| 1. |
- Birkie, Seyoum Eshetu, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Implementation challenges affecting the environmental improvement performance in pharmaceutical production: Results of a green kaizen pilot
- 2018
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Ingår i: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 1868-4238 .- 1868-422X. ; 535, s. 58-66
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on working findings in an action research-based project, implementing a green kaizen pilot in a European pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The aim of the study is to investigate how continuous improvement initiatives with focus on environment originally developed for the automotive manufacturing industry could apply to the pharmaceutical industry. It also aspires to understand the enabling and hindering issues are for such implementation. There are considerable similarities of implementing lean in general in the two sectors, however, some key differences and challenges were apparent when implementing this specific green kaizen method called Green Performance Map. An implication for pharma practitioners implementing the green kaizen method concerns how to improve working procedures and production equipment to become more environmentally friendly amid high regulatory demands on process quality. Implementation challenges are discussed in terms of fidelity, locus and extensiveness of lean practices implementation.
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| 2. |
- D'Amato, D., et al.
(författare)
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Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy are popular narratives in macro-level sustainability discussions in policy, scientific research and business. These three narratives offer three different recipes to address economic, social and ecological goals, thus promoting different pathways for sustainability transformations. We employ the well-known Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (The Natural Step Framework) to comparatively identify the relative and integrated contribution of the three narratives for global net sustainability. We conclude that none of the three narratives, individually, offer a comprehensive 'package' of solutions. However, when considered jointly as collaborative narratives, they point towards a society and economy based on renewable/reproductive and biodiversity-based/benign processes, delivering material and immaterial benefits that fulfil the economic and social requirements of all people now and in the future. While the complementary understanding of the circular economy, bioeconomy and green economy provides important guidelines for sustainability transformations post-Covid-19, there is a need for more holistic, systems-wide and integrative research work on potentially competing or supplementary sustainability narratives. This type of work of clarification and synthesis is relevant to a wide range of scholars and professionals, since the conceptual understanding of sustainability narratives informs practical implementation through strategies, actions and monitoring tools, in public and private decision-making.
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| 3. |
- Fagerlind, Therese, et al.
(författare)
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The distribution of sustainability decision-making in manufacturing networks
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 11:18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to contribute to research on implementing business sustainability, this study aims to explore the distribution of decision-making authority related to economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Sustainability objectives between different organizational levels in multinational manufacturing enterprises (MMEs) are investigated. The research is fundamentally exploratory. We conducted a multiple case study endeavor with nine participating case organizations. The study identified five different decision-making approaches to sustainability in multinational manufacturing enterprises. The findings showed that there was no consistent way of deciding upon sustainability issues. Some case organizations seemed to regard sustainability as a global concern, while others regarded it as a more local concern. In general, the economic sustainability dimension was regarded as more of a global concern, while the environmental dimension was more of a local concern, and the social dimension more of an integrated concern. The findings of this study can act as guidance for managers when implementing or improving sustainability strategies. The findings will also serve as a map to navigate and understand what should be given the strongest priority in different situations concerning decision-making relating to sustainability in manufacturing processes and networks.
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| 4. |
- Gunaratne, Tharaka, 1982-
(författare)
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Valorisation of heterogeneous industrial residues towards a circular economy : A systems-oriented investigation on how to facilitate shredder fines valorisation in the Swedish context
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the context of circular economy in the European region the role of the recycling industry has become ever important. Shredder fines (or fines) is a heterogeneous fine-granular production residue of the shredding industry, and is currently disposed of. Shredder fines presents a disposal problem and incurs handling costs to the shredding industry. More importantly, its disposal reduces the resources efficiency of our society. This thesis aims to contribute systems-oriented knowledge to facilitate the valorisation of shredder fines in the Swedish context. In doing so, it contributes to two knowledge. Knowledge area one portrays the current picture concerning fines management in terms of the underlying factors of the current practice of fines management and the market prospects for secondary construction aggregates. Knowledge area two showcases the potential approach to initiate process development in terms of assessments of the resource potential of fines and the environmental impact of fines-valorisation. The findings of knowledge area one show that the studied shredding company is more inclined towards continuing on the current disposal-oriented management of fines. That is because of both incentives for utilising fines as landfill cover materials and disincentives for valorising fines, created by various policy, market, and organisational factors. On the other hand, a significant need exists to improve the prospects of secondary