Sustainability Trade-offs Research Articles

Exploring the Implications of Working Conditions for Corporate Sustainability in Last-Mile Delivery Platform Companies

AbstractLast-mile delivery platforms have recently emerged as effective business models to match supply and demand, even though they have been criticized for potentially exploiting their workers. This paper investigates the corporate sustainability and socio-economic trade-offs of platform companies in relation to working conditions (i.e., work relationships, social subsystems, and technical subsystem). A survey of 392 paid-per-order workers from six food delivery platforms across Spain was conducted to validate our research framework. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of the impact of working conditions on corporate sustainability in platform companies. On the one hand, there are positive implications for both social and economic sustainability in the presence of higher earnings, rights and protections, and empowerment for workers. Conversely, prolonged work relationships between workers and platform companies are negatively related to workers’ perceived stress and individual performance. Based on these insights, we advance our understanding of how platform companies can deal with conflicting objectives regarding working conditions by adopting an instrumental approach in the case of short-term workers and an integrative approach with long-term workers.

A classification scheme for urban agriculture combining technical properties with characteristics related to the economic and social sustainability

Urban agriculture is often associated with sustainable agricultural practices. However, the variety of systems qualifying as urban agriculture and the limited information available about their sustainability question this direct relationship. To better understand differences in intra-urban agriculture systems and their sustainability, this paper proposed an holistic classification of urban agricultural systems and collected knowledge about the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of these systems. Such a classification is important to evaluate sustainability claims on urban agricultural systems, anticipate potential sustainability trade-offs between urban agricultural systems and propose preventive measures to address these, and ultimately guide the sustainable deployment of these systems. Compared with existing classifications, the novel classification scheme proposed here accounts for technological, social and economic characteristics of urban agriculture systems to better distinguish between all systems. It was built on 91 scientific papers. The economic intensity of production was, for example, an important characteristic to coherently group urban agriculture systems. The intensity of cooperation between all actors was another characteristic emphasized for certain urban agriculture systems. One end of the classification scheme describes ground-based open, socially motivated urban agriculture systems with high cooperation intensity and low production intensity. The other end of the classification scheme describes building-integrated quasi-closed systems with high production intensity. In between, we find: building-integrated conditioned systems, ground-based conditioned systems, and building-integrated open systems. Mapping sustainability claims from literature in the classification scheme supported its definition along the three characteristics. For example, urban farming was associated with job creation, food safety, water savings, and higher yields while urban gardening with educational potentials, biodiversity improvements, and lower yields. Their display in the classification scheme was therefore supported. To further support the use of the proposed scheme, additional quantitative research to better understand and quantify the sustainability of urban agriculture systems is required.

Sustainability synergies and trade-offs considering circularity and land availability for bioplastics production in Brazil

Alongside the concerns of waste management, plastic production represents a future problem for managing greenhouse gas emissions. Advanced recycling and bio-based production are paramount to face this challenge. The sustainability of bio-based polyethylene (bioPE) depends on the feedstock, avoiding stress on natural resources. This work discusses Brazil’s potential to meet future global bioPE demand by 2050, using sugarcane as feedstock and considering environmental sustainability for production expansion. From the assessed 35.6 Mha, 3.55 Mha would be exempt from trade-offs related to land use change (dLUC), biodiversity, and water availability. The scenario with the highest circularity efficiency would require 22.2 Mha to meet the global demand, which can be accommodated in areas with positive impacts in carbon stocks, neutral impacts in water availability, and medium impacts on biodiversity. Here, we show that dropping demand is essential to avoid trade-offs and help consolidate bioPE as a sustainable alternative for future net-zero strategies.

Exploring the Impact of Sustainability Trade-Offs: The Role of Product and Sustainability Types in Consumer Purchases Mediated by Moral Regulation.

