scholarly journals SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY-ISSUE RELATED TO COMPARATIVE COST BENEFITS

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
D Bala ◽  
Samuel P.O ◽  
Iyang Enin O. Ata
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
National Level ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Cost Benefits ◽  
Comparative Cost

The purpose of this research is to analyze the socio-economic and environmental impact of circular economy in the construction industry with focus on the issues related to the comparative cost benefits. Three objectives and research questions were raised to solve this research problem. The research method adopted is a qualitative technique with the use of empirical analysis to elicit the findings. Finding also revealed that these processes have significant potential to deliver economic, environmental and social benefits. Since some industries are particularly important for national and local economies, it is important to provide clarity about the expected net impact on employment across different sectors. This would also help policy-makers design well-targeted transitional policy measures to manage the negative impacts in some sectors as well as in national and local economies. There is also a need to understand the indirect effects on the economy (e.g., impacts on the value chain and/or changes in consumption spending patterns) in order to estimate the overall impacts at the national level. Additionally, some findings provide information on the employment potential of the circular economy in terms of the number of jobs it might create; much less emphasis has been placed in the literature on other social and employment impacts such as gender, skills, occupational and welfare effects, poverty and inequalities. This indicates that there is a need for more research that would address these aspects and also help policy-makers anticipate effects in different social groups.

scholarly journals The Use of Recycled and Secondary Aggregates to Achieve A Circular Economy within Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 416-438
Author(s):  
Lisa Perkins ◽  
Alexander C. D. Royal ◽  
Ian Jefferson ◽  
Colin D. Hills
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Renewable Resources ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Geotechnical Engineering ◽  
Annual Production ◽  
Current Dependence ◽  
The Uk

The construction industry’s current dependence on primary aggregates is unsustainable as these are non-renewable resources and the consumption of these materials has a high environmental impact. The global annual production of primary aggregates is estimated to be 50 billion tonnes. In Europe, where 2 billion tonnes of primary aggregates are produced annually, approximately 90% of aggregates are utilised by the construction industry, whilst over 1Gt of waste are sent to landfill; in the UK, 44% of landfilled waste arises from the construction industry. The drive to adopt a circular economy necessitates changes in resource use (including non-renewable aggregates). Recycling wastes, such as aggregates, could help this situation; whilst this concept is not new, it does not appear to have been widely embraced in geotechnical engineering. The aim of this paper is to highlight the benefits of increasing the use of alternative aggregates as this would enable the reserves of primary aggregates to be better maintained and less material would be landfilled—a win-win situation and a contributing step towards developing a truly circular economy.

Application of Life Cycle Assessment in Agricultural Circular Economy

2012 ◽  
Vol 260-261 ◽  
pp. 1086-1091
Author(s):  
Xiao Xian Zhang ◽  
Fang Ma ◽  
Li Wang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Agriculture Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Agricultural Circular Economy ◽  
Technical Framework

Life cycle assessment is a technique to assess potential environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product, process or service. This paper introduces life cycle assessment into the full process of agricultural circular economy. There are increasing environmental risks associated with agricultural circular economy; however, no appropriate assessment and analysis techniques on environmental impact are available. Due to the lack of special life cycle assessment database and available methodology in agricultural circular economy, we proposed a life cycle assessment technical framework with emphasis on problems associated with traditional agricultural circular economy life cycle assessment. This paper is aimed to produce reliable information on the environmental impact assessment for agriculture policy-makers, producers and consumers to help them choose sustainable development agricultural products and processes.

scholarly journals Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Kamel Mohamed Rahla ◽  
Ricardo Mateus ◽  
Luís Bragança
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Technical Aspect ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Industry Waste ◽  
Current Trends

