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Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management (WM) poses significant challenges in Sri Lanka, contributing to environmental degradation and resource depletion. To address these issues, this study explores the application of Circular Economy (CE) strategies in minimising waste generation and optimising resource utilisation in Sri Lankan construction industry. The research focuses on the construction and building renovation and use and operate stages of the building project life cycle, recognising their significance in waste generation and resource consumption.

The research employed a qualitative approach, utilising the Delphi technique through three rounds of expert interviews. Seventeen experts were involved in the first round, followed by fifteen in the second round, and twelve in the final round. The collected data was analysed using manual content analysis methods.

The research findings revealed fifteen C&D WM issues in the construction and building renovation stage in Sri Lanka, along with suitable strategies to overcome each of them. Similarly, eight C&D WM issues were identified for the use and operate stage of the building, and corresponding strategies were provided to address each issue. By adopting CE strategies such as modular design and material reuse, construction projects can optimise the project's timeline, cost, and quality factors. These strategies enable efficient resource allocation, reduce waste generation, and contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. The impact of CE strategies on mitigating these issues within the project management iron triangle was also discussed.

This paper entails delving into how construction, building renovation, and operation stages of a building's life cycle intersect with CE strategies, which profoundly influence operational efficiency and long-term sustainability. By incorporating principles such as energy efficiency, water conservation, and circular product design, the paper illuminates how these strategies facilitate decreased energy usage, enhanced resource management, and diminished waste production throughout the building's lifespan.

This study aims to examine the relationship between carbon reduction initiatives and financial performance. Additionally, it explores potential moderating variables, such as corporate social responsible (CSR) strategy and corporate governance practices, that may strengthen the link between carbon reduction initiatives and financial performance.

The empirical analysis is conducted using 1,740 firm-year observations from UK firms listed on the FTSE 350. Data on carbon emissions and firm-specific characteristics are obtained from the Refinitiv Eikon database for the period 2011–2020. Various econometric techniques, including ordinary least squares and system generalized method of moments, are used to examine the relationship between carbon reduction initiatives and financial performance. Additionally, alternative samples are used to further explore this relationship.

The author observes a significantly positive association between carbon reduction initiatives and financial performance in this study. Additionally, the significance of this relationship is found to be present specifically after the announcement of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, a channel analysis reveals that moderating factors like CSR strategy and corporate governance quality influence this relationship.

The study underscores the importance of carbon reduction initiatives for sustainable business growth and financial performance. Managers can use these insights to prioritize investments in sustainable practices. Policymakers should consider implementing supportive regulations to incentivize companies to adopt carbon reduction strategies.

This study adds value to the existing body of literature by empirically examining the moderating role of CSR strategy and best corporate governance practices in the relationship between carbon reduction initiatives and financial performance. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how these factors interact and influence the outcomes.

Immunization is one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives while promoting good health and happiness. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has served as a stark reminder of vaccines' ability to prevent transmission, save lives, and have a healthier, safer and more prosperous future. This research investigates the sustainable development (SD) of the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain (VSC).

This study investigates the relationship between internal process, organizational growth, and its three pillars of SD environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. Survey-based research is carried out in the hospitals providing COVID-19 vaccines. Nine hypotheses are proposed for the study, and all the hypotheses got accepted. The survey was sent to 428 respondents and received 291 responses from health professionals with a response rate of 68%. For the study, the healthcare professionals working in both private and public hospitals across India were selected.

The structural equation modelling (SEM) approach is used to test the hypothesis. All nine hypotheses are supported. This study examines a link between internal processes and organizational learning and the three sustainability pillars (environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability).

This study will help the management and the policymakers to think and adopt SD in the COVID-19 VSC. This paper also implies that robust immunization systems will be required in the future to ensure that people worldwide are protected from COVID-19 and other diseases.

This paper shows the relationship between organizational learning and internal process with environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability for the COVID-19. Studies on VSC of COVID-19 are not evident in any previous literature.

