A carbon footprint analysis in the textile supply chain

This research work focuses on the application of life-cycle assessment methodology to determine the carbon footprint of different players involved in a supply chain of the textile sector. A case study of a product by a textile leader company was carried out. This study demonstrates that, in the textile chain, the main contribution to the greenhouse effect is provided by the electrical and thermal energy used and by the transportation (since different production phases are delocalised in a wide range that goes from South Africa, Italy, Romania and all around the world, from the distribution centre to the stores). The Monte Carlo analysis has been used in order to obtain, for each calculated impact, not only the average value but also the distribution curve of the results characterised by uncertainty parameters. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate the impact of management choices such as:

??a change in the transportation modality, from aeroplane to boat;

??a combination of road and rail transportation; and

??a selection among suppliers that allows the firm to cut environmental impacts.     

Eco-efficiency in logistics: a case study on distribution network design

Sustainability demands that managers deliberate effects on stakeholders and the environment alongside traditional profitability measures. This paper presents a case study suggested by the managers of a distribution firm that seeks to balance environmental impact with cost in an industrial distribution network configuration decision incorporating product returns, which is currently taking place. While this can be modelled using mathematical programming, nonlinear terms in the objective functions as well as the likeliness that a large number of combinations of binary decision variables result suggest that this will not be able to be relied upon for a solution. For this reason, we propose a heuristic that aims at finding the Pareto-efficient frontier, which managers can use to deliberate the best solution balancing cost and environmental impact, according to the relative trade-offs of various possible configurations. We illustrate this heuristic on the Italian region of Liguria, and further explore trade-offs juxtaposing the regions of Lombardi and Sicily. Lastly, various extensions for enhanced product recovery opportunities for returns are suggested.     

Common Values and Themes for Grazed Open Spaces: “Plant Diversity” and “Watershed” as Communication Intersections for Agriculture and Conservation Groups?

ABSTRACT

Communicating about the use and management of open spaces occurs within a complex social environment replete with diverse stakeholder opinions and meta-narratives. For western US rangelands, production-based enterprises have been the traditional use but increasingly they are valued for ecosystem services such as water, recreation, biodiversity, and aesthetics which have led to additional conflict. We surveyed Wyoming-based members of six agricultural (Ag) and four environmental/conservation (Env/Con) groups to determine grazing-centric mutual exclusivity of special interests, common values, and emergent themes. We assessed 197 survey participants; 150 from Ag groups and 47 from Env/Con groups. Of 10 values assessed, “watershed” and “plant diversity” were similarly valued by both group types. These naturally dichotomous groups also agreed that communication and reliance on science are needed. Communication and conflict resolution about the use of open spaces can benefit from addressing social presuppositions and meta-narratives of broader audiences to facilitate effective dialogue and solutions.     

Sustainable outsourcing: a practice survey and research opportunities

This paper addresses the issue of the sustainability imperative and its influence on outsourcing practice. The research initially finds that there is currently little or no work that explores sustainable or green outsourcing, other than in an information technology context. This lack of research on sustainable outsourcing practice in the industrial organisation sector led to the development of this research study. This exploratory study used a qualitative survey tool to investigate current industrial practice. Manufacturing managers in 57 organisations formed the survey sample. The data were analysed by comparison and clustering of responses of survey participants. This study contributes five key findings that demonstrate current industrial practice which includes: 32% of respondents state that sustainability is not a factor in their outsourcing decision making and 65% of small- and medium-sized enterprises had never heard of the ‘triple bottom line’ concept. Future research needs are identified and proposed highlighting that urgent development of research is required in outsourcing performance measurement and also in considering sustainability as a new manufacturing competitive priority.     

Developing a fuzzy linear programming model for locating recovery facility in a closed loop supply chain

In this research a closed loop supply chain is designed which incorporates reverse logistics and forward logistic system simultaneously. In the design of reverse logistic system, recovery options are embedded in traditional supply chain for treating returned products. The recovery system includes collection centres, remanufacturing plants and disposal centres. Since the product return is supply driven, there is an uncertainty about it. In the proposed configuration for closed loop supply chain, the optimised configuration for supply chain in terms of locating recovery plants is developed. Accordingly, a fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model develops to deal with the uncertainty of returning products by customers. A general-purpose solver (LINGO 8.0) and a Meta heuristic approach (genetics algorithm) are implemented to solve the proposed model. The answers are compared by defining indexes and then the optimal answer, configuration and variables are identified. This solution will suggest a new design of supply chain network in which waste of materials is minimised and the new raw materials are necessary only when the used products may not be recovered by recovery options.     

