Measuring the Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) of Waste-to-Energy

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Williams ◽  
John C. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Return On Investment ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
External Costs ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Technology Industry ◽  
Social Environmental

Waste to Energy facilities serve their communities in a number of important ways. Our industry does a terrific job reducing volumes that would have otherwise been destined for landfills. Energy recovery is an important and positive byproduct of that process but not the only one. Beyond these two obvious attributes you seldom hear of anything else. This is unfortunate because there are significant social, environmental, and economic benefits associated with the technology. Industry “silence” can be attributed to an inability to describe those benefits in ways people understand or see a dollar value in. In other words, we have a tough time measuring the value of “Green.” This paper describes a framework through which we can make the case for sustainable benefits associated with Waste to Energy. It begins with discussion of why it is important to seek a connection with the “triple bottom line” including the social, environmental, and economic attributes of a given program/project/facility. It sheds light on the need to think beyond traditional life cycle cost analysis techniques that focus on direct cash benefits. It describes a process through which noncash and external costs and benefits can be calculated and presented in monetary terms, referred to as the Sustainable Return on Investment or SROI (direct cash + noncash + external costs and benefits = SROI). This paper should help readers make an aggressive case to reveal the FULL VALUE of Waste to Energy across the sustainability triple bottom line.

scholarly journals MODELING THE BARRIERS OF SOCIAL DIMENSION IN SUSTAINABLE SUPPLIER CHAIN MANAGEMENT

10.6036/10282 ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
Jih-Kuang Chen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Core Business ◽  
Supplier Chain

In the supply chain, a core business and its upstream and downstream companies systematically coordinate the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) to maximize economic benefits, social responsibility, and environmental protection from a strategic height.

scholarly journals A Critical Review on Advancement and Challenges of Biochar Application in Paddy Fields: Environmental and Life Cycle Cost Analysis

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammadi ◽  
Benyamin Khoshnevisan ◽  
G. Venkatesh ◽  
Samieh Eskandari
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Rice Production ◽  
Paddy Fields ◽  
Rice Grain ◽  
Bottom Line

Paddy fields emit considerable amounts of methane (CH4), which is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and, thereby, causes significant environmental impacts, even as they generate wealth and jobs directly in the agricultural sector, and indirectly in the food-processing sector. Application of biochar in rice production systems will not just help to truncate their carbon footprints, but also add to the bottom-line. In this work, the authors have reviewed the literature on climate change, human health, and economic impacts of using organic residues to make biochar for the addition to croplands especially to rice paddy fields. Biochar-bioenergy systems range in scale from small household cook-stoves to large industrial pyrolysis plants. Biochar can be purveyed in different forms—raw, mineral-enriched, or blended with compost. The review of published environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) studies showed biochar has the potential to mitigate the carbon footprint of farming systems through a range of mechanisms. The most important factors are the stabilization of the carbon in the biochar and the generation of recoverable energy from pyrolysis gases produced as co-products with biochar as well as decreased fertiliser requirement and enhanced crop productivity. The quantitative review of E-LCA studies concluded that the carbon footprint of rice produced in biochar-treated soil was estimated to range from −1.43 to 2.79 kg CO2-eq per kg rice grain, implying a significant reduction relative to rice produced without a biochar soil amendment. The suppression of soil-methane emission due to the biochar addition is the dominant process with a negative contribution of 40–70% in the climate change mitigation of rice production. The review of the life cycle cost studies on biochar use as an additive in farmlands demonstrated that biochar application can be an economically-feasible approach in some conditions. Strategies like the subsidization of the initial biochar capital cost and assignment of a non-trivial price for carbon abatement in future pricing mechanisms will enhance the economic benefits for the rice farmers.

scholarly journals Triple Bottom Line and Sustainability: A Literature Review

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanan Alhaddi
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Environmental

Triple bottom line (TBL) and sustainability are two related constructs that are used interchangeably in the literature.  A comprehensive review of the relevant literature was conducted and revealed an inconsistent use of the term sustainability.  On the other hand, consistency in terms of referring to the three lines simultaneously is built into the structure of TBL as the construct is explicitly based on the integration of the social, environmental, and economic lines.  The purpose of this paper is not to support an argument that favors the use of one term over the other, but to provide an overview of the presence of both terms in the literature. In light of that, researchers in the business, management, and sustainability fields are encouraged to pay particular attention to how they use these terms in their studies.

scholarly journals B Corps’ Social Media Communications during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Through the Lens of the Triple Bottom Line

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9634
Author(s):  
Manveer Mann ◽  
Sang-Eun Byun ◽  
Whitney Ginder
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Media Communications ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The U.S

The COVID-19 pandemic and rising demand for transparency has heightened the importance of sustainability communications on social media to generate deeper stakeholder engagement. Although B Corporations (B Corps), businesses committed to the triple bottom line (TBL), could serve as a catalyst for sustainable development, little is known about how they communicate on social media during a crisis. Therefore, we examined social media communications of B Corps to (1) identify salient topics and themes, (2) analyze how these themes align with the TBL, and (3) evaluate social media performance against industry benchmarks. We focused on the apparel, footwear, and accessories (AFA) sectors in the U.S. and chose Twitter, a platform known for crisis communication. Using a qualitative method, we found four topics and 21 underlying themes. Topics related to social/environmental issues and COVID-19 were most dominant, followed by product/brand promotions. Further classification of specific themes and cases from a TBL perspective demonstrated that, overall, B Corps in the AFA sectors leveraged various approaches to promote balance between each TBL dimension. Lastly, although collectively B Corps exceeded some of the Twitter industry benchmarks, at an individual level, most brands had room for improvement to build a stronger community and promote synergy among the three pillars of the TBL.