With the increasing complexity of public–private partnership (PPP) projects, the amount of data generated during the construction process is massive. This paper aims to develop a new information management method to cope with the risk problems involved in dealing with such data, based on domain ontologies of the construction industry, to help manage PPP risks, share and reuse risk knowledge.

Risk knowledge concepts are acquired and summarized through PPP failure cases and an extensive literature review to establish a domain framework for risk knowledge using ontology technology to help manage PPP risks.

The results indicate that the risk ontology is capable of capturing key concepts and relationships involved in managing PPP risks and can be used to facilitate knowledge reuse and storage beneficial to risk management.

The classes in the risk knowledge ontology model constructed in this research do not yet cover all the information in PPP project risks and need to be further extended. Moreover, only the framework and basic methods needed are developed, while the construction of a working ontology model and the relationship between implicit and explicit knowledge is a complicated process that requires repeated modifications and evaluations before it can be implemented.

The ontology provides a basis for turning PPP risk information into risk knowledge to allow the effective sharing and communication of project risks between different project stakeholders. It can also have the potential to help reduce the dependence on subjectivity by mining, using and storing tacit knowledge in the risk management process.

The apparent suitability of the nine classes of PPP risk knowledge (project model, risk type, risk occurrence stage, risk source, risk consequence, risk likelihood, risk carrier, risk management measures and risk case) is identified, and the proposed construction method and steps for a complete domain ontology for PPP risk management are unique. A combination of criteria- and task-based evaluations is also developed for assessing the PPP risk ontology for the first time.

India generates around two million tonnes of e-waste every year, and it is increasing at a very high rate of 30%. However, due to inefficient handling of infrastructure and limited number of collection centres along with the absence of proper incentive structure for producer and recyclers, 95% of e-waste reaches to unorganized sector for disposal. Consumers are not aware of the need of proper e-waste disposal and in absence of proper motivation and they are not inclined towards recycling process. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the best practices of e-waste take adopted all over the world to implement effective policy interventions for e-waste management in India and other emerging economies.

This paper has recommended preventive as well as curative policy interventions on the basis of best e-waste management practices of Germany, Italy and Japan; life cycle assessment of e-waste; and SWOT analysis of Indian electronic product industry.

Preventive measures include a deposit refund scheme wherein a consumer will be responsible for depositing a refundable fees during the purchase of the product. The amount should be arrived at keeping in mind cost involved in handling e-waste and ensure some motivation for the consumers to give back used product. To ensure proper tracking of the product, Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be used which will be activated at the time of sale of product and remain so until product reaches some designated recycling space or recycler and consumer is returned back his deposit fee. Subsidy to the producers and recyclers can also be provided by the government to further incentivize the whole process. An example of mobile phones has been used to understand the proposed deposit fees and associated cost structure. Curative measures to reduce the generation of e-waste in long run for managing the discussed issue have also been proposed.

This study is an initiative for proposing and implementing best e-waste take back techniques in a developing economy like India by acquiring learnings from best/advanced economies in terms of e-waste take back.

A direct correlation exists between waste disposal, disease spread and public health. This article systematically reviewed healthcare waste and its implication for public health. This review identified and described the associations and impact of waste disposal on public health.

This paper systematically reviewed the literature on waste disposal and its implications for public health by searching Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA), PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases. Of a total of 1,583 studies, 59 articles were selected and reviewed.

The review revealed the spread of infectious diseases and environmental degradation as the most typical implications of improper waste disposal to public health. The impact of waste includes infectious diseases such as cholera, Hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, and bacteremia, and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife.

Infectious diseases such as cholera, hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, bacteremia and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife are some of the public impacts of improper waste disposal.

Healthcare industry waste is a significant waste that can harm the environment and public health if not properly collected, stored, treated, managed and disposed of. There is a need for knowledge and skills applicable to proper healthcare waste disposal and management. Policies must be developed to implement appropriate waste management to prevent public health threats.

Our study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance decision-making processes to promote circular economy practices within the utility sector.

A unique case study of Alia Servizi Ambientali Spa, an Italian multi-utility company using AI for waste management, is analyzed using the Gioia method and semi-structured interviews.

