Emerging design strategies in sustainable production and consumption of textiles and clothing

This study contributes to current knowledge of sustainability in textile and clothing production and consumption. When the textile and clothing industry aims to promote sustainability, the main change factors have been linked to eco-materials and ethical issues in production. At present, however, business models are mainly linked with a large volume of sales and production. Although industrial development has moved toward smaller environmental impact, production as well as consumption has increased to levels where the benefits of technological development are reduced. A change is thus needed to reach a systemic transformation, not only in production but also in consumption. The aim of this paper is to open up the discussion on opportunities for radical change in this industry. The paper presents ways to rethink and redesign business in the textile and clothing field by offering an overview on several design strategies that exist today in niche markets. Furthermore we evaluate how interested consumers are in these design strategies and discuss the opportunities these design approaches offer to sustainable development through new value creation.     

Characterisation of environmental policy implementation in an EMS context: a multiple-case study in Sweden

The heart of an environmental management system is the implementation of environmental policy in an organisation by the use of environmental aspects, goals and management programmes. The aim of this paper is to characterise this implementation and discuss how it could be improved. In order to achieve the objective of the paper a multiple-case study was performed in ISO 14001-certified or EMAS-registered organisations in Sweden. It is concluded that the implementation of environmental policy is strictly controlled by specifications in ISO 14001 or EMAS. Some organisations, mostly smaller, are forced to form their environmental policy implementation in a way that is not suited for their type of organisation. Many organisations find it hard to measure their environmental goals and to set long-term or medium-long-term time periods for their goals. In addition, the organisations do not involve their employees to a very great extent in the implementation of the environmental policy. If they do let middle managers and line personnel to participate, it is usually early in the process, as early as in the identification of environmental aspects.     

Evaluating the environmental performance of a university

An increasing number of organisations are moving towards assessing and reporting their environmental performance in a supply-chain context. Not only are such “footprint”-type assessments seen as more rigorous than sustainability reports created in-house, they also offer more abatement options than assessments limited to an organisation’s premises. Hybrid life-cycle assessment methods combining input-output analysis and process analysis are ideally suited to enumerate organisational footprints, because they were developed to enable overall complete results whilst being application-specific. We apply one of these hybrid methods, the Path Exchange Method to the task of planning for a sustainable campus at the University of Sydney in Australia. We show how this method can be used by an environmental or procurement officer for exploring environmental performance and abatement options across supply chains. We also show how parts of an organisation, for example University faculties, can be assessed and compared against each other. Whilst tools like ones used in this work enable quantitative decision support for procurement and operations policies, it takes staff awareness, engagement and training to successfully put such tools into practice.     

A methodology for the life cycle and sustainability analysis of manufacturing processes

Life cycle assessment is emerging as a powerful tool in the evaluation of the environmental impact of manufacturing processes. This paper describes a general methodology for the life cycle analysis of manufacturing processes taking into account the flexibility and decision-making potential of knowledge base systems. Emphasis is placed on on-site waste minimisation and associated sustainability characteristics in relation to environmental impact assessment and process improvement. The ensuing software model is applied with some success to an initial study of pulp and paper manufacture.     

Eco-design implemented through a product-based environmental management system

Lucent Technologies (Lucent) has undergone considerable change in business strategy with the outsourcing of manufacturing activities. In order to control the significant environmental aspects of hardware products, Lucent's wireless business unit, Mobility Solutions, determined it would concentrate on the design of products: focusing on eco-design enables product sustainability to be improved, with each product generation providing a ‘start of pipe’ (front end) solution with attendant efficiencies.Mobility Solutions pioneered a product-based environmental management system (PBEMS) to formally address the impacts of wireless hardware products on the environment throughout the entire product lifecycle, regardless of where products are developed. This management system looks beyond the environmental impacts of manufacturing to include conceptual design, development, use by the customer, and final product disposal.The success of this approach can be attributed to the integration of eco-design with traditional hardware product realization processes. Through the PBEMS, business and environmental processes are simultaneously utilized to manage significant product aspects and to incorporate sustainability principles during product design. Many innovative eco-design tools are applied during the product realization process to identify areas for improvement of future products, and to verify that each generation of existing products is more sustainable than its predecessor. These eco-design tools include eco-roadmapping, design for environment guidelines and checklists, and lifecycle assessments.The Mobility Solutions PBEMS conforms to the requirements of the ISO 14001 international standard and has achieved third-party certification. By implementing environmentally responsible characteristics through eco-design programs, employees, customers, and the world community benefit from a consistent approach to the environmental management of wireless hardware products. Mobility Solutions continues to reap the value of sustainable product design that is both good for the environment and makes sound business sense.     