The attitude-behavior gap in sustainable product purchasing persists despite prior attempts to address it, thus indicating a need for more research. This study examines contextual factors in sustainable consumption, particularly the sustainability trade-offs (STOs) faced by consumers during product purchases and the impact of conditional morality. We investigate STOs in terms of sustainability type and attribute type and indicate that moral regulation enhances the impact of sustainability trade-offs on purchase intention. Four experiments were conducted with 457 participants in South Korea, focusing on STOs in terms of sustainability type (social vs. environmental) and attribute type (utilitarian vs. hedonic). The findings indicate that attitudes towards sustainability have a positive influence on purchase intention, though sustainability- and attribute-type STOs do not significantly affect this relationship. However, the combination of STOs in environmental sustainability with utilitarian attributes does have a significant impact on the relationship between attitude and purchase intention. Furthermore, while moral regulation mediates this relationship, morality does not have an impact. This research highlights the moderating role of sustainability trade-offs in the relationship between attitudes towards sustainability and purchase intention, underscoring the importance of contextual factors in sustainable product purchasing. Firms can leverage sustainability trade-offs in their marketing strategies, incorporating product features and advertising messages.

Discursive strategies within sustainability trade-offs: A case on the controversy over transition minerals

Within sustainability controversies, actors face trade-offs where they prioritize either economic, social or environmental concerns. However, there is little research engaging with how actors mobilize discourses in sustainability controversies. This research seeks to extend this body of literature by adopting a discursive lens in which we examine how different actors mobilize different discourses to argue for their respective conceptions of sustainable development and their trade-offs. By adopting a longitudinal instrumental single-case study design, this research examines the ongoing controversy in Quebec over the development of new mining projects for the extraction of transition minerals. This study offers several contributions to the sustainability trade-offs literature. First, it sheds light on the dynamic nature of discursive strategies within sustainability controversies. Second, the paper broadens understanding of the use of moralization discursive strategies in sustainability trade-offs. Third, it identifies the new neutralization strategy in sustainability controversies. The paper also suggests several practical implications for the actors involved in sustainability controversies.

Spatially-explicit land use change emissions and carbon payback times of biofuels under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)

The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) requires airlines to offset their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions above 2019 levels by either buying carbon offsets or using Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs). These are drop-in jet fuels made from biomass or other renewable resources that reduce GHG emissions by at least 10 % compared to kerosene and meet certain sustainability criteria. This study assesses the direct land use change (DLUC) emissions of SAF, i.e., GHG emissions from on-site land conversion from previous uses (excluding primary forests, peatlands, wetlands, and protected and biodiversity-rich areas) into alternative feedstocks, considering spatial variability in global yields and land carbon stocks. The results provide DLUC values and carbon payback times at 0.5-degree resolution for six SAF pathways, with and without irrigation and a medium-input intensity, according to CORSIA sustainability criteria. When excluding CORSIA non-compliant areas, soybean SAF shows the highest mean DLUC factor (31.9 ± 20.7 gCO2/MJ), followed by reed canary grass and maize. Jatropha SAF shows the lowest mean DLUC factor (3.6 ± 31.4 gCO2/MJ), followed by miscanthus and switchgrass. The latter feedstocks show potential for reducing GHG emissions over large areas but with relatively greater variability. Country-average DLUC values are higher than accepted ILUC ones for all pathways except for maize. To ensure the GHG benefits of CORSIA, feedstocks must be produced in areas where not only carbon stocks are relatively low but also where attainable yields are sufficiently high. The results help identify locations where the combination of these two factors may be favourable for low-DLUC SAF production. Irrigated miscanthus offers the highest SAF production potential (2.75 EJ globally) if grown on CORSIA-compliant cropland and grassland areas, accounting for ∼1/5 of the total kerosene used in 2019. Quantifying other environmental impacts of SAFs is desirable to understand sustainability trade-offs and financial constraints that may further limit production potentials.