Reviving Green With Accounting in the Era of Sustainability

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Mansi Shah
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
The Third ◽  
Investment Decision Making

In the era of ‘Reviving Green', sustainability is no longer a luxury; it has become a global necessity. The late 1990s saw the evolving concept of triple bottom line. The growing importance of the environmental agenda that ‘sustainability' had been mainly focused upon to that point led to the inclusion of the environment as one of the defining factors of ‘sustainability'. The new paradigm in the third millennium puts business in the driving seat. Consequently, their role and responsibility towards the environment is manifold. The tradeoff between economic growth and the environmental costs has become one of the major challenges for businesses. This chapter examines the traditional accounting practiced by organizations. The premise of internalizing environmental costs in the investment decision making is highlighted. The costs and benefits that arise through the environment protection and depletion of the existing capital have been held forth.

scholarly journals Taking stock of the socio-economic benefits of weather and climate services in South Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Suckall ◽  
Marta Bruno Soares
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
Current Emphasis

<p>The use of scientific information about future weather and climate offers enormous potential for society to better manage the risks associated with climate variability and change. There has been significant investment in weather and climate services (WCS) initiatives over the past years, however empirically based evidence of the socio-economic benefits that can be yield from such services is very limited. Furthermore, understanding and capturing the real benefits of WCS is key to ensure continue investment and funding of WCS as well as to enable adaptive management of such services. In this paper, we conduct a review of the literature of WCS evaluations in South Asia. We systematically document and analyse empirical evidence as reported in the academic and grey literature to highlight: (1) the scale and scope of WCS that have been evaluated in the region; (2) the methodological approaches that have been used to monitor and evaluate the benefits of WCS initiatives on the ground; and (3) the socio-economic benefits of WCS categorised under a triple bottom line approach that takes into consideration economic, social and environmental benefits of the WCS under analysis. The paper explores these findings and highlights key areas that warrant further discussion and research. These include, the disconnect between developing and implementing WCS and effectively capturing and recording the benefits that can be yield from WCS; the current emphasis on assessing and capturing economic benefits whilst social and environmental benefits are largely ignored and/or not accounted for; and the need for robust methodologies that enable adequate and holistic evaluations of the benefits that can be generated within the WCS and across the triple bottom line.</p>

scholarly journals Harmony of Sustainability and Productivity: Korean Templestay as Sustainable Tourism

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Hyejin Yoon ◽  
Kyungik Min ◽  
Chulwon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Sustainable Tourism Development ◽  
Local Areas ◽  
Social Environmental

Achieving the three pillars of sustainable tourism development has long been debated in the literature. This study revealed that sustainability and productivity are not mutually exclusive, analyzing Templestay as part of Korea’s 1700-year-old cultural heritage. The study discussed the challenging case of fulfilling triple-bottom-line sustainable social, environmental, and economic requirements in tourism development. Templestay has enormous potential to be one of the competitive tourism products as a cultural resource, attracting visitors to local areas. The prosperity and potentiality of Templestay may offer insightful contexts to bridge the gap between a sustainable philosophy and destination productivity. The study suggests further research to investigate tourism’s ontological and epistemological nature in terms of sustainability and productivity.

Social return on investment: application for an Indigenous rangelands context

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Leah Feuerherdt ◽  
Stuart Peevor ◽  
Michael Clinch ◽  
Tim Moore
Keyword(s):  
Return On Investment ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Cultural Impacts ◽  
Social Return On Investment ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The Impact

Social Return on Investment (SROI) is an internationally recognised methodology used to measure and value the economic impact of program outcomes. Like a traditional cost-benefit analysis, SROI examines economic outcomes, but also includes the social, environmental and cultural outcomes created by the investment. These outcomes are evaluated against their cost, using financial proxies to estimate their relative economic worth. SROI is particularly valuable in the indigenous natural resource management context, because of the strong ‘value’ or importance of non-economic (particularly cultural) costs and benefits. The Alinytjara Wilurara Natural Resources Management Board undertook a study of the economic, social, environmental and cultural impacts and benefits of the presence of large feral herbivores in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, in the far north-west of South Australia. Camels, donkeys and horses present significant impacts for the community in terms of vehicle collisions, community health, damage to infrastructure and water pollution, as well as impacts on sites of cultural and spiritual significance to the local communities. With the annual cost impacts incurred by society caused by large feral herbivores in the APY lands valued at $4.2million and possible dollar value of those animals valued at $140000, the study found that there was a net cost impact of ~$4million from not managing the impact of these animals. The study also found significant cultural impacts of large feral herbivores, such as the fouling of natural springs and other culturally sensitive sites, and further analysis would be required to determine the economic cost of these impacts. Investment models that consider a broad range of costs and benefits are considered necessary for Australian rangelands, particularly Indigenous-owned land. This paper presents a case study of the development of a ranger program that employs local community members to manage the impacts of large feral herbivores that will provide a net benefit to society of ~$3million every year, aside from the additional benefits of employment and economic participation. The $3-million net benefit accrues from saving human lives and costs associated with vehicle accidents, and reduced management costs and increased income for pastoral areas of the APY Lands. APY community members, and the APY Pastoral business are core beneficiaries; however, there are several external beneficiaries that this SROI approach recognises including the Motor Accident Commission, Health Departments and South Australian Police. The strongly positive SROI in this case presents an excellent co-investment opportunity for agencies whose core focus is on road safety and health. Importantly, the SROI approach to creation of social value can be implemented in a way that is consistent with stated community aspirations for development.

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