A model for cost-benefit analysis of construction and demolition waste management throughout the waste chain

Economic instrument is indubitably perceived as effective for encouraging or forcing contractors to conduct environmentally friendly construction practices. Previous studies in relation to this topic mainly put emphasis on economic analysis of construction and demolition (C&D) waste management from a static point of view, which failed to consider its dynamics nature by integrating all essential activities throughout the waste chain. This paper is thus intended to highlight the dynamics and interrelationships of C&D waste management practices and analyze the cost-benefit of this process using a system dynamics approach. Data related to concrete and aggregate of a construction project in Shenzhen was collected for the application of the proposed model. The findings reveal that net benefits from conducting C&D waste management will occur, but a higher landfill charge will lead to a higher net benefit, as well as an earlier realization of the net benefit. In addition, the general public under a higher landfill charge will suffer from a higher environmental cost caused by illegal dumping. The simulation results also suggest that current regulation in Shenzhen should be promoted to facilitate a dramatic increase in net benefit from the implementation of C&D waste management. This research is of value in facilitating better understanding on the dynamics of C&D waste management activities throughout the waste chain, as well as providing a tool for simulating the cost-benefit of C&D waste management practices over the project duration.     

中国生态环境科技创新体系建设研究

分析国内外生态环境科技创新的发展现状,相比较国外以市场机制为导向、以企业为创新主体、政府通过政策和管辖支撑创新的体系特征,我国已形成四大类环境类科创载体,但尚未形成成熟有效的技术成果产业化机制以及市场与政策协同促进科技创新的发展模式。本文根据生态环境科技创新的强政策驱动性、技术验证放大周期长以及集成性强的特点,重点通过环境技术研发、技术成果转化、技术放大与赋能、产业拓展与推广四个方面阐述了生态环境科技创新体系建设的主要环节：环境技术的研发由以科研机构为主的传统自发性研发、企业迭代性研发和联合应用型研发组成;技术成果的转化经历挖掘发现、技术识别与判断、知识产权评估评价后进入已成立的企业或新设公司,在这一过程中,成果转化专业队伍起着至关重要的作用;技术放大与赋能旨在为有创新技术的企业提供科技创新政策、二次研发中试验证、首台套工程案例、投融资等资源的对接,以协助初创企业成长;产业的拓展与推广则通过为解决环境问题形成集成方案、孵化平台为企业背书和产业政策匹配等方式助力企业长期发展。最后从加强专业化创新平台、技术评估体系、成果转化人才培养体系建设以及疏通投融资渠道等方面对中国未来生态环境科技创新发展提出相关建议。     

An energetic life cycle assessment of C&D waste and container glass recycling in Cape Town,South Africa

This study presents the results of a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) on the energy requirements and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission implications of recycling construction and demolition (C&D) rubble and container glass in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is a medium sized city in a developing country with a growing population and a rising middle class, two factors that are resulting in increased generation of solid waste. The City is constrained in terms of landfill space and competing demands for municipal resources.The LCA assessment was based on locally gathered data, supplemented with ecoinvent life cycle inventory data modified to the local context. The results indicated that recycling container glass instead of landfilling can achieve an energy savings of 27% and a GHG emissions savings of 37%, with a net savings still being achieved even if collection practices are varied. The C&D waste results, however, showed net savings only for certain recycling strategies. Recycling C&D waste can avoid up to 90% of the energy and GHG emissions of landfilling when processed and reused onsite but, due to great dependence on haulage distances, a net reduction of energy use and GHG emissions could not be confidently discerned for offsite recycling. It was also found that recycling glass achieves significantly greater savings of energy and emissions than recycling an equivalent mass of C&D waste.The study demonstrated that LCA provides an important tool to inform decisions on supporting recycling activities where resources are limited. It also confirmed other researchers’ observations that strict adherence to the waste management hierarchy will not always result in the best environmental outcome, and that more nuanced analysis is required. The study found that the desirability of recycling from an energy and climate perspective cannot be predicted on the basis of whether such recycling conserves a non-renewable material. However, recycling that replaces a virgin product from an energy-intensive production process appears to be more robustly beneficial than recycling that replaces a product with little embodied energy. Particular caution is needed when applying the waste management hierarchy to the latter situations.     

