Search results

This paper presents an analysis of the influence of “Joint Environmental Policy-making” (JEP) in the operation of the company Smurfit Kappa (SK) in The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark (NL&AD). The paper aims to answer the question: to what extend has different levels of jointness and voluntariness of cardboard packaging-chain agreements between federal, governmental and business actors led to different recycling performances within the same company?

JEP's analysis was framed under the model described by Mol, Volkmar and Liefferink by using information from mixed-methods throughout a semi-structured questionnaire for interviews and revision of relevant secondary data. This is a case of cross-national comparison for which origin and implementation level of JEPs were described per country, in accordance with those stages of the cardboard production chain.

Jointness and voluntariness amongst other actors from governmental areas and business ranked high for the Dutch packaging-chain agreements with a visible impact in SK's recycling rates. SK in Austria and in Denmark, in this order, had a lower implementation level of JEPs which could be reflected in a lower recycling performance than in the Dutch SK subsidiaries. The context matters, including both political and social conditions. In particular, the role of householders as a last link in the recycling chain. Based on this, the selected countries share some societal characteristics associated with the environmental public awareness and active social participation.

This paper fulfills an analysis of how environmental policy making is affected by the country context within the same company.

This paper aims to evaluate the bioremediation [chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color removal] of the effluent from the cardboard recycling industry in Yazd, central province of Iran, using mixed fungal culture.

First, the effluent samples from the cardboard recycling industry were cultured on potato dextrose agar medium to isolate native fungal colonies. The grown colonies were then identified using morphological macroscopic and microscopic characteristics to choose the dominant fungi for bioremediations. The mixed cultures of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium digitatum were finally used for bioremediation experiments of the cardboard recycling industry. A suspension containing 1 × 10⁶ CFU/ml of fungal spores was prepared from each fungus, separately and their homogenous mixture. Sewage samples were prepared and sterilized and used at 25%, 50% and 90% dilutions and pH levels of 5, 7 and 8 for bioremediation tests using mixed fungal spores. Following that, 10 ml of the mixed fungal spores were inoculated into the samples for decolorization and COD removal and incubated for 10 days at 30°C. The amount of COD removal and decolorization were measured before incubation and after 3, 6 and 10 days of inoculation. In this research, the color was measured by American Dye Manufacturer Institute and COD by the closed reflux method. The results of the present study were analyzed using SPSS 21 statistical software and one-way ANOVA tests at p-value < 0.05.

The results of this research showed that the mean decolorization by mixed fungal culture over 10 days at pH levels of 5, 7 and 8 were 44.40%, 45.00% and 36.84%, respectively, and the mean COD removal efficiency was 71.59%, 73.54% and 16.55%, respectively. Moreover, the mean decolorization at dilutions of 25%, 50% and 90% were 45.00%, 31.93% and 30.53%, respectively, and the mean COD removal efficiency was 73.54%, 62.38% and 34.93%, respectively. Therefore, the maximal COD removal and decolorization efficiency was obtained at dilution of 25% and pH 7.

Given that limited studies have been conducted on bioremediation of the effluent from the cardboard recycling industry using fungal species, this research could provide useful information on the physicochemical properties of the effluent in this industry.

The paper is intended to examine the performance of a group of UK shopping centres in regard to waste production and disposal over periods of two, three and four years.

The method adopted is the collection and analysis of data relating to waste production and disposal. The data was collected by and obtained from individual shopping centres before analysis.

The sector as a whole did not show a decreasing level of waste production although some individual centres did perform well. In general, as one might expect, the more professional the approach to waste management, the better were the results.

More data was available for the shorter periods analysed as many centres have only just started recording waste data. The project could be usefully revisited in five years.

The paper shows that investing in waste management does produce positive results. The effect of the landfill tax is not certain but additional incentives may be necessary to drive an industry wide improvement.

The paper represents a new and an independent review of performance in the shopping centre sector.

The concept of sustainability has been gaining importance globally due to the growing environmental concerns and rising support from the nations to conserve the planet. Particularly for a country like India, this approach is highly relevant for combating the increasing stress on different sectors of the society due to the growing population. Solid waste management is an important sector that requires an immediate attention in the current context. Implementation of integrated sustainable waste management approach minimizes the waste and provides economic benefits, through best suitable method for managing the waste. In the present scenario, it is difficult for local bodies to apply this approach throughout the country due to diverse conditions and financial constraints. However this approach can be implemented through decentralization of solid waste management by the local bodies at a small scale. Technical institutes have a greater role to play in the society by nurturing the young minds about the need and ways to develop a sustainable society. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study area discussed in this paper is Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology situated on Agra-Mumbai national highway, Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, India. It covers an area of 125 acres and houses a population more than 3,000. The present work discusses about the development of strategic plan for sustainable waste management on the campus through the characterization and analysis of waste samples collected from academic buildings, hostels, mess, shopping complex and residential areas for beneficial utilization.

