Teaching Circular Economy and Lean Management in a Learning Factory

2022 ◽  
pp. 183-201
Author(s):  
Angel M. Gento ◽  
Carina Pimentel ◽  
Jose A. Pascual

Traditionally, industries followed a linear process of resources consumption: taking raw materials from nature, transforming them into products, and selling them to consumers (who discarded them when they were no longer useful). Nowadays, due to the sustainable development concerns, there is an increasing awareness on the society for reuse, repair, recycling, and remanufacturing to avoid resource depletion and achieve waste reduction. Following this idea, with the aim to train students and practitioners in lean manufacturing and circular economy concepts and tools, a learning process organized in three sequential phases was developed, starting with the manufacture of a toy car (25 kg and over 100 pieces) using a traditional push system, then reengineering the process to implement pull system and lean manufacturing concepts, and finally, considering a circular economy pull system through the reuse and recycling of parts and components. In this way, the importance of reducing waste in manufacturing and the reduction in the use of raw materials by considering the 3Rs is highlighted.

Holzforschung ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
pp. 1071-1078
Author(s):  
Jie Chu ◽  
Anuj Kumar

AbstractThe implementation of circular economy in wood industries is an effective way for future sustainable development. The wood industries in China are not in the direction of circular economy approach due to less availability of assessment/calculation data of pollutants as per life cycle assessment (LCA) criteria. The present study focuses on the calculation of emission and pollutants from wood industries as per LCA; the emission and pollution data were collected from fiberboard Medium-density fiberboard (MDF), plywood and particleboard (PB) production. The comparative analysis of dust emissions, industrial waste gases and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were performed among three wood industries. The results revealed that the fiberboard industry was the highest emitter of dust, industrial waste gas and COD; and particleboard industry was the least emitter. Further, results indicated that pollutant index of wood industries were significantly changed between 2015 and 2017; the industrial waste water discharge increased five folds and the COD, dust and industrial gases increased two times. This study provides with the emission and pollutants data of wood industries as per LCA to promote the sustainable development for circular and low carbon economics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Miguel Rodríguez-Antón

No one has the slightest doubt about the enormous potential that the African continent has as a tourist destination. The diversity of cultures, the great biodiversity that it possesses, the multiple artistic manifestations that it offers and the beauty of the seas that surround it are key pieces in continuing to promote its capacity as a tourist attraction, which is approximately 60 million tourists per year who generate seven percent of exports and employment. However, in order for Africa to take off, it is necessary that a number of conditions related to security, health, education, eradication of poverty, reduction of inequalities, peace and justice and quality of its waters, among others, are intimately related to the Sustainable Development Goals defined in the 2030 Agenda. In this context, we maintain that the implementation of the Circular Economy in Africa will be a key tool in this process of improving the sustainability of this continent in its three aspects, economic, social and environmental, and raising its level of tourism competitiveness.


Author(s):  
Patrick Wendell Freire Cidelino ◽  
Everton Vieira da Silva

Background: recycling is an essential tool for promoting sustainable development, as mechanisms that reduce the use of virgin raw materials will limit the use of scarce resources and reduce the progressive accumulation of waste. as well as contain their side effects and pollution causing health problems, among others. At the base of the recycling system are the collectors of recyclables, agents of this activity who are the workers who pick, select and sell recyclable materials such as paper, glass, metal, garbage, and other reusable materials. Aim: this study aimed to verify the income earned and the contribution to the sustainable development process arising from collecting recyclable materials. Methods: the proposed study was carried out at the Cajazeiras Waste Pickers Association (ASCAMARC), in this city, Alto Sertão da Paraíba. The population and sample are 13 recyclable waste pickers who actively participate in ASCAMARC and voluntarily agreed to participate in the research after being informed about its objectives. The content analysis technique was used through transcripts of interviews with the target audience and documents from secondary sources, and the collected data were also analyzed in quantitative form. Results and Discussion: the results show that 12 (92.31%) waste pickers earn less than one wage, and 01 (7.69%) waste pickers earn a minimum wage through the activity of collecting recyclable material and that there is currently great concern about the damage generated to the environment by solid wastes that have a long degradation time. It was found that 13 (100%) waste pickers believe that collecting recyclable materials contributes to the environment. Conclusions: It can be concluded from the results obtained the social, economic, and environmental importance of the work of waste pickers, despite the precarious conditions in which they perform the activity, without their participation in the base of the recycling chain, perhaps the environmental situation would be more chaotic in recent times.