Our study discovers the proactive role of the user in waste management processes, the importance of economic incentives to increase the usefulness of the technology and the role of AI in waste management transformation processes (e.g. glass waste).

The present study enhances the circular economy model (transformation, distribution and recovery), uncovering AI’s role in waste management. Finally, we inspire managers with algorithms used for data-driven decisions.

The global economy is facing a steep challenge from volatility, risk and uncertainty associated with climate change, pandemics, regional conflicts and trade wars which are unprecedented and overlapping. These crises are leading to macro- and microeconomic imbalances. The immediate effects like rising inflation, shortage of energy and fertiliser, food insecurity, loss of jobs and poverty are looming large, leading to existential threat. It is evident that decades of progress are at risk and pursuing sustainable development goals (SDGs) requires dedicated and customised efforts by the governments and other relevant actors, especially in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICS). The concept of circular economy is considered to bring a paradigm shift by reducing the dependence on natural resource extraction and decoupling economic growth from use of natural resources. Bioeconomy is another emerging field which deals with the use of renewable biological resources such as biomass to produce renewable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower for economic, environmental and social benefits. Circular bioeconomy (CBE) lies at the intersection and is defined as the production of recoverable biological (waste) resources and the conversion of these resources into high-value-added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy. It has been estimated that the economic opportunity for the sector to complement or even substitute conventional ones is estimated to be USD 7.7 trillion by 2030 for food and feed waste products, and energy. CBE is perceived as a pathway for development and has the potential to target different SDGs directly like 6, 7 and 12 and SDGs 2, 3, 11, 12, 13 and 15 indirectly. This study explores the linkages of CBE with the SDG goals and provides recommendations to stimulate the sector.

Currently, waste is regarded as a symptom of inefficiency. The generation of waste is a human activity, not a natural one. Currently, landfilling and incinerating wastes are common waste management techniques; but the use of these methods, in addition to wasting raw materials, causes damage to the environment, water, soil, and air. In the new concept of “Zero Waste” (ZW), waste is considered a valuable resource. A vital component of the methodology includes creating and managing items and procedures that limit the waste volume and toxicity and preserve and recover all resources rather than burning or burying them. With ZW, the end of one product becomes the beginning of another, unlike a linear system where waste is generated from product consumption. A scientific treatment technique, resource recovery, and reverse logistics may enable the waste from one product to become raw material for another, regardless of whether it is municipal, industrial, agricultural, biomedical, construction, or demolition. This chapter discusses the concept of zero landfills and zero waste and related initiatives and ideas; it also looks at potential obstacles to put the ZW concept into reality. Several methods are presented to investigate and evaluate efficient resource utilization for maximum recycling efficiency, economic improvement through resource minimization, and mandatory refuse collection. One of the most practical and used approaches is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, which is based on green engineering and the cradle-to-cradle principle; the LCA technique is used in most current research, allowing for a complete investigation of possible environmental repercussions. This approach considers the entire life cycle of a product, including the origin of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, usage, and final disposal, or recycling. Using a life cycle perspective, all stakeholders (product designers, service providers, political and legislative agencies, and consumers) may make environmentally sound and long-term decisions.

The success of waste management depends on public awareness of environmental issues and the ability of the local government to provide facilities. Many countries have serious problems of financial resources and infrastructure for waste management. As there is a lack of awareness of the population on the importance of waste management, municipal governments only adopt remediation actions to manage waste collection service.

In Angola, during the last decade, the government has been committed to the reconstruction and development of the country, creating infrastructure for the provision of essential services and publishing legal tools to respond to environmental issues. In 2012 the government approved the Strategic Plan for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (PESGRU). The strategic plan was designed for a time horizon until 2025. Due to the economic crisis that hit the country, the implementation of the plan suffered several setbacks and the deadlines established for the different programmes are being compromised.

A study carried out in 2020 on waste management in Angola, with four of the main provinces as a stage, through the analysis of official documents, direct observation and face-to-face interviews with those in charge of waste management, revealed a lack of funding for the implementation of PESGRU and low assistance from the Ministry of the Environment and the central government and showed the unsustainability of the waste management model in light of the principles recommended by international good practices.