Developing policy integrating sustainability: A case study into aviation

Support for the notion that policy should embrace sustainability is widespread but the actual incorporation of the concept into policy is proving to be difficult. To insert the word into a policy document, accompanied by some marginal changes, is enough to allow policy makers to claim that sustainability has been considered. The novel research reported here has applied sustainability analysis to the case of aviation which is one of the areas of policy where the conflict between environmental and economic objectives is most intense. It was found that sustainable policy options are blocked whilst sustainability is regarded as an add-on to existing policy. The policy stalemate exists because it is neither understood nor accepted that sustainability requires systemic change. The empirical stage of the research comprised 28 stakeholder interviews and identified four categories of action with the potential to break the stalemate in aviation which could be applied also to other areas of policy: long-term strategic planning; facilitation of dialogue between stakeholders; government support for innovation; and educating the public. The study concluded that fundamental change to the process of crafting policy is required if sustainability is to fulfil its potential to reconcile environmental and economic objectives.     

中国水泥生产环境负荷研究

基于生命周期理论,采用CML环境影响评价方法对我国水泥生产的环境负荷进行了定量分析.结果表明,水泥生产的环境影响主要体现在温室效应、不可再生能源消耗和不可再生资源消耗,其环境负荷分别占对应环境影响类型世界总负荷的2.76%、2.34%和1.39%.2004年我国水泥生产的环境负荷约占世界总负荷的1.28%,其中,立窑生产工艺、湿法回转窑生产工艺和新型干法生产工艺的环境负荷分别为0.84%,0.12%和0.32%.通过行业结构调整,用新型干法生产工艺取代其它落后的生产工艺,可使我国水泥生产的环境负荷降至世界总负荷的1%左右.     

环境模型中敏感性分析方法评述

模型本身及其参数的不确定性使其模拟结果的可靠性备受争议,科学地认识模型的不确定性并对其进行定量的评价一直是环境模型研究的前沿,也是环境模型构建和应用过程中不可缺少的环节.通过敏感性分析,研究模型输入参数的变化对模型输出结果的影响程度,有助于了解并简化模型结构、提高参数率定效率、增进模型精度并增加模型应用的可靠性.本研究总结了敏感性分析在环境模型中的作用,并对常见的敏感性分析方法的原理、应用范围和优缺点进行了综述.最后,阐述了敏感性分析在环境模型模拟决策中应用的现状和未来研究方向.     

Environmental life-cycle impacts of CRT and LCD desktop computer displays

Final impact results from an industry-wide environmental life-cycle assessment of cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors are presented for 20 environmental impact categories. Considering the entire life cycle of each monitor, water eutrophication and aquatic ecotoxicity impacts for the baseline analysis were greater for the LCD while all other impact categories (e.g., resource use, energy, ozone depletion, landfill space use, human health toxicity) were greater for the CRT. Energy inputs from CRT glass manufacturing, for which there was some uncertainty in the data, drive many of the CRT impacts. Modifying the glass energy data based on comparison to secondary data resulted in nine of the 20 impact categories having greater relative life-cycle impacts for the LCD than the CRT. When comparing the manufacturing stages of each monitor type in the baseline scenario, the LCD has greater relative burdens on the environment in eight categories. Energy, global warming, and human health toxicity impacts are also presented in greater detail, showing contributions from each life-cycle stage. This study's results can allow industry to focus on frit manufacturing, PWB manufacturingimprovements can be made.     

