Industrial Waste Management Research Articles

Infrastructure provision of industrial waste management in the context of the strategy for recovery of the national economy of Ukraine

The article proposes an integrated approach to evaluating the development of the industrial waste management system on the example of the Kyiv region. This approach is based on the application of a set of indicators that characterize the current state of functioning of this system from the ecological and economic points of view. On the basis of the received results of the conducted diagnostics, barriers, threats, ecological principles of functioning of the regional industrial waste management system were identified. As a result of the study, it was proved that for effective infrastructural support of industrial waste management, it is advisable to implement a comprehensive approach, the essence of which is the integration of the principles of transformation of the industrial waste management system, the implementation of the reverse logistics algorithm, the main components of the organizational and economic mechanism (functions, methods, management tools, information systems, digital, “green” and innovative technologies), financial instruments of green investment for the implementation of the regional industrial waste management strategy. The implementation of the proposed integrated approach will contribute to the adoption of justified innovative decisions on the greening of logistics activities and environmental management; timely solution of problems of management of return flows of production waste using the principles of reverse logistics; minimization of the negative impact on the environment by reducing the volume of waste generation, increasing the volume of processing and reuse of industrial waste; effective implementation of circular economy models, transition to expanding producer responsibility; increasing the level of environmental safety of the region and the country; achieving the goals of sustainable development of the national economy. It has been established that in order to improve the industrial waste management system in the region, it is expedient to: introduce the latest technologies and equipment for collection, sorting, transportation, processing and utilization of waste taking into account advanced European practices; promoting the use of waste recycling as secondary raw materials on the basis of “green” investment; development of a financial mechanism for the application of public-private partnership based on attracting private investments and other non-budgetary sources of financing in the field of industrial waste management; creation of an appropriate cluster structure as an organizational form of partnership in the field of industrial waste management; development and implementation of tools for economic stimulation of industrial waste utilization; implementation of the concept of reverse logistics in the context of the green and circular economy.

Systematic review of the collective management of industrial solid waste with composting unit associated with tobacco processing

RESUMO O gerenciamento coletivo de resíduos sólidos industriais é uma alternativa que visa à redução de custos e à centralização de atendimento a requisitos legais. Para unir esforços na gestão de tal tipo de resíduo, conglomerados industriais têm se instalado em distritos onde desenvolvem suas atividades e gerenciam seus resíduos de forma coletiva, numa espécie de simbiose que traz benefícios ambientais e econômicos. Este artigo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática sobre alguns aglomerados industriais brasileiros e o gerenciamento coletivo de seus resíduos, utilizando como estudo de caso uma central de resíduos industriais localizada no sul do Brasil. Na revisão, foram pesquisados publicações e autores referência mediante duas combinações de expressões-chave: “Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida + Simbiose Industrial” e “Gerenciamento de Resíduos + Indústria do Tabaco”. O primeiro tema apresentou-se mais atual, com maior quantidade de publicações oriundas do continente europeu. O segundo tema foi mais constante, sem grandes variações no número de publicações, destacando-se os Estados Unidos como a origem dos autores referência. As conclusões apontam para a tendência de expansão dos estudos acerca de avaliação do ciclo de vida e a consolidação do conceito de simbiose industrial. Com relação à gestão de resíduos da indústria do tabaco, a abordagem foca nos malefícios do cigarro à saúde e no problema dos resíduos pós-consumo (bitucas).

Evaluating the COVID-19 impacts on the construction and demolition waste management and resource recovery industry: experience from the Australian built environment sector

The COVID-19 crisis has brought unprecedented challenges to many sectors, including the built environment. The construction and demolition (C&D) waste management and recovery industry is an essential service provider to this sector. Like other industries, this industry has been affected by the pandemic in many ways. However, in Australia, this impact has not been thoroughly investigated. This study, therefore, explores COVID-19 impacts on the Australian C&D waste recovery and construction industry as the major waste consumer and generator. To achieve this aim, a literature review and a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 participants representing five stakeholder groups (government, construction, waste recovery, material supplying and consultancy) across five Australian states. The research findings established that there is a critical need for leveraging digital technologies, developing business contingency plans, creating coalitions between government and industry, and diversifying supply chains to reduce supply chain risks. This study also uncovered a range of targeted responses and recommendations to manage pandemic-induced disruptions and improve the circular economy in the industry. Our findings can immediately assist industrial practitioners and government decision-makers in managing the impacts of COVID-19 on the waste recovery activities in C&D waste and other waste streams.Graphical abstract