Green research and development (R&D) investment and its impact on the market value of firms: evidence from South African mining firms

The importance of global corporate green research and development (R&D) investment is gaining momentum and South Africa is no exception. This paper examines growing economic perceptions that green financial and stock-market systems result in heightened corporate hyperopia and therefore increase long-term and future green investment associated with R&D. It reports on the findings of a survey of 14 South African mining firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange SRI index. The study found, that, these firms’ market value showed a positive association with Green R&D. It also revealed increased Green R&D activity among large mining firms in the country and that they are highly likely to maintain their level of such investment in the coming years. The study's outcomes thus add to the body of empirical knowledge on firm hyperopia in relation to corporate greening initiatives.     

National aeronautics and space administration

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an important real and potential source of global environmental data. This paper describes some of its capabilities as they relate to the their R&D and their data centers.     

Best practice measures assessment for construction and demolition waste management in building constructions

Currently the construction and demolition (C&D) waste collection system in Spain is managed in a decentralized manner by each sub-contracted company. This lack of comprehensive strategy for C&D waste management causes a confusing and sometimes individual attitude regarding the different measures for C&D waste. Therefore effective waste management should be enforced. Construction stakeholders have wide range of best practices in C&D waste management that can be implemented, so they need to be assessed for their effectiveness.The aim of this research study is to assist construction stakeholders in making a decision on C&D waste management. This paper carries out a survey conducted among the construction agents in order to evaluate the effectiveness of 20 best practice measures regarding C&D waste management, identifying the most suitable types of building constructions to implement these practices and also the advantages and drawbacks of their performance in a building construction project.Results of this study show that among the highly effective best practices are: the use of industrialized systems and the contract of suppliers managing the waste. In addition, distributing small containers in the work areas is also another high valued practice, although only 36% of respondents usually implement this measure in their works.     

A Review of Range Production and Management Extension Activities in Kenya

The paper presents an overview of the development of range management extension activities in Kenya. The status quo of range management activities is discussed with particular reference to extension infrastructure, scope of extension interventions and mechanisms of dissemination of these innovations. On the basis of the nature of available innovations and efficiency of dissemination mechanisms, the paper emphasizes the need for future institutional reforms to facilitate successful application of technological interventions, validation of the Kenyan innovation Diffusion Model and enhancement of the social acceptability of technological interventions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

R&D prospects in the mining and metals industry

The mining and metals industry is considered more-or-less technology mature as it spends less than 1% of its revenues on R&D. In the period 2003-2008, that sector saw a very significant increase in profitability. Yet, during the same period, mining and metals companies continued to trim R&D spending, a trend that started in the early 1980s. In the near future the mining and metals industry will face significant challenges including an increased demand from the developing world counterbalanced by an overall trend to lower ore grades and with high pressure to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. To overcome these challenges, the mining and metals industry will likely face the need to considerably increase its R&D efforts. As the world enters a period of economic uncertainty, the sector will need to revise its approach towards R&D, reconsider its position against collaborative research with academia and other institutions, and be more creative when it comes to R&D funding.     

年度城市环境事件评选:方法、评析及启示

政府和民众对于城市环境事件的关注越来越高,树立典型是激励良性发展的有效手段。为了提高年度城市环境事件评选的科学性和合理性,本文提出定量和定性相结合的评选方法,包含事件收集、事件筛选、事件评定三个阶段。在此基础上,对2016年度中国城市环境保护十大事件进行了评选,无锡、贵溪、三亚、珠海的案例分别代表了水、土、气、生4个专项领域环境治理和保护的先进典型;杭州、深圳、三沙的案例分别体现了以大型赛事活动为契机开展城市综合环境整治的先进经验,以及市场化的治理手段和生态技术对于城市综合治理的重要性;上海(崇明)、重庆、鄂尔多斯(库布齐地区)代表了因地制宜的区域生态文明发展模式。通过案例分析,得出如下启示:提升环境治理成效应该兼顾责任制、市场化、民主化的管理模式创新和各种技术创新;生态环境要素应该被视为城市发展的新兴增长点;城市环境保护行为具有发展和再分配双重属性,环保行为的发展属性仍有待于继续普及,而先行城市应该借鉴典型经验,积极探索通过环境保护实现经济发展的新模式。     

Economic liberalisation, innovation, and technology transfer: opportunities for cleaner production in the minerals industry

The liberalisation of investment regimes for mining over the past decade is encouraging an inflow of foreign investment for mining and mineral processing projects in developing and former centrally-planned economies. This new investment is occurring at a time of technological change within the international mining industry as market and regulatory pressures lead the most dynamic firms to invest in the development or acquisition of new technologies and management practices. The effective transfer and assimilation of these technologies enable mining companies to combine gains in productivity with improvements in environmental management. Joint ventures and other strategic alliances between inwardly investing firms and the newly privatised or remnant state-owned mining enterprises may provide an effective vehicle for the transfer of the techniques for more productive and cleaner operations. Specific examples of innovative process and remediation technologies are analysed and it is suggested that the ability of innovative technologies to improve competitiveness and sustain best-practice environmental management in the recipient is linked to the transfer and effective acquisition of the capacity to manage the complex processes of technological and organisational change. The paper closes with some recommendations for further research directed towards a systematic examination of this hypothesis.     