A growing concern is given to the environmental impacts caused by the construction industry. Waste generation, resource consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions are the main drawbacks of the rapid urbanization that the world is witnessing. As a response to these pressing issues, policymakers and academia are exploring the concept of Circular Economy (CE) to manage resources better and achieve resource efficiency while eliminating waste. One of the strategies to implement CE in the built environment is to select the appropriate building materials and components from the early stages to carry out the concept's principles along the value chain and create a closed-loop system. Therefore, this study aims at identifying selection criteria for building elements according to CE principles through a review of the latest research. Results have shown that little has been concretely achieved in terms of a paradigm shift to CE since the main focus of the literature is still the use of recycled products and the recyclability of building materials and components at their end-of-life. Although the present study is solely focused on the technical aspect of building materials and components, it outlines current adopted criteria to bring about a circular built environment and highlights the need for a more innovative approach to attain higher circularity levels.

scholarly journals Modeling Circular Economy Dimensions in Agri-Tourism Clusters: Sustainable Performance and Future Research Directions

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1046-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudhanshu Joshi ◽  
Manu Sharma ◽  
Rajnish Kler
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Sustainable Performance ◽  
Destination Attractiveness ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Tourism Supply Chain

The purpose of this research is to identify the key Circular Economy dimensions (CE-D) in Agri-tourism industry and to determine the performance of these dimensions using AHP-TOPSIS method. The research is carried out in two stages, firstly 11 CE-D were identified using systematic literature review. In stage two, industrial experts validate and finalize 9 CE-D which can decide the overall performance of Agri-Tourism Networks. The AHP analysis shows that Destination Attractiveness is valued highest for making CE decisions, whereas, community contributions and sustainable livelihoods valued second and third as important dimensions. Moreover, TOPSIS shows that Pithoragarh is emerged as the best cluster among all Agri-tourism clusters selected for the study, whereas, Almora stood in second position. The Agri-food clusters are becoming more complex and flexible and started putting pressure on existing supply chains to re-design the existing value chain and incorporate more sustainable practices and performances. The identification of Circular Economy Dimensions (CE-D) to evaluate the performance of clusters can serve as guiding tool for the Agri-tourism Practioners and policy makers. Besides, the study examines relevant issues related to CE in Agri-tourism clusters, major advantages and challenges of building CE driven Agri-tourism clusters. The limitation of the study is the geographical coverage and limited demography of the respondents. The research study is among very few works on evaluating Agri-tourism supply chain practices in India, with the case reference of Uttarakhand.

European experience in transition to circular economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Ratner
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
National Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
European Experience ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Eu

Subject. The article considers the concept of circular economy, which has originated relatively recently in the academic literature, and is now increasingly recognized in many countries at the national level. In the European Union, the transition to circular economy is viewed as an opportunity to improve competitiveness of the European Union, protect businesses from resource shortages and fluctuating prices for raw materials and supplies, and a way to increase employment and innovation. Objectives. The aim of the study is to analyze the incentives developed by the European Commission for moving to circular economy, and to assess their effectiveness on the basis of statistical analysis. Methods. I employ general scientific methods of research. Results. The analysis of the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy enabled to conclude that the results of the recent research in circular economy barriers, eco-innovation, technology and infrastructure were successfully integrated into the framework of this document. Understanding the root causes holding back the circular economy development and the balanced combination of economic and administrative incentives strengthened the Action Plan, and it contributed to the circular economy development in the EU. Conclusions. The measures to stimulate the development of the circular economy proposed in the European Action Plan can be viewed as a prototype for designing similar strategies in other countries, including Russia. Meanwhile, a more detailed analysis of barriers to the circular economy at the level of individual countries and regions is needed.

scholarly journals What We Talk about When We Talk about Poverty: Culture and Welfare State Development in Britain, Denmark and France

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Cathie Martin ◽  
Tom Chevalier
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
National Level ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Fiction Writers ◽  
Welfare State Development ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Cross National

Why did historical anti-poverty programs in Britain, Denmark and France differ so dramatically in their goals, beneficiaries and agents for addressing poverty? Different cultural views of poverty contributed to how policy makers envisioned anti-poverty reforms. Danish elites articulated social investments in peasants as necessary to economic growth, political stability and societal strength. British elites viewed the lower classes as a challenge to these goals. The French perceived the poor as an opportunity for Christian charity. Fiction writers are overlooked political agents who engage in policy struggles. Collectively, writers contribute to a country's distinctive ‘cultural constraint’, or symbols and narratives, which appears in the national-level aggregation of literature. To assess cross-national variations in cultural depictions of poverty, this article uses historical case studies and quantitative textual analyses of 562 British, 521 Danish and 498 French fictional works from 1770 to 1920.

