Using triple bottom line metrics and multi-criteria methodology in corporate settings

With the growing importance of environmental sustainability in the corporate sector, businesses are compelled to progress from assessing and benchmarking their environmental impact to making decisions on how to prioritize impact reduction alternatives. Most often, business decisions are driven by financial metrics, but with sustainability improvements becoming a business goal, it is also important to assess metrics from environmental and social spheres; nevertheless, practically and systematically performing such an assessment is challenging. We present an application of a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method that addresses the aforementioned challenges in a corporate setting. Our case study company – one of the largest inland marine freight carriers in the United States – promotes a business culture focused on financially viable, yet socially and environmentally responsible solutions. Thus, we combine life cycle analysis (LCA), financial calculation methods, and corporate surveys to quantify environmental, economic, and social performance measures, respectively. Multiattribute utility theory is integrated with analytic hierarchy processes (AHPs) and fuzzy analysis to create a carefully designed framework for corporations with diverse groups of stakeholders. With company leadership, implementation is feasible and successful at prioritizing alternatives among diverse stakeholders. The process provides a platform for negotiation and promotes discussions on decision drivers. The use of MCDA methodologies promoted the inclusion of a suite of metrics that aligned with the company's sense of social and environmental responsibility, generating an in-depth analysis of the alternatives that factored in other things besides economics. Return-on-investments (ROI) calculations, the typical approach used in the corporate setting, would have required significantly less time and effort from the company, but the results of our MCDA application indicated that inclusion of triple bottom line metrics delve deeper into stakeholder preferences. Thus, our case study company gained a holistic view of the candidate alternatives, in addition to creating a platform for structured discussions about company goals and priorities.     

High-recycled-content hydraulic cements of alternative chemistry for concrete production

Sustainable hydraulic cements based on alkali aluminosilicate chemistry were developed with market-limited wastes acting as the primary aluminosilicate precursors. Two sets of formulations were developed with waste brick or impounded coal ash used at relatively large volume as aluminosilicate precursors. Supplementary materials were used to produce raw materials of viable chemistry. Blends of raw materials were transformed into hydraulic cements by input of mechanical energy without resorting to elevated temperatures. The resultant hydraulic cements exhibited viable strength development characteristics. FTIR, SEM, EDS and NMR analyses were conducted in order to gain insight into the structure of the hydraulic cements and their hydration products. The results pointed at the prevalence of calcium aluminosilicate hydrates among the products of hydration which thoroughly bound the non-hydrated cores of cement particles.     

Towards a framework for assessing the sustainability of local economic development based on natural resources: honeybush tea in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Despite the popularity of local economic development (LED) as a job creation and economic growth strategy in South Africa, many LED projects have not proved to be sustainable in the long-run, especially where human systems interact with biological ones. This article examines the relationship between sustainability and LED within the context of the emerging honeybush tea industry in the Eastern Cape. Data were gathered from provincial as well as local government policy documents and reports, and via key informant interviews. The data were analysed using Connelly’s [(2007). Mapping sustainable development as a contested concept. Local Environment, 12 (3), 259–278] three pronged approach to sustainable development as a lens through which to view the local industry. Findings showed that the industry offers many opportunities for development, including job creation in poorer, rural households; sustainable wild harvesting using a permit system; commercial cultivation; potential to develop social capital; potential for community-based LED; and product diversification. However, there are also corresponding challenges: There is currently no reliable data on the maximum sustainable yield, which is needed to guide quota allocations for entrepreneurial harvesters harvesting from wild stocks; possible biodiversity loss; and enforcing the permit scheme is proving difficult in remote rural areas.     

Portrayal of sustainability principles in the mission statements and on home pages of the world's largest organizations

Conservation can be achieved only if sustainability is embraced as core to organizational cultures. To test the extent to which the related concepts of sustainability, conservation, response to climate change, poverty alleviation, and gender equity have been incorporated into organizational culture, we compared mission statements published from 1990 to 2000 with those published in 2014 for 150 organzations, including conservation nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), aid NGOs, government development agencies, resource extraction companies, and retailers (30 in each category). We also analyzed the 2014 home web pages of each organization. Relative to the earlier period, the frequency with which mission statements mentioned poverty alleviation, biodiversity conservation, and a range of sustainable practices increased only slightly by 2014, particularly among resource extractors and retail companies. Few organizations in any sector had embedded either climate change or gender equity into their mission statements. In addition, the proportional intensity with which any of the aspirations were expressed did not change between periods. For current home pages, conservation NGOs, resource extractors, and government agencies were significantly more likely to acknowledge the importance of matters that were not part of their core business, but few aid agencies or retail companies promoted goals beyond alleviation of crises and profit maximization, respectively. Overall, there has been some progress in recognizing poverty alleviation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable practices, but gender equity and a determination to reduce impacts on climate change are still rarely promoted as central institutional concerns. Sustainability in general, and biodiversity conservation in particular, will not be achieved unless their importance is more widely apparent in core communication products of organizations.     