A Systems Thinking Approach to Environmental Follow-Up in a Swedish Central Public Authority: Hindrances and Possibilities for Learning from Experience

This study analysed the environmental follow-up of a public organisation from a systems thinking approach, including follow-up within different phases of operation and with different environmental management tools. The Swedish Rail Administration (SRA), a public authority responsible for Swedish rail infrastructure, was used as a case organisation. The main aim was to identify different follow-up activities during planning, construction and operation of rail infrastructure. Additional aims were to identify limiting factors for effective environmental follow-up and to provide suggestions on how SRA follow-up can better be used as an organisational learning tool. The follow-up proved to be highly influenced by Environmental Management System and was mainly used for showing compliance with legal regulations or contract requirements. Use of environmental monitoring data was limited to the specific project in which the follow-up was carried out, possibly because of the project-based structure of the organisation following rail deregulation. Theory on organisational learning was applied in the study to discuss how to improve the distribution and use of follow-up data. A more complete ‘organisational memory’ seems to be required for learning from experience and adapting to change.     

Decisions on recycling: Construction stakeholders’ decisions regarding recycled mineral construction materials

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste, being already the largest waste fraction in industrialized countries, is expected to increase in the future. C&D waste recycling has been considered to be a valuable option not only for minimizing C&D waste streams to landfills but also for mitigating primary mineral resource depletion. Even though the use of recycled mineral construction materials (RMCM) is regulated and successful application examples are available, construction stakeholders do not yet broadly apply them. Although various criteria hindering a transition towards a broader application of RMCM have been identified, it is yet unknown how these criteria differ among decisions, stakeholders and applications. We therefore analyze construction stakeholders’ behavior, and decision-making regarding RMCM for the construction material market in Switzerland. Stakeholders’ decision-making was quantified with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in a survey in combination with their behavior. The results demonstrate the importance of stakeholder interaction, i.e. most stakeholders decide which material to apply based on interaction with other stakeholders e.g., recommendations and specifications. However, the initial general specification by awarding authorities that construction should be sustainable has little relevance to the subsequent material decisions. On the contrary the role of the recommendation of engineers, have a high impact on the subsequent decisions by the other stakeholders. Results also confirm that RMCM are broadly accepted in civil engineering (CE), whereas in structural engineering (SE) RMCM are still a niche product. The good alignment of the outcome of decision modeling with observed behavior shows the usefulness of analyzing decision-making with AHP.     

Implementing industrial ecology and design for environment practices: Lawrence livermore national laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), one of the nation's three national security laboratories, is initiating a major research effort in industrial ecology with the goal of increasing the economic and environmental efficiency of the U.S. and global economies. Closer to home, ongoing efforts to reduce LLNL's environmental impact on the surrounding community provide an example of how the environmental efficiency of a major research facility can be systematically improved. In the late 1980s, LLNL initiated its waste minimization and pollution prevention program, changing its focus from end-of-pipe waste management to a proactive and preventive strategy—total quality environmental management (TQEM). LLNL's success in integrating pollution prevention with R&D and operational activities is well illustrated by the waste reduction and energy and water conservation accomplishments described in this article. LLNL represents a model of how industrial ecology, design for environment, and pollution prevention can be incorporated into a comprehensive R&D and operational program. This article describes LLNL's developing industrial ecology program, gives some specific technical accomplishments that have application to many industrial facilities, and presents a case study of TQEM at LLNL's remote experimental test facility, Site 300. The integration of TQEM philosophy with LLNL's scientific capabilities holds much promise for new ideas and creative solutions to national and international industrial ecology concerns.     

Risk management—the Swedish way(s)

We have compared three legal and administrative systems of risk management in Sweden, namely those responsible for work environment, environmental protection and chemicals control. Large differences were found in terms of the organisational structure and the general modi operandi of government activities in the three areas. Many of these differences seem to be the result not of deliberate choice, but rather of the lack of coordination between policy areas. One of the most striking differences is the much lower priority assigned to enforcement activities in the environmental than in the occupational health sector. It is concluded that systematic comparisons of experiences from different policy areas can be helpful in improving the efficiency of risk management.     