Management of two competitive closed-loop supply chains

The two competitive closed-loop supply chains under our study include three members: two manufacturers and one retailer. In this paper, we focus on the management of the wholesale prices, the retail prices and the collecting prices for the two competitive closed-loop supply chains. On the assumption that the return rate of the used-products is an increasing function of the collecting price, we obtain the optimal wholesale prices, the optimal retail prices and the optimal collecting prices based on the following models: Model MMC (two manufacturers for collecting), Model MRC (manufacturer one and retailer for collecting) and Model RRC (retailer for collecting). Furthermore, by comparing the optimal results, we find that the retailer for collecting is the best channel for the two competitive closed-loop supply chains if the two manufacturers would like to transfer all of their cost savings from remanufacturing to the retailer. At the end, we illustrate a numerical example to analyse the impacts of the market share ratio and the substitute ratio of the two products on the optimal results.     

The Three Gorges Project in Figures

Abstact

Ecological city is the advanced mode of harmonious development of city. Constant improvement is being made in the development of ecological city. However, building ecological city is an enormous project that calls for a huge amount of capital. The government fund is far from adequate. This paper probes into the fund issue and discusses in detail the mechanism of investment and financing in building ecological city from various aspects such as diversification of the investment subjects and the modes of financing.     

土地非农化生态价值损失估算

随着城镇化、工业化的快速推进,我国城乡建设用地快速扩展使农用地保护面临巨大挑战,从经济机制上防止土地过度非农化尤为重要.该文对土地非农化生态价值损失过程机制进行了理论探索,建立了价值损失估算方法,并以江汉平原为例进行案例分析.研究表明:单纯的市场机制没有考虑土地非农化造成的生态价值损失,无法实现土地资源最佳配置,非农化规模偏大;土地非农化生态价值损失巨大,1987-2010年江汉平原因此累计损失73 692.11万元,人均承担49.25元;不同类型土地的生态价值损失强度有所差异,每公顷的自然保留地、水域、林地、草地、耕地非农化价值损失分别为2.459 8万元/a,2.036 7万元/a,1.262 9万元/a,0.524 1万元/a,0.354 8万元/a.文章认为,发展与保护始终是土地资源优化配置必然要面对的难题,土地非农化是社会经济发展过程中的必然现象,也是一个土地生态服务功能不断减少和消亡的过程.土地非农化虽然在一定程度上提高了土地的经济效益和社会效益,但生态效益损失巨大,可能会导致总效益净减.土地过度非农化在很大程度上是由于传统市场体系仅部分考虑了土地的经济、社会功能,而几乎完全没有考虑其生态价值导致的.作为一类负外部性,土地非农化过程中的生态价值损失如果不能得到及时遏制,快速增长的城乡建设用地需求将使农地保护面临巨大威胁,这需要将生态价值纳入土地价值体系,计入征地成本,并在一定程度上提高现行土地价格体系的合理性,防止建设用地的过度扩张,减少生态价值损失.     

Quantitative Appraisement on Ecological Carrying Capacity in Coastal Rapid Developing Region of Hainan Province

Abstract

The ecological carrying capacity, an important indicator to evaluate the sustainable development of the ecosystem, means the potential ability of the natural ecosystem to carry socioeconomic development while the ecosystem is healthy. It is limited by the carrying capacity of natural resources and environment and the elasticity of the ecosystem. It will be greatly significant to study the ecological carrying capacity of Hainan Province, the first ecological province admitted by the State Environmental Protection Administration in China. Not only is the natural ecosystem reflected, but also the effects of human activities are emphasized by integrating the ecosystem health analysis into the ecological carrying capacity research. The research results, using the Factor Analysis tools of software SPSS, indicate that the ecological carrying capacity of Hainan Province fluctuated obviously from 1996 to 2005. The level of the ecological carrying capacity of Hainan Province was relatively high in 1996, and reached into trough from 1997 to 1999. It has steadily ascended to be above the middle level since the 21st century. The results also show that policy factors, especially the implementation of the ‘Ecological Province’ strategy, were important driving forces to influence the ecological carrying capacity. With the population rapidly increasing, the land and water resources per capita have decreased quickly. The amount of the ecological carrying capacity was promoted remarkably by socioeconomic development especially economic growth and technology applications. All of these will provide useful suggestions to establish and enact regional development policies, especially for protecting and reconstructing the ecology and environment of Hainan Province.     

Detailed Ecological Footprint Accounting of Liaoning in 2006

Abstract

Ecological footprint (EF) has received considerable attention as a useful indicator in the context of sustainable development. So far, EF has been used in numerous studies by academies, organizations and government authorities. However, the results of these studies failed to be comparable directly with each other due to imprecise data sets, unmodified accounting methods of pasture and fossil energy, ignored secondary products, undefined process of calculating yield factors and improper biocapacity for biodiversity. In this paper, we elaborated on EF estimating methods from six categories of consumption in order to overcome the limitations above. We adopted precise data and revised methods, calculated EF of some secondary products, introduced weighted factor to calculate yield factors and adjusted biocapacity by an appropriate amount. Meanwhile, we investigated the resource consumption of Liaoning Province in 2006 to assess EF. Its results showed that Liaoning Province overused its natural capital and was in an unsustainable state. We concluded that two specific problems that had arisen in EF assessment and gave some suggestions for Liaoning Province to improve its unsustainable state.