scholarly journals Making Resilient Decisions for Sustainable Circularity of Fashion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celinda Palm ◽  
Sarah E. Cornell ◽  
Tiina Häyhä
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
State Response ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Industry Value Chain ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

AbstractThe fashion and textiles industry, and policymakers at all levels, are showing an increased interest in the concept of circular economy as a way to decrease business risks and negative environmental impacts. However, focus is placed mainly on the material ‘stuff’ of textile fashion and its biophysical harms. The current material focus has several shortcomings, because fashion is a social-ecological system and cannot be understood merely by addressing its environmental dimensions. In this paper, we rethink the fashion system from a critical social-ecological perspective. The driver-state-response framework shows social drivers and ecological impacts as an adaptive social-ecological system, exposing how these interacting aspects need to be addressed for sustainable and resilient implementation of circular economy. We show how current responses to global sustainability challenges have so far fallen short. Our overall aim is to expand possibilities for reframing responses that better reflect the complex links between the global fashion system, culture and creativity and the dynamics of the living planet. We argue that reducing planetary pressure from the global fashion and textiles industry requires greater recognition of the system’s social drivers with more emphasis on the many cross-scale links between social and ecological dimensions. Resilient decisions aiming for sustainable circularity of the fashion industry must therefore pay attention to social activities beyond the industry value chain, not just material flows within it.

scholarly journals Scenario Analysis for Selecting Sewage Sludge-to-Energy/Matter Recovery Processes

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 276
Author(s):  
Francesco Facchini ◽  
Giovanni Mummolo ◽  
Micaela Vitti
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Scenario Analysis ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Solid Material ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludges ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment ◽  
New Perspective

The sewage sludges are the byproducts of the wastewater treatment. The new perspective of the wastewater value chain points to a sustainable circular economy approach, where the residual solid material produced by sewage sludge treatments is a resource rather than a waste. A sewage sludge treatment system consists of five main phases; each of them can be performed by different alternative processes. Each process is characterized by its capability to recover energy and/or matter. In this paper, a state of the art of the sludge-to-energy and sludge-to-matter treatments is provided. Then, a scenario analysis is developed to identify suitable sewage sludge treatments plants that best fit the quality and flowrate of sewage sludge to be processed while meeting technological and economic constraints. Based on the scientific literature findings and experts’ opinions, the authors identify a set of reference initial scenarios and the corresponding best treatments’ selection for configuring sewage sludge treatment plants. The scenario analysis reveals a useful reference technical framework when circular economy goals are pursued. The results achieved in all scenarios ensure the potential recovery of matter and/or energy from sewage sludges processes.

scholarly journals The Intra-EU Value Chain: An Approach to Its Economic Dimension and Environmental Impact

Economies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Óscar Rodil-Marzábal ◽  
Hugo Campos-Romero
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Development Levels ◽  
European Economies

This paper aims to analyze the economic dimension and environmental impact of intra-EU value-added generation linked to global value chains (GVCs) through input-output analysis. For this purpose, information has been collected from TiVA (Trade in Value Added, OECD) and Eora databases for the years 2005 and 2015. From an economic perspective, the results point to a strengthening of the value-added generated within Factory Europe. From an environmental perspective, all EU28 members have reduced their exports-related impacts in intensity-emissions terms, but not all of them in the same degree. An approach to the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) has also been carried out through a panel data model. The results show a positive impact of the participation in intra-EU value chain (Factory Europe) on CO2 emissions per capita. Further, an inverted U-shaped curve for CO2 emissions is found for the period 2005–15. In this sense, European economies with lower development levels (many Eastern and Southern countries) seem to be still on the rising segment of the curve, while the more developed ones seem to be on the decreasing segment. These results highlight the need to design global monitoring and prevention mechanisms to tackle growing environmental challenges and the need to incorporate specific actions associated with the GVCs activity.

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