Exploring equality and sustainability trade-offs of energy transition outcomes in the United States in 2050

With increasing focus on equitable and just energy transition, it is critical to understand the trade-offs of different decarbonization outcomes across economic, environmental, and social sustainability criteria. In this analysis, we use a multi-criteria decision analysis to quantify sustainability outcomes across 32 decarbonization outcomes in 2050 in the U.S. The economic sustainability criteria we use are system cost, national average retail rate, and electricity system employment. The environmental sustainability criteria we use are life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, life cycle water depletion, life cycle land transformation, and air pollution fatalities. The social sustainability (distributional impacts) criteria we use are retail rate equality across states, electricity employment equality across low-income households, and air pollution disparities across census tracts. We evaluate performance across these criteria under eleven different stakeholder preference scenarios. We find that decarbonization policies with indefinitely extended tax credits have the highest sustainability score under equal criteria weighting, with greater investments in renewable energy technologies, and result in better environmental, system cost, job, and air pollution disparities compared to mid-case scenarios, that only include current policies and CO2 reduction targets. We also see that our multi-criteria decision analysis identifies decarbonization outcomes that would not have been identified as optimal under a single objective, which highlights the importance of trade-off analyses to understand decarbonization outcomes more holistically.

What's the catch? Trade-off challenges in early design for sustainability

AbstractTrade-offs involving multiple criteria that cannot be satisfied at the same time are ubiquitous in engineering design activities. Navigating trade-off decisions can be challenging, especially when it comes to sustainability-related decisions in early-stage projects. Through a systematic literature review, we unravel the challenges related to sustainability trade-offs in technology development, concept design, and other front-end of innovation activities. The challenges, which were evaluated by experts from industry and academia, range from technical and organisational to psychological aspects.

Mixed diets can meet nutrient requirements with lower carbon footprints.

Achieving sustainable dietary change is essential for safeguarding human and environmental health. However, dietary recommendations based on broad food groups may not accurately reflect real-world realities because individuals select and consume dishes with multiple food items influenced by diverse context-specific factors. Therefore, here we explored the sustainability trade-offs of dietary choices at the dish level through an optimization modeling approach tested in Japan. We estimated the nutritional quality, price, and carbon footprint of major Japanese dishes and examined 16 dietary scenarios to identify options that meet the nutritional requirements and minimize carbon footprint. Overall, mixed diets contain more combinations of dishes that meet nutritional requirements with lower carbon footprints compared to more restrictive dietary scenarios. We argue that the approach developed here enables a better understanding of dietary trade-offs, complements existing methods, and helps identify sustainable diets by offering nuanced information at the national and sub-national levels.

Archetypes of community-based pond aquaculture in Indonesia: applying the social-ecological systems framework to examine sustainability tradeoffs

We analyze archetypes of farmer groups conducting pond aquaculture across the province of Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia using Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework. Pond aquaculture farmers share coastal irrigation infrastructure as common property, among other resources, and are encouraged by the government to organize into groups with varying sets of evolved rules, norms, social practices and environmental conditions shaping what they produce, how and how much. Yet little is known about the diversity of these pond aquaculture communities, or what factors—both social and ecological—shape production trends and sustainability outcomes. We designed a standardized survey to collect data on 26 indicators from 85 diverse community-based fish farmer groups across the province. Data included indicators on ownership, rules, history, production trends, demographics, government involvement, livelihood dependence, environmental characteristics and risks. Clustering analysis was applied to identify five unique archetypes of pond aquaculture communities, each distinguished by a different set of development challenges and opportunities. Our findings highlight the need to move beyond a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy approach. We suggest moving towards a locally adapted capacity building strategy that can recognize contextual needs so that policy programs can better target and differentiate between farmer groups that face similar challenges. We further discuss how empowering collective action among the farmers can reduce risks associated with producing blue food for local consumption and regional markets.

Sustainability Trade-Offs in Climate Change Geographies in England

The evidence that climate change is the result of human actions is becoming increasingly stronger, as is the need to take action to limit the worst effects of climate change on the planet. However, politicians continue to equivocate and fail to address the trade-offs which are needed to deliver effective action. In this paper, we report on the potential of bottom-up approaches to transport planning to address the trade-offs between the need to reduce car-based travel and the social consequences of poor mobility options in rural areas. Using the theories of Sustainable Communities and Communities of Practice, we analyse the implementation of the Robin demand-responsive transport service in the West of England, presenting new data relating to the effectiveness of this service in providing low-carbon transport alternatives to rural residents. We find that the Robin is indeed effective, and that it has worked better in one location, where engagement with potential new users of the service has been prioritised. We conclude that such bottom-up transport options can be transformative, subject to the support of key stakeholders and integration with top-down systems of governance.

