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A systems perspective of waste management allows an integrated approach not only to the five basic functional elements of waste management itself (generation, reduction, collection, recycling, disposal), but to the problems arising at the interfaces with the management of energy, nature conservation, environmental protection, economic factors like unemployment and productivity, etc. This monograph separately describes present practices and the problems to be solved in each of the functional areas of waste management and at the important interfaces. Strategies for more efficient control are then proposed from a systems perspective. Systematic and objective means of solving problems become possible leading to optimal management and a positive contribution to economic development, not least through resource conservation. India is the particular context within which waste generation and management are discussed. In considering waste disposal techniques, special attention is given to sewage and radioactive wastes.

This paper explores how Industry 4.0 facilitates small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets to gain and maintain organizational legitimacy from the government and market and capture value from circular economy (CE) adoption in their businesses.

The authors conduct an in-depth, multistakeholder case study in an SME in China’s hazardous waste recycling and re-utilization industry and apply a qualitative analysis.

The findings show that Industry 4.0 could facilitate SMEs to gain organizational legitimacy through two mechanisms, namely conforming and transcending. Conforming results in baseline-level outcomes to obtain legitimacy while transcending leads to ecosystem value-cocreation, which goes beyond government expectations and reinforces SMEs' legitimacy.

The authors validated the enabling role of Industry 4.0 in CE adoption in SMEs and have generated legitimation processes and strategies that facilitate SMEs to capture value from CE adoption.

This paper aims to provide information on the present status of waste‐based building materials technologies in India.

Numerous approaches are used, including the collection of authentic information on the demand for building materials in India; the availability of key building materials; the utilization of waste from mining, industrial and ore beneficiation industries and R&D status in their role as secondary resource materials; abstract information on proven technologies and future prospects; and aspects of technology transfer.

Proven technologies in waste utilization are being standardized and a certification scheme has been introduced through the Building Material & Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) and government incentives for all waste.

The paper emphasizes the role of the BMTPC in the dissemination of information and the demonstration of new technologies, and also on emphasizes the favorable impact on environmental aspects.

The paper's findings may encourage the establishment of a wide database on the new technologies of building materials utilizing various wastes.

The Environmental Protection Bureau of Taiwan established the South Star Project in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as a solution to two problems facing the city—the urgent need to dispose of industrial wastes and the need to increase land for the city. To embank land from the sea, breakwaters were constructed. The material used to construct breakwaters was a mixture of furnace slag (waste from the steel industry) and fly ash (waste from power plants). After constructing the breakwaters, the ‘reclaimed land’ was used as a landfill for construction and public waste. In the future, these reclaimed lands will be used for the development of a deepwater port or sea airport. Construction of breakwaters is a very repetitive process, and any improvements made would help contractors reduce the duration of the operation, improve efficiency in the process and thereby reduce costs. This paper discusses the process of breakwater construction and the utilization of industrial wastes for the concrete work on the project. Data collected from the first stage of the South Star Project is used in the modelling, simulation and analysis of the process, in order to examine the interaction between different resources.

The purpose of this study is to use waste materials in construction to create sustainable practices. This will contribute towards circular economy which has gained momentum in recent years throughout the world.

Waste materials cause enormous environmental problems that can have an adverse effect on the environment. Recycling of waste consists an important part of the circular economy. Therefore, researchers have been investigating the economic use of a variety of waste materials for reducing their environmental impact. One potential usage is in road subbase fill materials where wastes can be incorporated in large quantities. In this study, the engineering properties of road subbase fill materials (i.e. kaolinite) mixed with Granite Waste (GW), coal Fly Ash (FA) and lime are investigated. Kaolinite was replaced with 15% lime and FA, whereas the GW replacement varied from 10% to 20%. Testing included strength of the various soil compositions subjected to different curing times. Also the microstructural analyses and phase changes of samples were conducted using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction techniques, respectively. The results obtained indicate that GW can be incorporated in road base materials to improve its bearing capacity. The mixture consisting of 15% lime, 15% FA, 20% GW and 50% kaolinite resulted in maximum dry unit weight and optimum moisture content. Using GW exhibited a noticeable increase in the California Bearing Ratio of more than eight times at 1 day and 28 days curing regime compared with the control sample.