RSM-based modelling of cement mortar with various water to cement ratio and steel slag content

The water to cement ratio (w/c) has a direct effect on the hydration process of cement mortar. It basically dictates the workability and mechanical properties of cement mortar or concrete. Steel slag (SS) is one of the industrial by-products which is used in concrete as supplementary cementitious materials. Utilizing SS in concrete could mitigate the impact of the massive amount of concrete demand and promise an alternative to industrial waste management. However, previous studies show that steel slag has high water absorption during the mixing stage due to its grains' morphology. This study intends to determine the influence of SS content of 0%, 2.5%, 7.5%, and 12.5% (by mass) in cement mortar with 0.40, 0.45, 0.50, and 0.55 w/c ratios. A series of experimental tests were conducted to investigate the workability, compressive strength, flexural strength, and water absorption characteristic in this study. The results show that a 0.4 w/c ratio with 2.5% SS substitution presents a very low workability as compared to 7.5% and 12.5% SS content. Moreover, the higher substitution of SS in cement mortar has significantly decreased its strength. However, by decreasing the w/c ratio from 0.55 to 0.40, the strength is enhanced at 28 days. Based on the experimental results, response surface methodology (RSM) analysis was performed to develop the statistical model to predict the loss in cement strength as a function of the SS contents and w/c ratios. The predicted models are validated by examining the correlated coefficient of determination (R2). The R2 values for models of compressive and flexural strength are 0.9995 and 1.0000, respectively. From the results, it was confirmed that the incorporation of SS into cement mortar with a low w/c ratio has significantly increased the strength performance of the cement mortar.

Managerial Functions of an Independent Coordinating Body in the Governance of Waste Management

Policies adopted to improve the competitiveness of public services include those designed to reform governance. Good governance of the waste management industry is becoming one of the most thought-provoking themes in heading toward a more circular economy. Given the complexity of this industry, the starting point for improving waste management performance must be at the industry structure and governance level. Although the economic literature on waste management has deeply investigated economic efficiency, business models, environmental performances, and citizens' behavior, governance's role in supporting the market's healthy functioning has received little attention. In such an evolving industry, securing a competitive market while ensuring the universality of waste management services and reaching circular economy targets is challenging. Based on both a theoretical approach and empirical analysis, we provide insights into the managerial functions of an independent body aimed at performing tasks that help policymakers to implement policies, waste management operators make decisions, and stakeholders, get information. We identify the economic and managerial functions that shall be entrusted to an independent coordinating body to coordinate and support the operators and institutions involved in the waste management industry. Focusing on municipal solid waste, we justify our proposal since it is a public service with environmental and economic implications at the center of the transition toward a more circular economy. Given its complexity, it needs to be properly governed to avoid policy and strategic drifts that may hinder the transition path.

Challenges and Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Waste Management Systems: A Review

Unfortunately, nearly the whole world came to a standstill due to the coronavirus disease 2019, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively and severely impacted almost all facets of society, systems, and lives on the planet during the last few years. During this time, a surge in the generation of a huge volume of diverse wastes at an unprecedented rate occurred due to the extensive use of disposables and personal shielding safety gear such as personal protective equipment (PPE) for both infected and uninfected people as well as frontline staff, etc., as corona protocols, especially in the form of “plastic wastes”. Consequently, all these factors induced a novel route for the pollution of air, soil, and water, inviting a great number of health hazards in addition to the pandemic. Beyond a doubt, the susceptibility of the spread of the coronavirus through polluted waste is high, an issue for which the waste management measures are comparatively not up to the mark. The spread of COVID-19 forced the world into lockdown, which had both constructive and unconstructive effects on not only the environment but also systems such as the waste management sector, etc. The unforeseen increase in the quantity of waste created a challenge concerning normal waste disposal facilities, negatively impacting the global waste management industry, and hence, leading to an urgent situation internationally. Still, in developing nations, the sector of waste management is at its nascent stage, and therefore, the sector of waste management during the pandemic period has been influenced severely in many parts of the world. The current comprehensive review provides not only an overview of the impacts and challenges of COVID-19 on the waste management sector but also extends the systematic data of waste generation that has been made accessible so far along with a discussion on the safety of the related workers and staff as well as suggestions for the possible approaches towards better waste management services, which are essential to manage the waste increase resultant of the COVID-19 pandemic in a majority of nations.