Field Application of a Renewable Constructed Wetland Substrate for Phosphorus Removal1

Rosenquist, Shawn E., W. Cully Hession, Matthew J. Eick, and David H. Vaughan, 2011. Field Application of a Renewable Constructed Wetland Substrate for Phosphorus Removal. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):800‐812. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00557.x Abstract: Phosphorus (P) is typically the best target to prevent eutrophication in freshwater, a biological process associated with water quality degradation. Constructed wetlands (CW) and other practices that include P removal by sorption processes in substrates can provide economical treatment of stormwater, but have limitations (e.g., large land requirements, loss of removal over time, lack of P recovery). Over the last three years, a multi‐study research program addressed these limitations with a new P management concept. This concept minimizes CW size with a rejuvenation cycle (or rejuvenation) that renews P‐sorption capacity in the CW substrates and enables P recovery for productive use. This study, conducted in Blacksburg, Virginia (July‐September 2009), tested the efficacy of rejuvenation in the field. Methods included replicate cells of two sand substrates monitored for P removal during prerejuvenation and postrejuvenation filtration runs. One substrate contained cast iron filings as a repository for sorption capacity. Results support the following conclusions: (1) P removal is likely dependent on multiple factors including influent P concentration, previous substrate/solution equilibrium, pH, and time; (2) rejuvenation is capable of releasing P adsorbed during stormwater filtration; (3) inclusion of cast iron in substrate promotes additional P removal and enables further removal after rejuvenation; but (4) inclusion of cast iron may limit release of P during rejuvenation.     

Decision rules for recycling returned products

Most retail and on-line outlets allow customers to easily return defective or even non-defective products. Due to increasing environmental and sustainable concerns, disposal of returned products is often costly and undesirable. Furthermore, these products contain parts and materials of value that can contribute to the companies' profit. One way to take advantage of these returns is by utilising good returned parts in production of after-market products. Recycling of parts from products at the end of their useful lives has been studied for a long time. Many of these studies, however, are focused on repairs and refurbishing of such products for reuse.

This paper addresses recycling of rather new parts recovered from returned products. In this process parts are assembled with other parts recovered from other products to make a complete unit. The main objective of this study is to provide quantitative decision rules for justification of recycling of returned parts. The proposed method consists of a computer-based simulation decision model that, given a set of production system parameters, determines the breakeven point for the primary production rate at which recycling is justified. The application of the system to several scenarios is demonstrated through a numerical example.     

Long-term sustainability of metal immobilization by soil amendments: Cyclonic ashes versus lime addition

A soil column leaching experiment was used to gain insight into the long-term metal immobilization capacity of cyclonic ashes (CAH) compared to lime (LIME). Twenty six years of rainfall were simulated. Initially, all amended soils were brought to an equal soil pH. This was done to obtain optimal conditions for the detection of metal immobilization mechanisms different from just a pH effect. During the simulation period, soil pH in all treatments decreased in parallel. However, the evolution of metal mobility and phytoavailability showed a clearly distinct pattern. The strong reduction in metal immobilizing efficiency observed in the lime treatment at the end of the simulation period was much less pronounced, or even absent, in the CAH treatments. Moreover, metal accumulation in plants grown on the CAH amended soil was significantly lower compared to the untreated and the lime treated soil. CAH + SS treatment delivered the strongest reductions in metal mobility and bioavailability.     

Backcasting — a framework for strategic planning

Backcasting is a planning methodology that is particularly helpful when problems at hand are complex and when present trends are part of the problems. When applied in planning towards sustainability, backcasting can increase the likelihood of handling the ecologically complex issues in a systematic and coordinated way, and also to foresee certain changes, even from a self-beneficial point of view, of the market and increase the chances of a relatively strong economic performance. To that end, backcasting should be performed from a set of non-overlapping principles that are general enough to be helpful in the coordination of different sectors of society and in business, as well as to cover relevant aspects of sustainability. Such principles are helpful when developing reliable non-overlapping indicators for monitoring of the development when coordinating various measures from different sectors of the society or within individual firms with each other, and when handling trade-offs in a relevant way. Furthermore, the transition can benefit from being undertaken in a strategic step-by-step manner, by which such investments search for those that combine two qualities: (i) technical flexibility to serve as platforms for future investments in line with non-overlapping principles of sustainability, and (ii) good possibilities of giving relatively fast return on investment. This framework for planning is developed together with the Natural Step, a non-government organization, and in collaboration with a network of scientists and business. Examples are given from firms applying the framework.     

黄河健康生命初探

在分析黄河演变规律的基础上,提出维持黄河健康生命是人类与黄河和谐相处的必然要求,同时黄河健康生命的保障程度决定于人类经济社会的发展水平。针对目前维持黄河健康生命面临的主要挑战,阐述了现阶段治黄工作的基本原则和工作重点,提出目前维持黄河的健康生命首先在于保障黄河自身用水,需要通过全流域节水或跨流域调水对水资源进行合理配置,保障黄河的输沙水量、自净需水量和生态需水量等。另外,减少入黄泥沙和合理布置河道工程也是保障黄河健康生命的重要途径。     

HDPI: A Framework for Pollution-Sensitive Human Development Indicators

The aim of this study is to draw up a framework for pollution-sensitive human development indicators, which we refer to as HDPI. The method used to determine HDPI is based on that used for human development index (HDI) drawn up annually since 1990 by the UNDP. The novelty lies in the incorporation into 'HDI of an environmental factor, measured in terms of CO₂ emissions from industrial processes per capita. HDPI penalises those countries which have obtained growth in income at the expense of damaging the environment. A particular case for these indicators is used to draw up a pollution sensitive human development index for 165 countries for which data are available, for the period from 1993 to 1998. The results obtained in this case are analysed.