2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 1568-1573
Author(s):  
Fei Zhang ◽  
Yan Bing Wang

At the beginning of the new century, China’s economic growth accelerated. The demand of coal as a basic energy is keeping increase [1]. With the progress of the mining technology, changed the past low efficiency, backward mode of production, but there are still many adverse factors that restrict to the sustainable development of coal industry in China [2]. Through detailed analysis of the current situation of China coal industry, find out existing problems of Chinese coal industry sustainable development, and using the basic principle [3], to find suitable to Chinese coal industry sustainable development scientific proposition -- Circular Economy [4], using circular economy this scientific model to guide Chinese coal enterprises transformation and development, making Chinese coal enterprises realize sustainable development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 06018
Author(s):  
Iveta Máliková

Currently, the issues related to the global threats of the environment represent a special, increasingly more significant category of global issues. The main cause of the constantly changing conditions of the environment is the economic growth itself as it is closely connected to the growth of population, satisfaction of the man´s needs and a consequent increase in consumption. With the increase in consumption, there is an increase in the use of natural resources which we perceive as a usable resource that results in the transformation of raw materials into materials being used in the production of consumer goods. The energy used in the production, together with the reusable resources, is being later returned to the economic cycle in the form of waste. However, the way we currently use resources is not sustainable. To ensure sustainable development in the Slovak Republic, as well as in the whole European Union, we need to employ resources in a more inteligent, sustainable way. It is evident that the linear model of economic growth, that we relied on in the past, does not fullfill the needs of present, modern societies in the globalized world. The transition to a circular economy seems to be an appropriate system that can provide environmentally- and economically- sustainable use of available resources, and , thereby, being able to support the main objective within the Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth - Europe 2020.


2020 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 04020
Author(s):  
Sergey Zhironkin ◽  
Juraj Janocko ◽  
Svetlana Demchenko ◽  
Yulia Suslova ◽  
Olga Zhironkina

The objective meaning of the sustainable development process in relation to the neo-industrialization of the economy is to create conditions for the restoration of the ecological identity of the national economy as a multi-industry production complex. We consider the neo-industrial development of the economy as the re-establishment of a competitive manufacturing complex in it, capable of saturating the domestic market avoiding increasing the burden on the environment with the innovative development of raw materials production, creating the material basis of national competitiveness in the environmental plan. From sustainable development point of view, neo-industrialization means conducting a comprehensive structural policy, the object of which should be national reproduction, and the subject is deep transformations of the processes that form the complex of human impact on nature, its institutional and technological structure, increasing the reproductive role of the green economy based on the potential of the internal market. At the same time, the history of greening industry, which dates back to the 1990s, testifies to the positive experience of replacing global production chains of raw materials, in particular, energy carriers, with the benefits of a fundamentally new type – alternative energy sources, biomaterials. Therefore, the development of technologically advanced manufacturing industry based on technologies of the green economy is possible as a result of the formation of production of goods and services that are maximally focused on meeting the environmental needs of society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał ZUBEK

Mineral resources provide a high standard of living for modern societies: satisfying electricity demand as well as demand for construction materials and they sustain the basis for industry and technological development. Now, modern societies are facing the challenge ofreversing the trend of the depletion of non-renewable mineral resources and sustainable development is intended to ensure the survivalof human civilization in the face of dwindling non-renewable raw materials (especially energy resources) and also increasing anthropopression and related environmental pollution. The amount of non-renewable mineral resources of the Earth's crust is limited. Underspecific conditions there is a possibility of their regeneration however over a period of several if not more than a dozen generations. Thearticle raises questions how societies can prevent mineral resources crises in future and whether this task is feasible.The article identifies the main aspects of the sustainable development in mining sector in Poland as well as environmental challengesrelated to the new CSR mechanism which are: the creation and implementation of sustainable and responsible business model whichthanks to reformed financial and economic system, will make creating a better future easier, more natural and more cost-effective.The crucial aspects of sustainable development as economic and social conditions, environmental challenges, safety of agglomerationlocated in the area of exploitation of resources or in its neighborhood were also presented in the article. The author highlighted thelegal conditions for the management of deposits and extracted mineral resources as well as work safety and research and developmentactivities in the sector.


Author(s):  
G. Kozyreva

Статья посвящена проблемам формирования институтов устойчивого развития лесосырьевых приграничных регионов. В качестве одного из таких институтов рассматривается институт лесной сертификации. Анализируются процессы эволюции российского лесного законодательства. Используются данные социологических опросов местных жителей. The article is devoted to the problems of the formation of institutions for the sustainable development of forest raw materials border regions. The institute of forest certification is considered as one of such institutions. The processes of evolution of Russian forest legislation are analyzed. The data of sociological surveys of local residents are used.


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