Introducing a system operator in the waste management industry by adapting lessons from the energy sector

Governance of waste management is historically based on local issues, with different applications and rules across countries. To meet the increasing number of circular economic goals, countries worldwide are seeking to improve the efficiency of waste management markets in terms of environmental performance and cost efficiency. For this market to effectively move toward a more circular perspective, sound reforms are needed at the market design level. We suggest that a system operator should be introduced in the industry to coordinate and support the healthy functioning of the market. We develop our idea starting from lessons learned from the energy market that apply governance characteristics and environmental goals. Focusing on the industry structure, we identify tasks and duties that a waste management system operator should perform to boost the transition toward a more circular economy. Our proposal has policy ramifications, with the most important identifying an appropriate legal entity. The study has managerial implications, and we suggest that a system operator is needed for reporting environmental results, ensuring the universality of service, planning and monitoring environmental goals, and supporting local authorities, as well as other coordination activities. These activities will facilitate a move toward a more circular economy, addressing issues concerning the complexity of waste management industries, markets, and outputs.

Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Physicochemical Parameters of Three Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes Indicating Threats in Ecological Sustainability

The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes provide substantial economic, environmental and social benefits across diverse ecological settings. Sustainability of these benefits is affected substantially by the mega-environmental level climate change and cumulative anthropogenic effects at the lakes and in their catchments landscapes. To provide an insight on some of the challenges that affect the lakes' health, this study assessed major water physicochemical status of three Rift Valley lakes: namely, Chamo, Koka and Ziway and compared with previous data. The water physicochemical data were measured in-situ for two years, i.e., from May 2018 to April 2020. Nutrients loading to the lakes were analyzed from water samples. The study demonstrated that water temperature, pH, electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity and total phosphorus (TP) varied significantly between seasons within and between the lakes. The findings demonstrated that the EC and TDS levels during the period of this study were higher than previous reported levels. The findings also showed that establishment and invasion of water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ) weed had association with nutrient loading into the lakes and vegetation in the lake's shore. The very likely anthropogenic effects associated factors including water turbidity, soluble reactive phosphorus, and nitrate-N concentrations varied among the lakes, across seasons and time. Our findings indicate that the urgent need of education and participatory intervention of watershed management, proper agricultural practices, strict and enforced municipal and industrial waste management practices, protection of wetlands vegetation and delimitation of the lakes' buffer zones to sustain the services of the lakes. Keywords : Chamo, Koka, nutrient pollution; water hyacinth, Ziway DOI: 10.7176/JEES/12-9-02 Publication date: September 30 th 2022

Preliminary Study of <i>Pleurotus ostreatus</i> (Jacq.) P. Kumm. Spent Mushroom Compost as Nutrient Supplement on the Shoot Induction of Fig Tissue Culture

Spent mushroom compost is identified as waste substrate. As the mushroom agriculture industry is growing rapidly, the production also increases and contributes to large amounts of spent mushroom compost annually. The conversion of spent mushroom compost as waste to wealth is a great concept that can give value to agricultural industry and solid waste management of mushroom cultivation. The use of SMC as nurient supplement may reduce the production cost for in vitro culture of fig plant. This research is to study the use of Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. spent mushroom compost (SMC) as a nutrient supplement of the media in shoot induction of fig plant. Nodal segment of fig’s stem was cultured in MS media supplemented with different concentrations of SMC. With presence of SMC, 10% SMC have the highest shoot proliferation (2.167 ± 1.169) and length of shoot (0.154 ± 0.060 cm). The study revealed that in presence of 10% of SMC could produce new shoots at a frequency which was comparable to the control (p<0.05; n=3; Tukey’s multiple range test). Among the different media combinations of plant growth regulators with SMC, 15 μM Kinetin with 10% SMC is the most effective treatment which gave maximum number of shoot proliferation (3.00 ± 1.27). 30 μM IAA with 10% SMC media have the highest leaves regenerated which were 1.33 ± 0.84. In conclusion, the SMC added in media for plant tissue culture had positive effect on shoot induction thus highlighted the potential of waste substrate of SMC to act as nutrient supplement for plant tissue culture.

