Search

The 2017 International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, May 24–26, 2017, promoted an assisted discussion workshop directed by Donald Huisingh. The workshop focused on the role of the Advances in Cleaner Production Network to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Discussions with the workshop participants were oriented around five basic subjects: 1. The main objective of the Advances in Cleaner Production Network; 2. The international collaboration in research planning, implementation and in dissemination of research findings; 3. The inclusion of researchers from under-represented regions of the world; 4. The future collaboration among members and 5. The new activities to help society to “Accelerate the Transition to Equitable, Sustainable, Livable, Post-Fossil Carbon Societies.” Furthermore, the participants were asked on which specific set of Sustainable Development Goals they mostly contribute through their research, in order to draw a picture of the main scientific contributions of the Network to the SDGs enterprise. Challenges that emerged from the workshop involved the need for value-added communication and collaboration among members, and further progress in both theoretical and practical cleaner production approaches. Concerning the generation and sharing of new viewpoints, the main issue that emerged was the variety of positive connections that should be strengthened among potential collaborators. Improving and expanding the helpfulness of online sharing platforms and social media, mostly for managing discussion opportunities, was underlined for expanding the partnerships and in improving the networking. This paper reports and shares the results of the assisted discussions to reach our dynamically growing scientific community and to encourage, engage and empower researchers throughout the world to work in partnerships under the umbrella of the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 30 years, distance learning has rapidly spread in developed countries, and to niche markets in developing countries. In Brazil, approximately 5 million people are currently either achieving formal education or corporate training, or obtaining specific knowledge and skills on a wide range of subjects, via distance learning. Motivated by the ongoing expansion of the Brazilian federal chain of public schools, several new campuses, extra classrooms and distance teaching centers have been built, as a function of the intensive promotion of social inclusion by means of education, and specifically allocated budget. Concomitantly, a considerable number of papers discussing reduction of energy and materials consumption in university campuses have been published. Intended as a contribution to this discussion, this work evolves from a comparison of the implicit environmental cost – i.e. the use of natural resources as the prime-matter of infrastructural and operational material, and source of energy to human work-in forming management technicians in a classroom course, and in a distance learning course, obtained from the results of two case studies carried out at a Federal Institute campus in Brazil. The groups were selected for their relative closeness in proportion of attending students. Data were collected by means of measurements and interviews, and a synthesis of the use of natural resources by both modes was obtained by using the emergy accounting method, and then compared. The emergy method was also used to assess current use and underuse rates of the available infra-structural resources. Scenarios based on different numbers of students and teaching staff attending capacity for both modes, distance learning and classroom, were created and compared. Results point out that, under the current configurations, forming a management technician via distance teaching requires a 90% higher environmental support than via classroom teaching. The scenarios, however, do indicate a turning point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new way of thinking about conservation is represented by the preservation of native areas and the payment for their environmental services. In the present study emergy synthesis was applied to assess the environmental performance of a coffee farm located in Coromandel, Minas Gerais, in the Brazilian Cerrado. The farm produces green coffee for exportation, and holds an area with native vegetation of 80ha, larger than that required by Brazilian legislation. The assessment of the native area within the farm was carried out in order to determine its environmental sustainability. The emergy ternary diagram was employed to interpret the results, which show that a farm with 54ha of productive area must be matched with 200ha of native vegetation for medium term sustainability. The Cerrado’s farm production is primarily for export, and an evaluation of the environment and economic changes with respect to importing countries was performed. Emergy synthesis is proposed to calculate the price of environmental services balancing trades in the international market. A discussion of the problem of assigning payments for environmental services is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This work presents a new and simple electrode, which may be used to achieve the electrochemical response of ground solids or insoluble samples. Ore samples from Morro Velho Mine (Brazil) were employed to exemplify the use of such electrodes. The new electrode avoids the use of binders or other agents overcoming major deterioration problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cleaner Production concepts and practices have matured with outstanding success since their introduction in the 1980s, currently being a central part of the agenda of companies, sectors, and governments by integrating theory, applied science, and policies. This VSI of the Journal of Cleaner Production reunites contributions from the 8th and the 9th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production and aims at underscoring the role of Cleaner Production in contributing to sustainable development from the application of local actions to global interventions. The 62 articles that compose this VSI provide an overview of how Cleaner Production has evolved in scope, content, the range of sectors covered, and the targets to be achieved: from less pollution/waste generation to the food-energy-water nexus to the green/blue and the circular economy. The selected articles clearly show that the integration of multiple viewpoints has created a novel field of scientific collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production is comprised of articles presented at the 3rd International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2011. The content underscores the recognition of the pressing and inescapable need for making changes from unsustainable to sustainable production and consumption patterns. The 48 articles from 15 countries provide different, but complimentary approaches to help industrial and societal sectors in advancing on their paths towards sustainability. Initiatives and challenges are included, which systematically address problems affecting raw material changes, technological