Sustainability potentials of digitally based platforms for the circularity of household items

Closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) are an important response to pressing sustainability challenges. However, they bring about tradeoffs like increased resource use in logistics. Addressing these complexities, digital platforms emerge as promising, yet under-researched, tools for efficiency enhancement in CLSCs. This study investigates three digital platforms facilitating furniture and household item trade in relation to CLSCs. A comprehensive framework, rooted in literature on CLSCs, digital platforms, and logistics, guides the analysis. The findings reveal diverse sustainability potentials within these platforms, primarily driven by system design, scale, and actor engagement. The efficacy of the digital platform varies based on usage patterns, their geographical scope, logistic solutions, and providers. Crucially, environmental and social sustainability tradeoffs and benefits come to light, offering insights into their emergence based on system design. This study provides insights for practitioners and scholars, regarding potentials/risks of trade-offs in environmental and social sustainability dimensions related to the use of digital platforms for trading secondhand furniture. It provides a nuanced understanding of how these differ depending on system design.

Economic and Environmental Sustainability Trade-Off Analysis in Sheep Farming Using the Farm Accountancy Data Network Database

Agriculture and livestock farming significantly contribute to the success of all United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 and are pivotal in the sustainability transition of the European agri-food sector. However, those sectors have been criticized for generating negative environmental externalities. In this context, adopting indicators able to evaluate agriculture and sheep farming sustainability is essential for fostering sustainable development in the primary sector and defining appropriate policies to support it. Such indicators are crucial for understanding if European Union policies striving to realize win–win opportunities based on synergy between farms’ environmental and economic dimensions are realistic. This paper focuses on this wave of interest and has two aims. First, it intends to investigate the existence of synergies or trade-offs between those dimensions using a trade-off analysis. To this end, a significant set of economic and environmental farm indicators was selected, and two composite indicators were created. Second, it aims to investigate the relationship between those two indicators and some pivotal structural and socio-demographic variables. This study was carried out on 219 Sardinian sheep farms included in the Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network. The findings showed a low synergy between the economic and environmental spheres, a relationship between economic indicators and farmers’ ages and organic production variables, and no relationships between the environmental dimension and the analyzed variables.

Early-stage economic and environmental impact assessment for optimized bioprocess development: Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids

Microbial refactoring offers sustainable production of plant-sourced pharmaceuticals associated with high production costs, ecological harms, and supply chain dependencies. Here, microbial tabersonine production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is modeled during early-stage development (TRL: 3–5), guiding decisions for process-scale economic and environmental optimization. The base-case 0.7 mg/L titer indicated a minimum selling price (MSP) of $3,910,000/kg and global warming potential (GWP) of 2,540 kgCO2eq/g. The industrial process at 1 g/L resulted in an MSP of 4,262 $/kg and a GWP of 6.36 kgCO2eq/g. Location analysis indicated a sustainability trade-off between France, USA, Poland, and China, with the written order of declining MSP and increasing GWP. Continuous processing promised reducing the MSP by 18–27 %, and the GWP by 17–31 %. In-situ product extraction during fermentation was estimated to lower the MSP by 41–61 %, and the GWP by 30–75 %. In addition to showcasing a combined TEA-LCA on biopharmaceuticals, the early-stage assessment approach guides bioprocess optimization.