aggregates in the construction aggregates market. Currently, the market is chiefly characterised by processes and underlying structures that sustain dominant primary aggregates utilisation, whereas secondary aggregates utilisation is situational and driven by different supply chain actors due to different individual reasons.The findings of knowledge area two show that process development for fines valorisation has several technical and environmental challenges. The resource potential assessment of the fines shows that the initial technical feasibility of fines valorisation is considerable, however different resource recovery strategies would require different levels of processes for upgrading and resource recovery. The ex-ante life cycle assessment of fines valorisation shows that potential fines valorisation is environmentally more promising compared to landfill-related disposal, however, different resource recovery strategies would create different levels of environmental impacts and present different needs for improvements.Facilitating fines valorisation calls for different measures on the institution and actor levels. Drastic policy measures are required to remove the incentives for the disposal of the material and compel shredding companies to seek valorisation alternatives. In order to ensure long-term sustenance of fines valorisation, fines-derived secondary raw materials need secure outlets and clear market and regulatory playing rules for their generation and application. Additionally, environmentally feasible and cost effective upgrading and resource recovery processes have to be developed.The origin of circular economy is grounded in restoring the environmental balance and reducing the throughput of natural resources in anthropogenic systems. Nevertheless, the current conceptualisation of circular economy is predominantly focusing on the economic progress, which somewhat promotes “business as usual”. This thesis attempts to reinstate the original resource conservation idea of circular economy in relation to heterogeneous industrial residue valorisation.
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| 5. |
- Korhonen, Jouni, et al.
(författare)
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Circular Economy : The Concept and its Limitations
- 2018
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 143, s. 37-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Circular economy (CE) is currently a popular concept promoted by the EU, by several national governments and by many businesses around the world. However, the scientific and research content of the CE concept is superficial and unorganized. CE seems to be a collection of vague and separate ideas from several fields and semi scientific concepts. The objective of this article is to contribute to the scientific research on CE. First, we will define the concept of CE from the perspective of WCED sustainable development and sustainability science. Second, we will conduct a critical analysis of the concept from the perspective of environmental sustainability. The analysis identifies six challenges, for example those of thermodynamics and system boundaries, that need to be resolved for CE to be able to contribute to global net sustainability. These six challenges also serve as research themes and objectives for scholars interested in making progress in sustainable development through the usage of circular economy. CE is important for its power to attract both the business community and policy-making community to sustainability work, but it needs scientific research to secure that the actual environmental impacts of CE work toward sustainability.
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| 6. |
- Korhonen, Jouni, et al.
(författare)
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Circular economy as an essentially contested concept
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 175, s. 544-552
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Circular Economy (CE) is currently a popular notion within the policy and business advocacy groups. Despite being visionary and provocative in its message, the research on the CE concept is emerging. The two intertwined objectives of the paper are; first to identify, discuss and develop the various definitions provided by the emerging literature. Secondly, to suggest an initial research approach with which research on CE can be conducted. Our analysis shows that the existing CE work is mainly done on the practical and technical levels of the actual physical flows of materials and energy in production-consumption systems. The focus of the extant literature is on concrete metrics, tools, instruments and computations. Therefore, the basic assumptions concerning the values, societal structures, cultures, underlying world-views and the paradigmatic potential of CE remain largely unexplored. We argue that CE has already become what Gallie (1955) more than six decades ago termed as an “essentially contested concept” (ECC). The paper further suggests a model for CE research that helps in the categorization, classification and organization of research and investigation on CE. The model can help in limiting the observed unbalance and enhance the contribution of the CE approach to a more sustainable global society.
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| 7. |
- Korhonen, Jouni, et al.
(författare)
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Sweden Backcasting, Now?-Strategic Planning for Covid-19 Mitigation in a Liberal Democracy
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sweden is applying the herd-immunity as its main natural science strategy to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. This has been communicated in a transparent manner. Small groups of young(er) people of up to approximately 50 individuals are subject to a bigger risk of infection than others. The objective of this paper is to make a case for the argument, that alongside herd-immunity, Sweden is using the social science originated planning approach: backcasting. The government has not been transparent on backcasting. The authors present the use of backcasting only as an argument based on available data and authors' reasoning. A backcasting exercise for the case of the Swedish economy is constructed. This frame outlines five interdependent levels with which a national economy can apply what this paper calls a backcasting herd-immunity approach in its COVID-19 policy. The authors further suggest how it is possible to use social science, natural science and political ideology as complementary in COVID-19 mitigation in particular and in sustainability strategies in general.
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