Underlying mechanisms in the maintenance of ISO 14001 environmental management system

In this paper we aim to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the maintenance of ISO 14001. Initially, we looked into the Hillary's [Hillary R. Evaluation of study reports on the barriers, opportunities and drivers for small and medium sized enterprises – the adoption of environmental management systems. Report for DTI Envirodoctorate 5th October, 1999. London: NEMA; 1999] evaluation study on barriers, opportunities and drivers for small and medium enterprises that adopted environmental management systems and we developed a comprehensive list of barriers identified in the literature. We have used this set of barriers to investigate the underlying mechanisms in the maintenance of ISO 14001 environmental management system through an in-depth longitudinal case study in manufacturing organisations. We have determined five underlying processes (transforming and value adding; administrating and improving; understanding and accepting; communicating and learning; availability of resources) and five key actors (external environment; environmental management team; ISO 14001 EMS; organisation; resources and skills), which interactions are captured in M-ISO model. Finally, based on our study we offer directions for future research.     

Envisioning sustainability three-dimensionally

Sustainability has arisen as an alternative to the dominant socio-economic paradigm (DSP). However, it is still a difficult concept for many to fully understand. To help to communicate it and make it more tangible visual representations have been used. Three of the most used, and critiqued, sustainability representations are: (1) a Venn diagram, i.e. three circles that inter-connect, where the resulting overlap that represents sustainability can be misleading; (2) three concentric circles, the inner circle representing economic aspects, the middle social aspects, and the outer environmental aspects; and (3) the Planning Hexagon, showing the relationships among economy, environment, the individual, group norms, technical skills, and legal and planning systems. Each has been useful in helping to engage the general public and raising sustainability awareness. However, they all suffer from being highly anthropocentric, compartmentalised, and lacking completeness and continuity. These drawbacks have reduced their acceptance and use by more advanced sustainability scholars, researchers and practitioners. This paper presents an innovative attempt to represent sustainability in three dimensions which show the complex and dynamic equilibria among economic, environmental and social aspects, and the short-, long- and longer-term perspectives.     

Sustainable cities: do political factors determine the quality of life?

The implementation of urban sustainability practices is affected by political obstacles, and diverse political ideologies may defend different city models. Sustainable policy design could also be affected by several factors that cause the deflection of resources initially allocated to other groups that are contrary to the concerns pursued and have the power to veto sustainable plans by exerting pressure on the party in power.In this sense, the aim of this paper is to show the impact that political factors have on cities’ sustainability, and the effect of both on cities’ economic development. To do so, we used the 78 Spanish cities with a population over 100,000 studied by MERCO (Spanish Corporate Reputation Monitor) as regards their levels of sustainability for the fiscal years 2008 and 2009. Both relationships have been tested empirically through two dependence models using linear regression techniques.The results obtained show that political competition improves cities’ sustainability, while a leftist ideology has an inverse impact. On the other hand, a significant direct relationship has been observed between urban sustainability and municipal economic activity.     

Cluster analysis for studying industrial sustainability: an empirical study in Shanghai

Compared with the extensive research on industrial sustainability in cities of the developed world, similar empirical work in developing countries is rare. This article examines industrial sustainability of the manufacturing sector in one of the central districts in Shanghai, PR China, using hierarchy cluster analysis, based on selected variables that reflect the industrial advantages, social contributions, environmental management and economic performance of the manufacturing sector. The variables represent the competition capability, proportion of employees in the relevant sector to the total number of employees in the manufacturing industry, the coefficient of environmental protection and market shares. Twenty-five manufacturing sectors are grouped into four clusters in the district. According to the characteristics of the various clusters, suggestions are proposed for improving their industrial sustainability.     

建设项目环境影响评价的局限性

长期以来,环境影响评价一直被认为是预防环境污染和生态破坏的有效措施,很少有人去思考环境影响评价自身的局限性,而不断地给环境影响评价增加负荷、扩大领域。这不利于环境影响的健康发展,甚至还会影响环境影响评价正常作用的发挥。建设项目环境影响评价在生态影响、环保工程措施、社会经济影响和清洁生产等方面是存在局限性的,这些论述目的在于引发人们认识环境影响评价的局限性,并促进环境影响评价的健康发展。     

小型企业的废弃物管理问题

中、小型企业缺乏有关企业社会责任活动的参与。尽管单独的中、小型企业对环境的影响不大,但中、小型企业集合起来对环境的影响还是很明显的。企业所有者-管理者的管理方式和道德观念会影响到企业的决策。因此,会对企业的环境行为有直接的影响。虽然,倡导利用环境保护建立企业竞争优势,但许多企业的实施成本是不可能转移给消费者的。本文简要的综述了有关文献后,报告了对这一问题的探索性调查,结果表明无论小企业的管理者怎样表达出对环境问题的关心,都不能转化为较好的废弃物管理。     

