of green analytical methodologies. Through four systematically designed chapters, information is presented on the aspects of green analytical chemistry, including its fundamentals, metrics, modern strategies and future trends.

Green principles of ecological safety of transport construction

The current trend toward the use of 3D concrete printing represents a vector for green financing of innovative transportation projects and a shift from traditional construction to additive manufacturing and a closed-loop economy. The potential impact of additive technology in the field of transport infrastructure is expected to be greater than in any other, due to the scale of construction printing and its environmental potential to ensure the environmental safety of transport construction at the global, regional and local levels, which appears to be a relevant interdisciplinary research area. The article analyzes the transition to a "green economy," including the introduction of additive technologies and the rational use of construction resources. The article gives proposals for energy-efficient and ecological green construction of high-speed railways and provides a rationale for the use of additive technologies using 3D-printed noise protection walls made of eco-concrete (green concrete, geo-concrete). The main recommendations on the choice of structures, optimal for the implementation of active noise protection measures on high-speed railways and artificial constructions are given. Presented the work of PSTU students of the Faculty of Transport Construction on the subject of 3D printing of noise protection panels with different acoustic performance. Modern architectural solutions were made with the preparation of a feasibility study on the implementation of innovations and the development of green design competencies.

GREEN SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ALCHEMILLA VULGARIS SILVER NANOPARTICLES

Among all the nanoparticles synthesized; silver nanoparticles have attained special place in the area of nano technology because of their antimicrobial, nontoxic, environmentally safe and biomedical applications. In general; their syntheses involves the use of hazardous chemicals or costly physical methods. However, the biological processes are making their ways in between and proving their advantages over them. The use of plants and their extracts is one of the most valuable methods which are gaining concerns due to their imperative biological benefits. Plants are not only beautiful but majestic because they are rich sources of various medicinally important substances. They explore the huge diversity which can be utilized towards rapid and single step protocol preparatory method for various nanoparticles keeping intact “the green principles” over the conventional ones and proving their dominance for medicinal importance. Here, in the presented work “one pot synthesis of silver nanoparticles” is described. Therefore; a simple, cost effective bio-reduction on the principle of “green synthesis” of silver nanoparticles using the Alchemilla vulgaris plant extract is reported. The beauty of the synthesis is: no involvement of any surfactant, catalyst or template. The aqueous silver ions are reduced to silver nanoparticles when exposed to plant extract. The bio-reduction and stabilization of so formed silver nanoparticles was monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, particle size and zeta potential.

Has China Established a Green Patent System? Implementation of Green Principles in Patent Law

The goal of high-quality economic development proposed by China has defined the sustainable development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing. Changes in economic development strategies affect corresponding changes in the legal system. The green patent system has an important impact on sustainable development. This paper looks for evidence at the system level from the three aspects of patent application protection, patent licensing and patent infringement relief, and proves the penetration of the green principle in the patent system, which is mainly reflected in the following points: (1) in terms of patent application, concrete public interest clauses, exclusion of non-green technologies from patentable objects, and open green channels for green technology patent applications to speed up examination; (2) in terms of patent licensing, exploration of the application of compulsory patent licensing to green patents for environmental protection, and improvement of patent open licensing to encourage the open sharing of green patents; (3) in terms of patent infringement remedies, the introduction of the green principle at an appropriate time to limit the right to stop infringement claims, and the application of punitive damages for intentional infringement and serious damage to the ecological environment. The conclusion is that China is currently working to establish a green patent framework, but the specific details have yet to be perfected, and the impact of legislative changes on green technology development remains to be seen. The above steps have gradually established the preliminary structure of green patents.

The effect of green supply chain practices on the firm performance: an empirical research

Environmental dimensions have been included in every area of life and every activity with the increasing environmental sensitivity and the concern to leave resources for future generations. This strategic path and strategic decisions gained an environmental dimension under the name of green supply chain management and green supplier selection, and attracted great attention in both academic and corporate life. New strategies such as green principles and related environmental performance are imperative and very important for companies, with increasing awareness of environmental issues and increasing concerns for future generations and our world. In order to address the growing environmental concerns of various stakeholders, companies have focused on external partners in the supply chain. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effect of green supply chain practices on firm performance. To this end, a survey was conducted with the managers of 120 large-scale firms operating in Turkey in order to measure this effect. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses, correlation analysis and multiple regression estimators were used in the empirical analysis. Since all items of the Green Supply Chain Applications Scale and Firm Performance Scale had factor loads (>60), all items remained in the analysis. In DFA, item factor weight values with 3 sub-dimensions are in the range (0.73; 0.90). According to these results, the internal and external supply chain practices have a positive and significant effect on all the indicators of firm performance that are reduction of pollutants, reduction of green costs and firm competitiveness. Similarly, reduction of pollutants and reduction of green costs, two indicators of green performance, positively affect firm competitiveness.

