Search results

The purpose of this study is to formulate an algorithm designed to discern the optimal routes for efficient municipal solid waste (MSW) collection.

The research method is simulation. The proposed algorithm combines heuristics derived from the constructive genetic algorithm (CGA) and tabu search (TS). The algorithm is applied in a municipality located at Southern Brazil, with 40,000 inhabitants, circa.

The implementation achieved a remarkable 25.44% reduction in daily mileage of the vehicles, resulting in savings of 150.80 km/month and 1,809.60 km/year. Additionally, it reduced greenhouse gas emissions (including fossil CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, total CO₂e and biogenic CO₂) by an average of 26.15%. Moreover, it saved 39 min of daily working time.

Further research should thoroughly analyze the feasibility of decision-making regarding planning, scheduling and scaling municipal services using digital technology.

The municipality now has a tool to improve public management, mainly related with municipal solid waste. The municipality reduced the cost of public management of municipal solid waste, redirecting funds to other priorities, such as public health and education.

The study integrates MSW collection service with an online platform based on Google MapsTM. The advantages of employing geographical information systems are agility, low cost, adaptation to changes and accuracy.

Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The study’s aims were to (1) Explore challenges, barriers and successes of students of color, as a result of the instructor’s approach to teaching in a remote learning environment; and (2) Determine what types of practices and approaches students of color found supportive in adjusting to a remote learning environment.

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore the experiences of students of color, reflecting on in-person and remote learning environments. A total of 18 students from a large public university participated in the study.

The findings suggest significant adjustments were made by both students and professors during the pandemic. Although academics were important to students, there was an emphasis on the impact on social interactions with peers and the ability to build meaningful relationships with professors. Students displayed a sense of compassion and empathy toward professors and themselves.

The results from the study provide some insight into how higher education can move forward, potentially conducting future research that includes the perspectives of both students and professors to determine how to best provide support in the aftermath of a pandemic.

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore the experiences of students of color, reflecting on in-person and remote learning environments.

Teaching about families in a classroom may seem rather simple and uncomplicated because families are thought to be familiar settings – a part of our day-to-day life experience. Most often the task is not that simple. For this purpose, personal and familial biographies of students were used as part of family pedagogy for understanding the family structure and value orientations. Such an approach requires respect for students’ lived experiences as valid knowledge to use as a subjective and experiential journey to teach about families. There is a dearth of such pedagogical approaches to teach about the complexity and diversity of families in India. This chapter documents such an attempt to teach students, using three exercises, the concepts of family through experiential learning. The concepts include the myth of a normative family, nature of family change, and multigenerational extended kin relationships. The first author developed the teaching exercises and used them in the classroom. The data were collected across three consecutive MSW (Children and Families Concentration) batches of 2012–2016 from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. A focus group interview method was used, and qualitative analysis was undertaken. The analysis of the data deconstructed the myth of the so-called normative family, helped to understand family change, and showed the presence of a range of multigenerational extended relations in families in the Indian context. The results of our study will be useful for researchers, practitioners, and teachers to employ experiential learning techniques in teaching about families in India through classroom interaction.

Poor municipal solid waste management is a major characteristic of urban development in Africa. In Ghana, local governments are mandated to ensure the collection, treatment and disposal of solid waste. However, this has been a herculean task for local governments in Ghana, owing to inadequate resources and weak technical capacities. This has prompted calls for, and actual involvement of the private sector through public-private partnerships (PPPs) in municipal solid waste management, particularly in the urban areas. This study aims to assess the roles, effectiveness and challenges of PPPs in urban waste management in the Sunyani municipality of Ghana.

Adopting a case study design, the study used a qualitative research approach to provide in-depth insights into PPPs in municipal solid waste management in the Sunyani municipality of Ghana. Therefore, key informant interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted.

The study revealed that some policies and actions of the local government (Assembly) do not positively facilitate the effective functioning of PPPs in municipal solid waste management. There is also lack of effective stakeholder consultation, collaboration and grassroot inclusion in the PPPs which affect the effective management of the increasing volumes of solid waste being generated within the municipality.

To achieve the objectives of the PPP arrangements, local authorities should initiate steps to effectively coordinate all the involved private companies. There must also be ways of involving the beneficiaries in the design and implementation of PPPs on waste management to allow for effective grassroots and participatory monitoring and evaluation.

The uniqueness of the case study being a mid-sized and secondary city in a developing country enhances the value of the findings and the application of recommendations in cities with similar characteristics and initiatives in improving PPPs in municipal waste management.

This study aims to examine the effects of green financing through pollution control bonds (PCBs) on environmental performance.