This study shows that GW and FA can be used for road subbase materials and can contribute toward a better and cleaner environment.

In this study, the engineering properties of road subbase fill materials (i.e. kaolinite) mixed with GW, coal FA and lime are investigated. This are value added in circular economy.

This paper aims to study the effect of the addition of water treatment plant sludge (WTPS) and processed tea waste (PTW) on the properties of burnt clay bricks. The reuse of WTP sludge as a raw material for brick production is a long-term approach, to sludge disposal, for economic and environmental sustainability. Sludge have been added at 10, 20, 30 and 40% and processed tea waste at 5% (by weight) in replacement of clay for brick manufacturing. Each batch of hand-moulded bricks was fired in a heat controlled furnace at a temperature of 990°C. The compressive strength has been found to increase with the sludge content, however, a slight decrease in compressive strength was observed with tea waste addition. Further, PTW addition has improved the thermal insulation of bricks as compared to controlled bricks. The study shows that 40% WTPS, 5% PTW and 55% natural clayey soil can be considered as an optimum mix for bricks with good compressive strength as well as improved thermal insulation property.

Four different mixing ratios of sludge at 10, 20, 30 and 40% of the total weight of sludge-clay mixtures were used to make bricks. Similarly, PTW was investigated as a substitute of natural clayey soil in brick manufacturing. Each batch of hand-moulded bricks was fired in a heat controlled furnace at a temperature of 990°C. The physical, mechanical and engineering properties of the produced WTPS bricks and PTW bricks were determined and evaluated according to various Indian Standard Codes of Specification for burnt clay bricks and certain reference books.

The results exhibited that WTP sludge and PTW can be used to produce good quality brick for various engineering applications in construction and building. Increasing the sludge content increases the compressive strength. Moreover, thermal insulation of PTW bricks depicted an upward trend when compared to controlled bricks. Hence, an optimum mixture of 40% WTPS, 5% PTW and 55% natural clayey soil was found, at which bricks showed good compressive strength as well as improved thermal insulation property of the building material.

The present work provides a sustainable solution for disposal of WTP sludge and tea waste. Utilization of these waste materials in brick manufacturing is viable and economic solution.

Bricks with 40% WTP sludge and 5% processed tea waste proved to be economic, technically sound for construction purposes with added thermal insulation properties.

Bulk amount of waste such as WTP sludge is a threat to society owing to its environmental implications of disposal. Authors propose to use WTP sludge and tea waste for brick manufacturing and provide a solution to its disposal.

Water treatment plant sludge along with tea waste have not been tried for brick manufacturing so far. Hence, the composition is new in itself and also have resulted into good performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine China's approach to circular economy (CE) and investigate how the foreign concept of CE has been turned into a national strategy for implementation in production, circulation and consumption. This study aims to highlight the Chinese characteristics in the implementation of CE from central to local levels including the “trial and test” by pilot schemes and the role of local governments in CE transformation of industrial parks and in building CE cities. Based on what has been achieved, this paper aims to identify the gaps to be filled in the next stage of CE implementation.

This paper engages in critical analysis of state policies, plans, laws and regulations and case studies of Suzhou New District and Shanghai city in the building CE-oriented industrial park and CE city, respectively.

China has taken a top-down approach to CE characterised by strong government involvement in both policy and plan making and implementation at local levels. The government’s financial investment and administrative assistance proved to be crucial in the early stage of CE implementation to close the loop at industrial parks and in cities. In comparison, participation by enterprises and individuals is still weak and limited, which should be the focus of the next stage of CE implementation.

There is an absence of legal literature that studies circular economy in China. This paper fills the gap by examining the development of CE law and policy as well as CE implementation at local levels from industrial parks to cities.