SOSIALISASI DAN PEMBUATAN NUGGET DARI AMPAS TAHU UNTUK MENINGKATKAN EKONOMI MASYARAKAT DI KAMPUNG CEMPAKA PUTIH DESA ANYAR – BANTEN

The current management of the tofu industrial waste in SMEs has not been managed properly, the solid and liquid waste is discharged into the environment, such as ditches and rivers. For this reason, it is necessary to increase efforts to utilize the waste generated by community activities. The effort to utilize this waste is not only a form of environmental management that is inherent in the quality of human life, it is also an effort to develop human resources that can open up new business opportunities. Many types of waste can be reused through recycling or converted to other useful products, one of which is waste. from the tofu industry. The waste usually still contains fiber, carbohydrates, protein, fat, organic acids, and minerals and basically can undergo biological changes so that it can be converted to other products such as energy, food, feed, organic fertilizers and others. In an effort to build small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), first of all the chemical and physical properties must be known, so that various possible products can be estimated. Then the selected product is considered with its market and techno-economy. For example, tofu dregs have chemical properties that are dominated by protein so that they can be processed into food such as nuggets which function as a source of protein and can improve the community's economy

Metaheuristics with Deep Transfer Learning Enabled Detection and classification model for industrial waste management

Rapid industrialization has led to the generation of a considerable amount of waste, both solid and liquid, in industrial fields like food processing, sugar, pulp, sago or starch, dairies, paper, fruit processing, poultry, distilleries, slaughterhouses, tanneries, and so forth. Despite the requirement for pollution control measures, the waste is discharged into water bodies or generally dumped on land without appropriate management, and thus becomes a significant source of environmental pollution and health hazards. The most essential step of waste management is the segregation of waste into the various elements, and normally this process is done automatically by hand-picking. A smart waste material classification technique is required to simplify the procedures. Therefore, the study presents a new Metaheuristics with Deep Transfer Learning Enabled Detection and Classification Methods for Industrial Waste Management (MDTLDC-IWM) method. The presented MDTLDC-IWM model facilitates the use of DL models for the identification and classification of waste materials in the IWM system. To accomplish this, the presented MDTLDC-IWM model follows two key phases, namely waste object recognition and waste object classification. At the initial stage, the YOLO-v5 object detector with the Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) algorithm is used. Next, in the second stage, the stacked sparse auto encoder (SSAE) model is applied for the waste object classification method. The SSAE model is effectively optimized using the Aquila Optimization Algorithm (AOA), which helps to accomplish maximum classification of waste objects. The MDTLDC-IWM model has achieved a precision of 96.84 percent and an F score of 96.71 percent. A benchmark dataset is used to test the experimental validity of the presented MDTLDC-IWM model. Extensive comparative analysis reported the enhanced performance of the MDTLDC-IWM model over recent state-of-the-art approaches.

Thermal and Mechanical Improvement of Filling Mixture for Shallow Geothermal Systems by Recycling of Carbon Fiber Waste

The reuse of waste materials such as carbon fiber (CF) as filling additive for closed-loop vertical geothermal probes in shallow geothermal systems has been evaluated as a new grout mixture for the improvement of geothermal energy systems efficiency and a sustainable supply of raw materials from special waste. The study evaluates the improvement in both thermal exchange characteristics and mechanical properties of the filling grout for geothermal purposes through the addition of 5% of CF to standard (ST) materials currently on the market. Uniaxial and flexural tests investigating the material response after 14 and 28 days from sample preparation on samples of both standard and mixed grout material as well as non-stationary hot wire method were used to define the thermal conductivity for both the standard and innovative mixtures. The experimental analysis provides evidence for increasing the thermal conductivity by about 3.5% with respect to standard materials. Even the mechanical properties are better in the innovative mixture, being the compressive strength 187% higher and flexural strength 81% higher than standard materials. The obtained results become useful for the optimization of low enthalpy geothermal systems and mostly for the design of the vertical heat exchange system in terms of depth/number of installed probes. Principally, thermal conductivity improvements result in a reduction of about 24% of the geothermal exchanger’s length, affecting the economic advantages in the implementation of the entire system. A simple analysis of the reuse of CF waste shows the reduction of industrial waste and the simultaneous elimination of disposal costs, defining new perspectives for industrial waste management. This research provides essential elements for the development of a circular economy and is well integrated with the European challenges about the End of Waste process and reduction of environmental impact, suggesting new perspectives for economic development and sectorial work.

"Mechanical Strength Analysis of Concrete with Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregates by Iron Slag and Cement by Silica Fume "

The world's population is becoming more environmentally conscious, and as a result, regulations governing the management of industrial waste are becoming more stringent. As a result, the world's attention is increasingly being directed toward researching the properties of industrial waste and finding solutions on how to make use of the waste's valuable component parts. This is done in the expectation that these priceless component components can be repurposed for use as secondary raw material in one or more other types of industrial applications. This report demonstrates that it is possible to use iron slag as a partial replacement for sand and silica fume as a partial replacement of cement in concrete. This is accomplished by taking into account the specificity of the physical and chemical properties of these products. In addition, the report also takes into account the optimized content of these two materials. An investigation into the mechanical properties is provided. According to the findings, the strength attributes of concrete significantly improve when iron slag and silica fume are used to partially substitute for sand and cement in the optimized combination.