An Approach for Predicting Social, Environmental, and Economic Product Impacts and Characterizing the Associated Sustainability Tradespace in Engineering Design

Abstract There is a growing demand for sustainable products and systems. Sustainability encompasses environmental, social, and economic aspects, often referred to as the three pillars of sustainability. To make more sustainable design decisions, engineers need tools to predict the environmental, social, and economic impacts of products and characterize potential sustainability trade-offs. To predict the total impact of a product, the quantity of functional units of the product in society and impact of each product needs to be estimated. This article uses agent-based modeling (ABM), combined with tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA), to predict impacts across all three pillars of sustainability. Using the product impact results the multidimensional sustainability tradespace can be characterized. The approach described in this article is based on three main components for the predictive modeling of product impacts and the characterization of the sustainability trade space, i) ABM of product adoption, ii) the assessment of product impacts, and iii) an approach for the characterization of product sustainability trade-offs at the population level. The tradespace characterization uses a Pareto-based method presented visually to find the non-dominated solutions in the product impact space. To illustrate and describe how to use the method, a case study is presented that predicts the impact of residential solar panels in a region of the United States under various scenarios. The findings of the case study can help policy makers understand suitable implementation strategies for residential solar panels while considering the impact trade-offs involved.

Development of AI-Augmented optimization technique for analysis & prediction of modal mix in road transportation.

Transport sector contribution to global emissions is a known fact, however, the mitigation path to achieve nationally determined goals for carbon reduction is often not specified, A simplified technique based on minimax optimization using Grey relational grade and Random forest narrows down on most contributing input variables from twelve road transport modes. This is a region-specific, scenario-based technique applied to north Punjab, Province of Pakistan that first categorizes modes based on their emission and then integrates with AI modeling using Deep Neural Network to develop sustainable trade-offs for carbon reduction. The output parameter translates the problem into a systematic iterative technique that predicts optimization options with different scenarios to bring out an environment-friendly transport mix. A 25% reduction applied to the five most emission-releasing modes like Diesel Light and Heavy Duty vehicles, Gas Light and heavy-duty vehicles, and Gas-Cars results in 16.54 MT of Carbon dioxide which is 54.35% reduced to the predicted 36.24 MT for the year 2044. Similarly in another scenario replacing 25% Gas and Diesel Light Duty vehicles respectively by adding 50% Petrol Light Duty vehicles leads to 18.94 MT of emissions which brings the emission value in 2044 at par with emission releases of the year 2014. The technique offers a forward path that allows environment-friendly modal mix combinations based on business-as-usual to offer transport mix solutions for carbon reduction. It is a generalized model that is based on a customized transport mix. Future studies can also be applied to intermodal tradeoffs like rail, air, waterways, etc.

The Dirty Secret of SSDs: Embodied Carbon

Scalable Solid-State Drives (SSDs) have ushered in a transformative era in data storage and accessibility, spanning both data centers and portable devices. However, the strides made in scaling this technology can bear significant environmental consequences. On a global scale, a notable portion of semiconductor manufacturing relies on electricity derived from coal and natural gas sources. A striking example of this is the manufacturing process for a single Gigabyte of Flash memory, which emits approximately 0.16 Kg of CO 2 - a considerable fraction of the total carbon emissions attributed to the system. Remarkably, the manufacturing of storage devices alone contributed to an estimated 20 million metric tonnes of CO 2 emissions in the year 2021. In light of these environmental concerns, this paper delves into an analysis of the sustainability trade-offs inherent in Solid-State Drives (SSDs) when compared to traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). Moreover, this study proposes methodologies to gauge the embodied carbon costs associated with storage systems effectively. The research encompasses four key strategies to enhance the sustainability of storage systems. Firstly, the paper offers insightful guidance for selecting the most suitable storage medium, be it SSDs or HDDs, considering the broader ecological impact. Secondly, the paper advocates for implementing techniques that extend the lifespan of SSDs, thereby mitigating premature replacements and their attendant environmental toll. Thirdly, the paper emphasizes the need for efficient recycling and reuse of high-density multi-level cell-based SSDs, underscoring the significance of minimizing electronic waste. Lastly, for handheld devices, the paper underscores the potential of harnessing the elasticity offered by cloud storage solutions as a means to curtail the ecological repercussions of localized data storage. In summation, this study critically addresses the embodied carbon issues associated with SSDs, comparing them with HDDs, and proposes a comprehensive framework of strategies to enhance the sustainability of storage systems.

