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Quality management system’s (QMS) describes how organisations control their interconnected processes through four elements defined as quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement to achieve quality through stakeholder satisfaction. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) develops certifiable international standards for quality management. Through the development of ISO and other standardisers, many organisations require their partners and suppliers to hold a certified QMS. By holding an ISO 13485:2016 certificate an organisation reassure that they can deliver medical devices and related services that meets customers and regulatory requirements. Swedish Diagnostics AB (Swedia), a fictive company, is planning to develop “ViroDetect”, a device for detection and quantification of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in blood plasma. For ViroDetect to be developed under ISO 13485:2016 Swedia will use Prevas AB as a development partner. During the project Prevas will put focus on improving their QMS, as continuous improvement of ones QMS is a requirement by ISO 13485:2016. Through a literature study combined with a document study of Prevas ́ QMS documents and direct observations with active participation of the development process of ViroDetect, this thesis aims to provide Prevas with improvement suggestions for their QMS certified according to ISO 13485:2016. Results showed that Prevas could improve regarding uniformity, traceability, and risk management to promote documentation and evidence-based decision making. Based on the limitations and observations done, the suggested improvements presented are considered reasonable for Prevas to implement. However, the general difficulties for organisations to achieve continuous improvement remains.

Carbon capture and utilization has been proposed as an essential climate change mitigation strategy, but only a few implemented cases exist. During biomethane production from anaerobic digestion, CO₂ is commonly separated and emitted into the atmosphere, which can be utilized as raw material for various products. This research aims to identify and assess CO₂ utilization alternatives for possible integration with biogas upgrading from anaerobic digestion by developing a soft multi-criteria analysis (MCA). A literature review complemented with stakeholder participation enabled the identification of relevant alternatives and criteria for assessment. Potential alternatives for CO₂ utilization include methane, mineral carbonates, biomass production, fuels, chemicals, pH control, and liquefied CO₂. Results show that although no alternative performs well in all indicators, there is an opportunity for short-term implementation for methane, biomass production, mineral carbonates, liquefied CO₂, and pH control. Moreover, the uncertainty analysis reveals that even though the technologies have a high technological development, more information on critical aspects is still required. The soft MCA provides information to decision-makers, practitioners, and the academic community on learning opportunities of the alternatives and indicators to step from development into implementation. For instance, the method can be used to assess more specific systems with different locations and scales or to direct efforts to ease the implementation of CCU., Funding: Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research Charity [20200041]

I detta kapitel går vi igenom vad ett system är, olika typer av system och hur systemgränser bestäms. Slutligen tar vi upp varför ett systemperspektiv är nödvändigt när man studerar uppkomst och lösningar av miljöproblem. För att förstå miljöproblem och för att kunna analysera möjligheter till åtgärder är det nödvändigt att inse att dessa problem existerar i ett sammanhang. Miljöfrågor är ofta mycket komplexa och består av långa kedjor av orsak-verkan-samband och bör angripas med ödmjukhet. Därför är det speciellt viktigt att inom miljöområdet tänka igenom vad som studeras, hur detta förhåller sig till andra relevanta områden, vilka utgångspunkter man har etc. För att andra ska kunna förstå, använda och utvärdera vad man kommer fram till är transparens viktigt. I det här sammanhanget är därför begrepp som system, systemperspektiv och livscykelperspektiv centralt. Det är även centralt att förstå vilka begränsningar och möjligheter det finns med olika typer av systemstudier.

Många av oss använder transportsystemet så gott som dagligen, vilket underlättar vår vardag på många sätt. Samtidigt står det klart att systemet medför många miljöproblem. I det här kapitlet beskrivs utvecklingen inom transport och framför allt hur det svenska transportsystemet fungerar. Dessutom ges en översikt över viktig miljöpåverkan och exempel på hur vi med hjälp av systemlösningar kan förbättra situationen.