Environmental management and audit schemes implementation as an educational tool for sustainability

The trail to sustainability requires a revolution on the way environmental professionals perceive and solve environmental problems. In a globalisation context, environmental professionals have to develop new personal, interpersonal, societal and technical skills to become active throughout their professional lives and to be of value in the quest for sustainability. Professionals have to develop open mindsets, a holistic perspective of the problems and integrated solutions. Current environmental engineer courses fail to provide the required skills, due to the traditional higher education structure. The role of implementation of an Environmental Management System on campus, in providing students with the ‘hands-on’, ‘on-the-job’ business skills that will make them useful in the search for sustainability is discussed.     

Environmental aspects when manufacturing products mainly out of metals and/or polymers

The most fundamental aspect in the ISO 14001 standard Environmental management systems—Specification with guidance for use is to find out ways by which an organisation influences environment to a significant degree. This paper examines environmental data from companies manufacturing products mainly from metals and/or polymers. The data were collected in a uniform way by use of special guidelines. Weighting or valuation methods often used in life cycle assessments were used to quantitatively compare and rank environmental aspects. The study results suggest that, in general, the largest environmental impact in the investigated manufacturing sub-sector can be associated with product use and/or disposal phases. This in turn shows a need for more attention on environmental work on the design for environment than what the ISO 14001 standard requires. It is further suggested that weighting or valuation methods can aid in determining the significance of environmental impacts and aspects in the context of ISO 14001.     

Gold mining in Australia: linking historical trends and environmental and resource sustainability

The mining of gold has been and continues to be an important aspect of Australian industry. Gold mining moved quickly from fossicking and alluvial sources in the 1850's to hard rock mining. This paper presents, arguably for the first time, a detailed historical compilation of Australian gold mining production data. This data is then analysed in the context of sustainability, focussing particularly on mineral resource sustainability and the broader aspects of environmental impacts now commonly reported by some mining companies in annual sustainability performance reports. The key trends which are demonstrated by the data include a long-term decline in ore grade, increased open cut mining, substantive increases in tailings and waste rock production, as well as showing the impact of new technologies and economics on available gold resources. The available environmental data on material and energy inputs to and pollutant emissions from gold production is also presented, showing a clear sensitivity to ore grade. In terms of sustainability, these relationships raise significant issues such as increasing greenhouse footprint per unit gold produced, potential impacts on energy and water consumption, as well as overall gold resource sustainability. The paper presents a unique case study of the resource and environmental sustainability of the Australian gold mining sector with major implications for sustainability policy and reporting.     

Development of a facility-based environmental performance indicator related to sustainable development

Companies are increasingly interested in environmental performance indicators as a means of managing the degree to which environmental goals and objectives are implemented. Many companies have publicly endorsed goals associated with sustainable development, like the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) principles for sustainable development. There is a need for metrics that facilitate implementation of these principles at the facility level and for research metrics that measure management improvement. An existing environmental self-assessment management tool called ESAP by the Global Environmental Management Initiative has been modified to measure a facility's response to the ICC's 16 principles of sustainability. The new tool's focus was shifted to a practical, facility based and easily applied assessment of progress towards sustainable development as represented by the ICC's 16 principles of sustainability. The new tool was called the Green Management Assessment Tool or GMAT, pilot tested and used in a research setting. Such tools have value to companies that are interested in the strategic goals of sustainable development and struggle with shifting corporate goals and objectives to manufacturing operations at the facility level.     

Development of multi-criteria decision making model for remanufacturing technology portfolio selection

Remanufacturing represents a business opportunity and in many cases a means to promote environmental sustainability. To help enterprises economically and effectively implement remanufacturing, a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model for selecting remanufacturing technology is developed. The model considers remanufacturing technology portfolios. The enterprise benefits associated with each portfolio, including economic and environmental benefits, are evaluated using six main criteria: cost, quality, time, service, resource consumption, and environmental impact. In addition, the synergies among the different types of technologies for each remanufacturing technology portfolio are also considered. The pair-wise comparison approach of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed for remanufacturing technology portfolio selection. An illustrative example is provided to lend insights into the application of this methodology.