modifications, product and policy changes. The findings range from proposals for alternative uses of wastes, substitution of raw materials for environmentally friendlier substances, optimization of industrial processes by source reductions of wastes and emissions and documented economic and environmental advantages of a wide array of initiatives. The roles of operational and managerial practices are also stressed, highlighting the role of diverse stakeholders as promoters of implementation and internalization of innovative cleaner technologies within companies. Systemic assessment tools are employed and experimented with in order to more effectively evaluate the environmental performance of systems on the biosphere scale. The methodological procedures and proposals presented can help in the design and management of production systems, for governmental and corporate policy development, for implementing and monitoring CP Programs, prevention and mitigation strategies, and evaluation of the outcomes of CP initiatives in the production and service sectors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Technology change is a well-known strategy used by Cleaner Production (CP) practitioners, and it refers to modifications in the process and/or equipment to increase production efficiency and reduce waste and emissions. These changes can range from small, low-cost options to the replacement of processes that involve large capital investments. The improvements and advantages of the new alternatives must be evaluated in a way to measure and assure its real benefits. This work presents an emergy evaluation of a fasteners manufacturing company planning to replace the zinc-coating process by a water-based organo-metallic coating process. Accounting for the use of resources and the environmental services to dilute the Cr (VI) in the effluent, the study shows that the effluent treatment is efficient and that the emergy invested by the environment to dilute the Cr (VI) released is lower than 0.1% of the emergy used in the coating process. The case study is an example of the application and evaluation of CP options (good operational practices, material and raw material changes, technological modifications, and product change) and is presented to motivate product manufacturers to prioritize environmental performance assessments to their products and services equally as well as to save manufacturers substantial time and efforts during their first attempts to implement CP actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agribusiness contributes significantly to the Brazilian domestic production, and the search for environmentally friendly systems, exploring the maximum possible use of renewable resources and reducing the use of non-renewable ones, affects the agribusiness' productivity and competitivity. An agribusiness producing corn, eggs, pork and milk was evaluated using emergy accounting. The effects of the (des)integration of the production processes on the efficiency and environmental sustainability of the system were assessed using seven scenarios. The first is the existing integrated system and the others are scenarios in which one of the productive subsystems is removed. Efficiency is measured by the global productivity relative to the amount of protein produced. The most environmentally advantageous scenario, in terms of sustainability and productivity, is the one in which pork production is increased and egg production is ceased. This result suggests that increasing integration per se cannot assure gains in environmental sustainability. The integrated management of the residues of the poultry and pig production as organic fertilizer resulted an advantage for the seven scenarios. The scenarios presented should help to evaluate organizational innovations and to identify trade-offs that could influence the environmental performance of agricultural integrated systems. (Des) Integrating different agricultural production systems Unlabelled Image • The benefits of integration in a crop-livestock system was evaluated through emergy synthesis. • Efficiency evaluation of the (des)-integration of corn, eggs, pork and milk production was calculated. • Seven scenarios studied: the integrated existing system and scenarios in which one of the productive subsystems is removed. • The trade-offs between the sustainability and productivity were highlighted and discussed. • The increase of systems/processes to be integrated does not guarantee the best environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk is one of the most important food in the world, being consumed in natura or supporting the dairy industry. In Brazil, specifically, the milk supply chain corresponds to about 20% of its agro-industrial gross domestic product; however, the productivity of most domestic milk production systems are still characterized as low. In view of this, the Brazilian government supports training programs to increase milk productivity and economic returns, however, sustainability issues are usually left in the background. This work uses emergy environmental accounting to study the sustainability of milk production systems in the southern region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, aiming at two specific goals: (i) verifying their individual environmental performance based on emergy indices, and (ii) exploring alternatives for the development of milk production under a regional perspective. Results from a cluster analysis evidenced the existence of five main milk production systems in the region (G1–G5), including differences in productivity, handling, feed diet, infrastructure, and administrative control. Emergy indicators point to the G3 system (small-scale, family-managed) as the best performer concerning renewability (28%), yield (EYR 1.72), investment (EIR 1.39), environmental load (ELR 2.46), and sustainability (ESI 0.70); however, the G2 system should be promoted when equally considering ESI and efficiency for a decision. Under a regional perspective, increasing milk productivity will also increase a system's dependence on fossil-based resources, which results in an uneven emergy matching and in a less efficient use of emergy. On the other hand, pursuing the increase of sustainability for milk production by optimizing the regional EIR would result in an expansion of the G3 system in 96% of all milking areas and the production would decrease by about 57%. Such trade-off claims for different policies in accordance with societal objectives in different periods. Besides diagnosing and ranking the milk production systems according to their environmental performance, this work also provides important subsidies for decision-makers regarding a strategic plan towards a sustainable milk production under a regional perspective. • Emergy synthesis is applied to five different milk production systems in Brazil. • A trade-off exist between milk productivity and its environmental performance. • Emergy is used to support a regional strategic planning towards sustainable milk production. • Results provide important subsidies for public policies in a scenario without fossil energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]