Performance of ash from Amazonian biomasses as an alternative source of essential plant nutrients: An integrated and eco-friendly strategy for industrial waste management in the lack of raw fertilizer materials

The increasing use of Amazonian biomass as a bioenergy source has contributed to the increased demand for fertilizers and the production of a large amount of ash. In addition to facing the challenges of an insufficient supply of agricultural inputs, the Amazon region has also faced problems in managing industrial wastes, which are not well characterized and for which few recycling options are available. Within this context, this study aimed to expand the knowledge regarding the use of Amazonian biomass ash , for which an integrative system between bioenergy and fertilizer production and waste management was proposed. This study evaluated ash applied as an alternative fertilizer, focusing on the availability and uptake of nutrients and heavy metals in acidic soils and the P dynamics using 31 P-NMR. Three soils with different SOM values were treated with one of three doses of mineral fertilizer, namely, ash (35 Mg ha −1 ), phosphate fertilizer (2 Mg ha −1 ), or a mixture of ash and phosphate (35 and 2 Mg ha −1 , respectively), and Avena sativa was grown to verify plant availability and the treatment effect on growth. The experiment was conducted for 60 d in a growth chamber . The ash application in pure form and mixed with phosphate slightly increased the pH (0.3–0.5 unit) and promoted significant increases in the availability of P (∼212%), Ca (∼165%), Mg (∼110%), and K (∼32%). In SOM-rich soils, the high microbial activity favored the transformation of inorganic P into organic P (2–21%), preventing fixation. The ash applications promoted positive effects on biomass production (∼62%) and increased the uptake of P (∼306%), Ca (∼181%), Mg (∼131%), and K (∼38%). Thus, Amazon biomass ash could be an alternative fertilizer source, representing a sustainable option for local socioeconomic development and the establishment of a circular economy system. • The ash from Amazonian biomass improves the pH of acidic soils. • The biomass ash application increases the availability of macro and micronutrients. • The biomass ash use increases the uptake of macro and micronutrients by plants. • The biomass ash application favors the transformation of inorganic P into organic P. • Ash recycling can be a sustainable and integrative way for soils and waste management.

Tetracycline Removal by Hercynite-Biochar from the Co-Pyrolysis of Red Mud-Steel Slag-Sludge.

The sludge-derived biochar is considered an effective emerging contaminants adsorbent for wastewater treatment. In this paper, red mud and steel slag (RMSS) was used for improving sludge dewaterability and enhancing the sludge-derived biochar adsorption capacity. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were employed to comprehensively characterize the mineral composition, functional group, and morphology of the adsorbent. RMSS was able to improve the sludge dewatering performance by providing a skeleton structure to promote drainage and Fe(III) to decrease the Zeta potential. The dosage of 20 mg/g RMSS was able to reduce the specific resistance to filtration (SRF) and the Zeta potential of sludge from 1.57 × 1013 m/kg and −19.56 mV to 0.79 × 1013 m/kg and −9.10 mV, respectively. The co-pyrolysis of RMSS and sludge (2:8) induced the formation of biochar containing FeAl2O4 (PS80). The PS80 exhibited a large surface area (46.40 m2/g) and high tetracycline (TC) removal capacity (98.87 mg/g) when combined with H2O2 (PS80-H2O2). The adsorption process of TC onto PS80 and PS80-H2O2 was well described by the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating physisorption and chemisorption behavior. The results indicated that co-pyrolysis of RMSS sludge PS80-H2O2 could enhance the biochar adsorption capacity of TC, attributable to the degradation by ·OH generated by the heterogeneous Fenton reaction of FeAl2O4 and H2O2, the release of adsorbed sites, and the improvement of the biochar pore structure. This study proposed a novel method for the use of RMSS to dewater sludge as well as to induce the formation of FeAl2O4 in biochar with effective TC removal by providing a Fe and Al source, achieving a waste-to-resource strategy for the integrated management of industrial solid waste and sewage sludge.

Sugar molasses as a sustainable precursor for the synthesis of graphene sand composite adsorbent for tetracycline and methylene blue removal.