Identifying robust adaptive irrigation operating policies to balance deeply uncertain economic food production and groundwater sustainability trade-offs

Increasing irrigation demand has heavily relied on groundwater use, especially in places with highly variable water supplies that are vulnerable to drought. Groundwater management in agriculture is becoming increasingly challenging given the growing effects from overdraft and groundwater depletion worldwide. However, multiple challenges emerge when seeking to develop sustainable groundwater management in irrigated systems, such as trade-offs between the economic revenues from food production and groundwater resources, as well as the broad array of uncertainties in food–water systems. In this study we explore the applicability of Evolutionary Multi-Objective Direct Policy Search (EMODPS) to identify adaptive irrigation policies that water agencies and farmers can implement including operational decisions related to land use and groundwater use controls as well as groundwater pumping fees. The EMODPS framework yields state-aware, adaptive policies that respond dynamically as system state conditions change, for example with variable surface water (e.g., shifting management strategies across wet versus dry years). For this study, we focus on the Semitropic Water Storage district located in the San Joaquin Valley, California to provide broader insights relevant to ongoing efforts to improve groundwater sustainability in the state. Our findings demonstrate that adaptive irrigation policies can achieve sufficiently flexible groundwater management to acceptably balance revenue and sustainability goals across a wide range of uncertain future scenarios. Among the evaluated policy decisions, pumping restrictions and reductions in inflexible irrigation demands from tree crops are actions that can support dry-year pumping while maximizing groundwater storage recovery during wet years. Policies suggest that an adaptive pumping fee is the most flexible decision to control groundwater pumping and land use.

Does a scaling exist in urban ecological infrastructure? A case for sustainability trade-off in China.

So far, urban scaling theory has proven that urban area, infrastructure, and economic output have a scaling relation with population. But if we consider ecological space as a part of urban infrastructure, would the same scaling characteristics exist? What is the scaling relationship between ecological spaces and economic social development in different stages of urbanization? This paper is based on this question and explores the trade-off between social economic system and ecosystem in 370 cities of China. The results show that the relationship between population and urban ecological space generally follows the scaling theory in terms of different types of ecological spaces and ecosystem services. For every 10-fold increase in population size, the total area of ecological space and ecosystem services increase by approximately 4 times. The manifestation of ecological space following the scaling laws is the aggregation behavior of better network connectivity. There is a trade-off between urban ecological space and socioeconomic development, with flow equilibrium reached at a population of 2 million and efficiency equilibrium reached at a population of 1 million. Starting from type I and type II megapolis, urban development gradually tends to stabilize, and there may even be a trend of slow decline in urban development potential. In the absence of ecological space, virtual network space can serve as a substitute for ecological space. The driving factors affect scaling behavior of ecological space, including connectivity of ecological space, spatial heterogeneity of natural conditions, and disturbance of economic and social activities. This research can help city to expand ecological space, promoting the added value of urban ecological assets and keeping the urban development potential within the optimal threshold range continuously.

Assessing sustainability focus across global banks

Global banks play intermediary and even direct roles in achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, developmental progress is complex to measure due to siloed, varied and even non-transparent, ambiguous, non-standardized ways of calibration and reporting. This research explores public disclosures (sustainability, CSR, and annual reports, press releases, website, and others) of fifty banks across nine geo-segments over five calendar years (2018–2023). Inductive methods, co-word assessments, content analysis are deployed to develop qualitative commentaries indicating geo-specific performances of the banks. The research findings indicate goal-specific attribution and discovery of motives and initiatives. This validates how motives in embracing the SDGs vary and relate to achievement of – (A) core business objectives; (B) support and financing of other industries, organizations, and governments in sustainable initiatives; and (C) corporate citizenship, altruistic and ethical considerations. Methodological approaches to calibrate findings across seventeen SDGs help identify benchmark practices, understand complementary actions, and required focus for banks and other industries. This is relevant to geo-specific sustainability challenges, trade-offs, and requirements. The findings can guide public policies and regulations, empower banks and other institutions to accelerate awareness and evaluate effectiveness towards sustainable developments.