The global resolution of embracing dynamic and intertwined production systems has made it necessary to adopt viable systems like circular economy (CE) to ensure excellency in the business. However, in emerging countries, it is challenging to implement the CE practices due to the existing problems in the supply chain network, as well as due to the vulnerable financial condition of the business after the deadly hit of COVID-19. The main aim of this research is to determine the barriers to implementing CE considering the recent pandemic and suggest strategies to organizations to ensure CE for a cleaner environment and greener economy.

After an extensive literature review and validation from experts, 24 sub-barriers under the class of 6 main barriers are finalized by Pareto analysis, which is further analyzed via the best-worst method to determine the weight and rank of the barriers Further, fuzzy-Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method is used to rank the proposed startegies to overcome the analysed barriers.

The results identified “unavailability of initial funding capital”, “need long time investment”, “lack of integrating production system using advance technology” and “lack of strategic planning” as the most acute sub-barriers to CE implementation. Further, fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to suggest the best strategy to mitigate the ranked barriers. The results indicated “integrated design facility to CE”, “ensuring large scale funding for CE facility” as the best strategy.

This study will motivate managers to implement CE practices to enjoy proper utilization of the resources, sustainable benefits in business, and gain competitive advantage.

Periodically, a lot of work is done on CE practices but none of them highlighted the issues in the domain of the leather products industry (LPI) and COVID-19 toward achieving sustainability in production and consumption. Thus, some significant barriers and strategies to implement CE for achieving sustainability in LPI are highlighted in this study, which is a unique contribution to the literature.

A large amount of post‐consumer carpet waste is discarded into landfills. The need to recycle this waste is increasing due to the lack of available landfill spaces in many parts of the world, environmental concerns, and resource conservation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of this waste for a low‐cost, high‐volume application.

Fibers from carpet waste have been successfully used as reinforcement in concrete, typically at 0.1‐1 per cent volume fraction (fractions by weight are even lower), for enhanced toughness. In this study, lightweight cementitious composites were fabricated that were reinforced with recycled carpet fibers at up to 20 per cent fiber to cement weight ratios. Flexural, toughness, and impact properties of the lightweight cementitious composites were characterized.

The density of the composites decreases with the increase of fiber content. In the three‐point bending test, lightweight cementitious composites exhibited a ductile behavior, and the flexural strength increases with the density of the composites. The energy absorption measured by the drop weight impact test was not very sensitive to the material parameters due to the total absorption of the impact energy by the specimens.

The density of the lightweight composites ranges from 0.7 to 1.0 g/cm³, which was about 30‐40 per cent of the density of typical concrete. Besides being moisture and termite resistant, the lightweight composites were very tough and could be cut and fastened with ordinary tools and nails. The lightweight composites are suitable for applications such as underlayment and wall panels for buildings, as well as for outdoor structures.

The purpose of this paper is to concern with using municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWI-BA) in concrete application.

In this paper, the performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams containing MSWI-BA was investigated. Four concrete mixes were used in this study. The control mix had a proportion of 1 (cement): 2 (fine aggregates): 4 (coarse aggregates) by weight. In the other three mixes, the fine aggregates were partially replaced with 20%, 40% and 60% MSWI-BA (by weight). The water to cement ratio was kept constant at 0.5 in all mixes. Concrete cubes and cylinders were prepared to determine some physical and mechanical properties of concrete, whereas RC beams were used for determining the structural performance.

There was an increase in compressive strength, tensile strength and the modulus of elasticity when 20% of fine aggregates were replaced with MSWI-BA. However, beyond 20% these properties were reduced. The load bearing capacity and deflection were the highest for the control beam and the beam with 20% MSWI-BA.

The research conducted in this investigation used a specific type of MSWI-BA. The composition of the waste can vary from one plant to another and this presents one of the limitations.

The findings of this research indicate that MSWI-BA can partially substitute fine aggregate, thus reducing the impact of construction on the environment.

The MSWI-BA used in this research differs from other types as the waste papers and cartons are removed from the waste and used to produce other products. Therefore, this study is considered original as it examines MSWI-BA with different properties for use in construction.