Advocates for environmental justice: the role of the champion in public participation implementation

That segment of the community I would say is just in general pretty disenfranchised. We found that if you want participation you have to go to them. I mean there are days when you just need to go knock on the door.

Brownfields developer in a poor urban neighbourhood

This article considers the role that champions play as advocates for socioeconomically disadvantaged community member involvement in environmental management decision-making. Six case studies of brownfields redevelopment projects located in poor urban neighbourhoods are examined. Analysis of these case studies reveals how champion behaviour, which has typically been studied only in the context of technological innovation, is enacted in public participation efforts in the service of environmental justice. The study finds that champions who emerge in these settings lead the development and implementation of non-standard public participation process innovations.     

崇明岛建设中的生态环境保护科技创新

崇明生态岛建设对科技创新的路径选择提出了很高的要求。崇明岛的生态科技创新,在解决资源、能源、环境等一系列与生态系统密切相关的问题中,发挥了重要的支撑和保障作用。在分析崇明生态岛建设过程中科技发展现状的基础上,提出了崇明生态岛建设中,利用科技创新规划生态建设和环境保护的思路：生态城镇的发展进程必须遵循生态学原则,重点发展低碳经济战略,节能减排,发展生态岛环境保护与资源循环利用技术体系。此外,还提出了崇明生态岛在新农村建设过程及生态文明建设中亟待解决的一些问题,进而使科技创新推动崇明岛生态建设的发展,实现人与自然的和谐。     

The potential of advanced technologies to reduce carbon capture costs in future IGCC power plants

Over the next two decades, our nation will need to add a substantial amount of new power generation capacity. The possibility of more stringent environmental regulations for greenhouse gas emissions in the utility sector has provided a window of opportunity for integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCCs) equipped with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to participate significantly in this expansion. This paper analyzes several advanced technologies under development in the Department of Energy (DOE) research and development (R&D) portfolio that have the potential to improve process efficiency, reduce capital and operating expense, and increase plant availability resulting in a significant reduction in the cost of electricity for plants that capture carbon.     

国家重点研发计划“水资源高效开发利用”重点专项系统化管理研究

根据《国家重点研发计划管理暂行办法》,国家重点研发计划重点专项和项目要聚焦国家重大战略、以目标为导向,从基础前沿、重大共性关键技术到应用示范进行全链条创新设计、一体化组织实施。为有效完成科技计划管理改革对专业机构项目过程管理提出的新要求,本文简要阐述专业机构对"水资源高效开发利用"重点专项管理的设想,为其他以技术研发与应用示范为主要产出形式的科研项目提供借鉴。     

Environmental innovation activities and patenting: Germany reconsidered

This paper provides new econometric evidence on the determinants of eco-innovations by using multiple innovation indicators and by combining survey-based information and patent records at the firm level from two different time periods. We hypothesize that firms with a propensity to patent focus on future technological and market opportunities and do not directly or immediately react to incentives created by environmental policies. Based on negative binomial models, we confirm that eco-patents are stimulated by the expectation of creating technological advancement and new market opportunities. By contrast, energy cost savings can better or more easily be achieved when firms refrain from patenting and concentrate on non-patented innovations or adoption. Favorable framework conditions created by environmental policies and patent protection are also important for eco-patenting, but more in the longer term. Testing the validity of using self-reported eco-innovations, instead of patents, as the dependent variable in simple binomial probit models reveals that product eco-innovations as reported in the surveys are a relatively good proxy for eco-patents. Yet, for product eco-innovations, serving and enlarging current markets is another important reason to innovate.     

企业生态经营策略的影响因素分析——以滑雪度假企业经营为例

气候与环境变化不仅引起了各国政府制定对策,也逐渐推进企业实行生态经营策略。生态经营是实现持续发展的有效办法。通过对中韩两国8家滑雪度假企业的深入分析得知,影响企业生态经营策略的因素有企业规模、废弃物排放成本、资源化成本、产品特性、技术创新、政府政策等,企业经营所需资源的所属情况、企业的所有权构造、社会团体的活动也可能产生一定的影响。建议中国企业在政府与社会的推动下,结合企业文化建设,积极参与生态经营,实现低碳经济时代的可持续发展。