The study revealed that potential benefits such as biogas generation from organic waste, resource optimization through 3R concept (reduce, reuse and recycle) from paper, plastics, cardboard, glass, metals, etc. could be derived by adopting suitable waste management strategy.

The present work discusses the feasible options for the efficient utilization of the components of solid waste through integrated solid waste management system. The university with its diverse nature of wastes generated from academic buildings, hostels, mess, shopping complex and residential areas; provides a good opportunity to understand the options for sustainable waste management on the campus for wider applications.

The paper aims to propose the development of an eco product to replace the traditional cotton swab that meets the expected needs, besides having a bias based on sustainability and economic viability.

The applied nature article opted for an exploratory and descriptive study, with the objective of seeking a solution to a real problem: to reduce the environmental impact in the disposal of cotton swabs. To test this hypothesis, the exploratory stage evaluated the literature on the principles of eco design and environmental marketing to understand market viability and environmental impacts. The descriptive phase presented a comparative analysis between the original product and the proposed one, in terms of production processes and impacts of the product life cycle. Thus, an alternative product was conceived and validated applying the life cycle analysis (LCA).

The paper provides a comparative analysis between the eco product and the traditional product in order to validate the hypothesis that the new proposal reduces the environmental impact. It was found that both productive processes have similar impacts; however, the raw material of the proposed eco product demonstrated a significant reduction in the impact caused on the environment, considering cradle to cradle analysis.

This paper conceives an eco product as an alternative to traditional cotton swab, presenting an innovative potential in line with worldwide sustainability trends.

This paper aims to study the application of high-tolerance and flexible indigenous bacteria and fungi, along with the co-metabolism in recycled paper and cardboard mill (RPCM) wastewater treatment (WWT).

The molecular characterization of isolated indigenous bacteria and fungi was performed by 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene sequencing, respectively. Glucose was used as a cometabolic substrate to enhance the bioremediation process.

The highest removal efficiency was achieved for both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color [78% COD and 45% color removal by Pseudomonas aeruginosa RW-2 (MZ603673), as well as approximately 70% COD and 48% color removal by Geotrichum candidum RW-4 (ON024394)]. The corresponding percentages were higher in comparison with the efficiency obtained from the oxidation ditch unit in the full-scale RPCM WWT plant.

Indigenous P. aeruginosa RW-2 and G. candidum RW-4 demonstrated effective capability in RPCM WWT despite the highly toxic and low biodegradable nature, especially with the assistance of glucose.

Current literature emphasises using a holistic perspective on green packaging development (GPD) as an important strategy for reducing the environmental impact of products’ supply chain (SC). In practice, however, it can be difficult for packaging developers to strike a balance between all the different environmental requirements on packaging, and trade-offs are common. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can provide this type of information, but many food companies lack the time and resources to conduct detailed assessments. The purpose of this paper is to provide prioritization guidelines for food GPD based on a systematic review of food LCAs.

As basis for the suggested guidelines, 48 food LCAs covering eight types of food were reviewed following a standardized format. The review consisted of a quantitative analysis of the global warming potential results and a qualitative analysis of the LCAs’ conclusions.

The prioritization guidelines propose three priority areas for food GPD that companies can select from based on product characteristics. They also provide suggestions for improving packaging in the three priority areas.

The proposed guidelines can help food companies develop packaging solutions that contribute to minimising the environmental impact along food SCs. The review focuses on the role of packaging in food SCs, which has not been previously analysed in published LCA reviews.

Corporate executives who sit back and take a wait‐and‐see attitude in regard to defining their internal strategy for an environmental packaging program will face a rude awakening. Today's consumer will not accept a so‐called green package that is not an improvement over previous efforts and in addition, costs more. In reality, consumers are not speaking up for the environment with their pocketbooks; instead, they are speaking out and reacting in ways that are leading to environmental legislation.

Consumers are becoming increasingly socially conscious when making their purchasing decisions, which in turn is providing an incentive for firms to integrate social responsibility considerations into their product offerings. Explaining the various categories of socially responsible consumption (SRC) is therefore important. The purpose of this paper is to explain the various categories of socially responsible consumption.

Grounded in the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this paper surveyed a sample of 1,202 Hong Kong consumers.

The findings indicate that attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are all significant predictors of three categories of SRC (i.e. intention to purchase from firms based on their CSR performance, intention to practice recycling and intention to try to avoid or minimize their use of products based on their environmental impact). Intention to engage in SRC was then shown to be a significant predictor of SRC behavior.

This paper relied on only the single-factor test as a measure of socially desirable responding. Furthermore, while the quota sampling was designed for broad representativeness, it is difficult to verify if the well-controlled quota controls entirely removed the possibility of a biased selection of respondents within each cell.

Recommendations are made for public policy-makers and marketers to devise ways to shape consumer behavior to facilitate more responsible consumption.

Previous research relating to SRC has not explained the various categories of SRC and often failed to test the relationship between intention and behavior, representing a considerable gap in the literature. This paper applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain intention and behavior with regards to the various categories of SRC.