Energy-Saving Pathways for Thermoelectric Nanomaterial Synthesis: Hydrothermal/Solvothermal, Microwave-Assisted, Solution-Based, and Powder Processing.

The pillars of Green Chemistry necessitate the development of new chemical methodologies and processes that can benefit chemical synthesis in terms of energy efficiency, conservation of resources, product selectivity, operational simplicity and, crucially, health, safety, and environmental impact. Implementation of green principles whenever possible can spur the growth of benign scientific technologies by considering environmental, economical, and societal sustainability in parallel. These principles seem especially important in the context of the manufacture of materials for sustainable energy and environmental applications. In this review, the production of energy conversion materials is taken as an exemplar, by examining the recent growth in the energy‐efficient synthesis of thermoelectric nanomaterials for use in devices for thermal energy harvesting. Specifically, “soft chemistry” techniques such as solution‐based, solvothermal, microwave‐assisted, and mechanochemical (ball‐milling) methods as viable and sustainable alternatives to processes performed at high temperature and/or pressure are focused. How some of these new approaches are also considered to thermoelectric materials fabrication can influence the properties and performance of the nanomaterials so‐produced and the prospects of developing such techniques further.

Synthesis of copper hydroxyphosphate under the principles of green chemistry

This work aims to present two syntheses according to the green chemistry principles of Cu2(OH)PO4. The first one is a mechanochemical synthesis which was carried out with Cu3(PO4)2 and NaOH at room temperature and without solvent (principles five and six), the second one employed an aqueous suspension of copper phosphate (principle six). The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Using an analysis and evaluation scale based on green principles, the synthesis method reported in this study was compared with the traditional hydrothermal synthesis method, which was found to be a polluting process, while the synthesis method reported in this study was a clean process. It was concluded that clean processes lead to time savings, low energy costs and environmental care.

Sustainable multi-products delivery routing network design for two-echelon supplier selection problem in B2B e-commerce platform

This paper examines the environmental impact produced by multi-vehicle transportation on a sustainable supply chain (SC) network. The relevance of green principles is gaining momentum day by day, which has forced the governments to introduce carbon emission schemes for the transportation associated with the firms. Various countries around the globe are introducing carbon-pricing schemes, in which a carbon tax is imposed based on the amount of anthropogenic emissions. A firm, which sets environmental standards for the emission associated with its operational activities, should design a transportation network based on the trade-off between its economic efficiency and the carbon emission. In this paper, the main focus is to design a sustainable supply chain network. A mixed-integer-non-linear-programming (MINLP) model is formulated to minimize the overall cost incurred in a multi-vehicle, multi-product sustainable transportation network. The meta-heuristic approach i.e., Hybrid Chemical Reaction Optimization Algorithm with Tabu search (CRO-TS) and LINGO solver have been used to solve the proposed model. This analysis can guide the government to encourage the logistics service providers to capitalize on anthropogenic gas emission systems and simultaneously design the tax policy on carbon emission.

Developing the Conceptual Model of Sustainable Industrial Performance in the Hospitality Industry

The increasing number of tourist destinations in the world has led to an increase in the number of tourists and their supporting industries, such as the hotel industry. This increase should not have a negative impact on the natural environment and people who live near tourist destinations. Sustainable Industrial Performance (SIP) is one indicator to find out whether industrial development has an impact and becomes a benchmark for industry sustainability in the natural and social environment. Sustainable Industrial Performance (SIP) is measured from three (3) factors, namely economy, natural environment, and socio-culture. Pro-Environment Behavior (PEB) is one indicator of initiatives and efforts made by people who work in the sector/industry to continue to maintain the sustainability of the surrounding environmental conditions. Green Marketing Mix (GMM) is a variable commonly used by marketing people in marketing a product, be it goods or services. Green Marketing Mix (GMM) provides characteristics about the importance of creating goods or services with green principles. This research is expected to be one of the green practice concept models, namely activities to create and manage industries with the concept of sustainable business, namely the benefits of sustainable (economic) business, sustainability for the natural environment, and sustainable for the social environment of the hospitality industry

Sustainability: The adoption of green economy and sustainable accounting principles by South African listed companies and lessons learnt

The globe is facing challenges such as wars, poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, inequality, and climate change. These challenges have unsettled man in his habitation on the globe thereby prompting the United Nations to engage all nations to unite in addressing these global challenges. The interaction of the United Nations with the global community led to the understanding that eradicating poverty must be coupled with strategies that promote economic growth whilst addressing a myriad of social needs as well as climate change and environmental issues. Amongst the strategies to tackle the global challenges indicated above are sustainable accounting and the green economy. As members of the global community, South African listed companies also have a role to play in combating sustainability challenges. This paper contributes to the literature on sustainability, particularly on the adoption of the green economy and sustainable accounting by listed companies in the South African context as well as lessons learned in the process.