This study is based on a panel of 189 US energy utility firms observed over the period, 2011–2021 ; this study applies Generalized Method of Moments regressions.

This study found that PCBs positively affect environmental performance (aggregate measure, greenhouse emissions, waste landfill, waste incineration and waste recycling). These findings remain robust when this study considers alternative measures of PCBs and environmental performance, the quantile regression method and some firms’ attributes such as financial performance and firm age.

The results indicate that US energy utility firms have to adopt more PCBs. This study helps researchers, practitioners, shareholders, bondholders, equity analysts and local authorities such as the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, municipalities and investors understand PCBs issuance, usefulness and relevance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the effectiveness of PCBs in reducing pollution.

Waste generation poses a significant environmental challenge in the United Arab Emirates due to the rapid urbanization, population growth and industrialization witnessed in recent decades. As a result, there has been a substantial surge in waste production. To fulfil its sustainability and circular economy aspirations in various economic domains, the UAE must prioritize efficient waste management. The purpose of this study is to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of the UAE’s economic sectors particularly within its vital energy sectors, which encompass crude oil, natural gas and mining, manufacturing and electricity, by gauging their adherence to sustainability and circularity objectives.

The authors used the data envelopment analysis input–output model to identify sectors that exhibit strong performance as well as those that are falling behind.

Based on this study, the agriculture, the crude oil, natural gas and mining sectors and financial services and banking were found to be the most efficient. The results of this study concluded that the UAE is making progress toward achieving its sustainability and circularity objectives; however, the findings suggest that more effort is needed to fully realize these goals.

By identifying high-performing and underperforming sectors, decision-makers can prioritize efforts to enhance sustainability and circularity in area of greatest need in the economy.

Evidence for the availability and utilisation of family-friendly work conditions (FFWCs) in Malaysia has not been comprehensively reviewed. Whether persistent inequities are due to poor employer provision of work conditions or low employee uptake remains unknown. This scoping review to assess the scope of available evidence for availability and utilisation of specific FFWCs among women in Malaysia, and synthesise reported findings.

This scoping review used Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and twenty-two articles were reviewed.

Flexible work hours, telecommuting/work from home, staggered work hours, childcare centres proximal to workplaces, and childcare subsidies were reported as most commonly available work conditions. Available leave varied across organisations and sectors in provision of payment and duration. Flexible work hours, leave, and childcare centres proximal to workplaces were the conditions most used by employees. However, the validity of observed availability and utilisation of work conditions in Malaysia is questionable, due to inconsistencies in the specificity and range of work conditions assessed and heterogeneity of samples.

National monitoring of the accessibility and uptake of FFWCs is required to guide investment decisions about family-friendly policy initiatives to effectively advance gender equity in the Malaysian labour force.

This scoping review provides the first comprehensive synthesis and summary of the availability and utilisation of FFWCs in Malaysia.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2024-0103

The perception of a situation or reality determines how one responds and awareness is the first step towards understanding, knowing or recognizing it. The majority of the public and the police may be familiar with the phrase ‘cybercrime’, but all of them are fully informed of the nature and scope of these crimes, as well as of the cybercriminals and cyber victims, which has an impact on how they see these issues. This study's main goal was to examine the perception and awareness of cybercrime among undergraduate youth studying in BBA or BCA courses. In this study, we discovered that young people's responses to cybercrime mostly depend on their perceptions of it and their awareness level. To accomplish the study's objective, a thorough examination of existing literature was undertaken. Primary data of 200 students were collected through Google Forms. Percentile analysis, correlation analysis and t-test are done to test the hypotheses. The results of this study may help college administrators better comprehend the mindset of today's youth as they develop laws and policies aimed at reducing cybercrime among students. The results of this study show that the youngsters surveyed have high levels of awareness and a good perception.

The circular economy (CE) is a sustainable economic model that has the potential to create new opportunities, reduce environmental impact and enhance social well-being. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the largest city in Vietnam, has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, but at the cost of the environment and public health. The city could reduce waste, conserve resources and promote sustainable production and consumption by adopting CE principles. Employing qualitative research, including content analysis, we construct a SWOT analysis to assess HCMC's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the CE context. The city possesses several strengths, such as a vast potential for a CE and a robust economic foundation. However, it also faces multiple weaknesses, including insufficient infrastructure, inadequate citizen and business awareness and participation, ineffective policy enforcement and a deficiency of standards for recycled products. This chapter will conclude that the CE presents an opportunity for HCMC to reduce its dependence on imported raw materials, increase local value creation and create new jobs in the CE sector.