Sugar molasses from agricultural waste could be a sustainable carbon source for the synthesis of graphene adsorbent introduced in this work. The sugar molasses was successfully converted to graphene-like material and subsequently coated on the sand as graphene sand composite (GSC), as proven by XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and SEM with EDX mapping analyses. The adsorption performance of GSC was evaluated against the removal of Tetracycline (TC) and methylene blue (MB) pollutants from an aqueous solution in a fixed bed column continuous-flow adsorption setup. The effect of different process conditions: bed height (4-12cm), influent flow rate (3-7mL/min), and contaminants' concentration (50-150ppm) was investigated. The results revealed that column performance was improved by increasing the bed depth and lowering the flow rate and concentration of the pollutants. The best removal efficiency was obtained when the bed height was 12cm, the influent flow rate of 3mL/min, and the pollutants' initial concentration was 50mg/L. Thomas, Adams-Bohart, and Yoon-Nelson models were attempted to fit the breakthrough curves. Regeneration of the GSC indicated the decline of breakthrough time from 240-280 to 180min, reflecting the decrease in adsorptive sites due to the incomplete regeneration process. Overall, sugar molasses was shown to be a low-cost precursor for synthesizing valuable graphene material in the form of GSC, which can reduce the problem for industrial waste management of sugar molasses, and the GSC could be used as an adsorbent for environmental application.

Disasters and Hazards: Risk Reduction, Mitigation and Management

Disasters and Hazards: Risk Reduction, Mitigation and Management

ASSESSMENT OF INDUSTRIAL WASTE MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY AS PART OF COMPANY'S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

The article proposes recommendations for the construction of information and analytical support for industrial waste management based on the balanced scorecard concepts, which makes it possible to assess the environmental, economic and social efficiency of waste management in accordance with the strategic objectives of business development. The information basis of the industrial waste management process is the waste accounting system at the life cycle stages of their handling recommended by the authors in the context of key management objects: industrial waste (in physical terms and at fair value) and the cost of industrial waste management (in terms of actual costs for their collection, accumulation, recycling and burial). The analytical support of the industrial waste management process is the developed complex system of environmental, economic and social indicators of the organization efficiency itself and the effectiveness of management efforts in the field of waste management, which will determine the degree of implementation of the strategic goals of organization sustainable development.

Measuring Profitable Efficiency, Technical Efficiency, Technological Innovation of Waste Management Companies Using Negative Super-SBM–Malmquist Model

In recent decades, waste generation has increased gradually because of the development of the quantity and size of businesses, together with the high growth rate of the population. However, in 2019, like other industries, the waste management industry was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in relation to aspects concentrated on strategy. Subsequently, appropriate waste management in all aspects of the community, specifically for waste management enterprises, was demanded. This research aims to assess the profitable efficiency, position, technical, and technological innovation and compare the global major waste management corporations by integrating the negative super-slacks-based measure model and the negative Malmquist model in data envelopment analysis. Various inputs and outputs are initially selected from nine waste management companies’ financial statements from 2017 to 2020, including negative values, to attain their performance. The empirical results indicated that waste management companies’ managers could make better investment or strategy decisions for superior performance. At the same time, collaborators from other sectors could find their potential partners in the waste management industry. In general, considering the efficiency, Veolia Environment (DMU3) and Heritage-Crystal Clean Company (DMU8) were the most efficient companies. Meanwhile, Covanta Holding (DMU2) and Republic Services Corporation (DMU5) required additional development to improve their performance. Besides, because of the disparity in technical and technological innovation, most decision-making units could not achieve consistent improvement in terms of technical, technological change, and total production.

Integrating closed‐loop principles in supply chains in emerging markets: The case of the Russian waste management industry

AbstractsThe integration of closed‐loop (CL) principles in supply chain management plays an important role for business and society. The CL supply chain can serve as a good example of an environment‐friendly and sustainable solution because it assumes waste reduction and further usage in production. Hence, the notion of the CL supply chain is premised on the design, control and operation of a system that creates extra value using the entire product life cycle and capture value recovery from various returns over time. In practice, a successful integration of CL principles depends on many contextual factors. This study aimed to identify the factors that support and discourage CL supply chain innovations in emerging markets. The study employed institutional theory as theoretical background and conducted an in‐depth case analysis of a Russian waste management company to present empirical evidence. The results showed that cooperation with an experienced and legitimate partner can drive the introduction of a CL initiative. Meanwhile, a low level of knowledge and trust might become a serious impediment. Thus, investment in knowledge dissemination and reputation building are crucial in an emerging market.