Leveraging blockchain concepts as watermarkers of plastics for sustainable waste management in progressing circular economy

Blockchain-integrated waste management and circular economy are emergent concepts that target minimising waste generation and fluctuations of resource commodity. Blockchain can support a circular economy and green principles by enabling information transparency, reliability and automation. Redesigning plastics by molecular tagging is the way forward to ensure synthetic plastics are kept in an infinite loop and support closed-loop recycling. The involvement of major corporations in product development and blockchain-integrated closed-loop recycling has resulted in several successful green chemical approaches toward circular plastic economy projects. Government policies and legislations are progressively supporting plastic redesigning for improving the plastic circular economy. Nevertheless, a systematic approach is required in addressing blockchain technology and plastic redesigning to effectively leverage circular economy initiatives.

An efficient and chemical oxidants-free protocol of synthesizing carboxylic acids from aldehydes catalyzed by the betaine-fatty acids ionic liquid derived from vegetable oil

Oxidation is a fundamental process in the manufacturing of explosives, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Numerous techniques to produce carboxylic acids from benzaldehydes in the presence of chemical oxidants have been developed. However, these approaches are complex and limited by catalytic system constraints, which include the use of costly and toxic chemicals. In addition, recent literature has revealed that these processes are also reliant on the use of rare metals, which will become harder to source in 20 years’ time. As a result, chemists are seeking feasible alternatives that are environmental-friendly and sustainable. In this study, a simple, effective and chemical oxidant-free approach of preparing carboxylic acids from benzaldehydes is proposed using betaine-fatty acids ionic liquid ([Bet][FA] IL) derived from vegetable oil. [Bet][FA] IL itself is found to be catalytically active in the synthesis of the targeted product. Additionally, good yield (76–97 %) of the desired product may be obtained using the precipitation method. [Bet][FA] IL is characterized using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Experiments showed that [Bet][FA] IL has a melting point below 100 °C and is thermally stable at high temperatures. Surface-active properties of [Bet][FA] IL measured by surface tension and conductivity at 25 °C found that its critical micelle concentration is lower than traditional surfactants. This environment-friendly approach is in line with green principles since it supports the use of sustainable catalysts. Finally, it is expected to be beneficial in future production of chemical intermediates via oxidant-free methods.

Evidence of paucity of residential green spaces from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract A Biophillic city reconnects man with nature through green spaces which foster mental and physical productivity. The industrial revolution ushered in a wave of technological deterministic choices at the expense of environmental deterministic processes in the fashioning of cities. The background of this research is set in the urban residential fabric of the metropolitan city of Lagos. This study is relevant because in Lagos metropolis, residential areas have a land use zoning of 52% as opposed to 2.8% for urban open spaces. The research study aims to investigate the greenness index or NDVI of three selected residential estates each representative of the residential densities (low, medium, high) in metropolitan Lagos and its indications for the abundance or dearth of residential greenspaces. The sampling frame was gotten by multi-stage random sampling and the data collection tool used was high-resolution object-oriented imagery. The data analysis made use of geo-referencing ARCGIS and ERDAS IMAGINE software. The results show the Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) values of the residential estates are low (<0.2) thus revealing residential areas with negligible vegetation. In conclusion, the dearth of green spaces which are physical observed within the residential fabric of Lagos city on a ground truth basis have been substantiated by the results of this research. Therefore, it is important to consider actions to improve the greenness index of the city as well as ensure that peri-urban settlements which are rapidly developing in Lagos city do so in a sustainable manner based on green principles.

Multistep Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Avobenzone

Multistep synthesis is a key capstone experience in organic laboratory instruction. Here, a four-step synthesis of avobenzone, an active component in sunscreens, has been developed that can be completed in two 4 h laboratory periods. This synthesis incorporates green principles and includes an aldol condensation, electrophilic addition of bromine to an alkene, an E2 dehalogenation of a dibromide, and hydration of an alkyne. Highlights of this synthesis include the use of coupling constants to identify alkene configuration, NMR analysis to determine preferred tautomeric form, the use of microwave irradiation to reduce reaction times, a solvent-free synthesis of a chalcone, and a three-step reaction that can be completed in a single lab period.