Många av de bostadsrättsföreningar som har stora lån redovisar negativa resultat systematiskt år efter år. Att föreningarna redovisar underskott är inte ett juridiskt problem men det kan få andra konsekvenser. Intäkterna täcker inte avskrivningarna vilket gör att föreningarna blir beroende av bankerna för att kunna underhålla sina fastigheter i framtiden. Uppsatsens syfte är att öka förståelsen för den ekonomiska situation som nybyggda bostadsrättsföreningar befinner sig i. Frågan är hur bankerna ser på bostadsrättsföreningar som redovisar negativa resultat, vilka riskerna är och om de kommer bevilja lån till dem. Metoden som används är semistrukturerade intervjuer med tjänstemän från banker och genom att fråga dem hur de förhåller sig till att låna ut pengar till bostadsrättsföreningar som ständigt går med underskott få en förståelse för problemet. Intervjuerna tolkas kvalitativt och sker med ett litet urval. Resultatet av studien visar på att bankerna i dagsläget inte ser några större problem med de negativa resultaten. Dock så menar två av de intervjuade bankerna att de ser problem med att föreningarna sparar för lite. Den ena menar på att enbart det negativa resultatet inte är avgörande för om en förening får lån eller inte. Man ser fortfarande till helheten med kassaflöde och skuldkvot som grund samt ekonomiska planer och underhållsplaner. Medan den andre anser att föreningar som gör underskott sparar för lite. Slutsatsen som dragits är att även om bankerna inte ser några större problem med den ekonomiska situation som bostadsrättsföreningar befinner sig i idag så är det något som kan förändras i framtiden. Att vara så pass ekonomiskt beroende av banken kan bli ett problem i framtiden. Utifrån institutionell teori och agentteori menar vi att det finns en risk med dagens system som innebär att både banker och föreningsstyrelser ser kortsiktigt på den ekonomiska planeringen samt att bankerna tar en för hög risk. Något som talar för att föreningarna kommer att, Many of the housing associations with large loans systematically report negative results year after year. The fact that associations are running deficits is not a legal problem, but it can have other consequences. Income does not cover depreciation, leaving associations dependent on banks to maintain their properties in the future. The aim of the paper is to increase understanding of the financial situation of newly built housing associations. The question is how banks view housing associations that report negative results, the risks and whether they will grant loans to them. The method used for the interviews is semi-structured with officials from banks and by asking them how they feel about lending money to housing associations that are constantly running deficits gain an understanding of the problem. The interviews are interpreted qualitatively and a small sample is used. The results of the study show that banks do not currently see any major problems with the negative results, but that at least two banks see problems with associations saving too little. However, one of them argues that the negative result alone does not determine whether an association receives a loan or not. They look at the overall cash flow and debt ratio as well as the financial plans and the maintenance plan. While the other believes that associations that make deficits save too little. The conclusion is that although banks do not see any major problems with the financial situation of housing associations today, this is something that may change in the future. Being so financially dependent on the bank may become a problem in the future. Based on institutional theory and agency theory we argue that there is a risk in the current system that both banks and association boards take a short-term view of financial planning and that banks therefore take too much risk. One indication that the associations will receive loans in the future is that the banks have loans to the associations in the

Biogas solutions offer many advantages to improve sustainable development, but there is still untapped potential in its environmental performance. During biogas upgrading, CO2 is separated from the gas to deliver a flow with high methane concentration and thus high energy content. In this practice, CO2 is commonly emitted to the atmosphere without contributing to a net addition of climate gases because of its biological origin, being a missed opportunity for carbon capture. In this paper, CO2 valorization is an option that has been evaluated using a qualitative and quantitative approach, taking Sweden as an example. Results showed that around 140 kt of CO2 can potentially be captured and utilized from biogas upgrading, which can significantly increase in future scenarios. If CO2 were turned into methane using power-to-gas technology, an additional 35% of biogas could be produced in the short term, meaning up to additional 0.7 TWh in 2020. By 2050, around 600 to 1600 kt of CO2 could be available, depending on how well the biogas production develops and how much of the biogas is upgraded, resulting in up to 6.2 TWh of biomethane. The qualitative assessment suggested that only minor modifications in the upgrading process are required for this practice. Biogas actors are interested in getting involved in valorization projects that enhance their circular business and avoid carbon lock-in mainly to improve the environmental performance of biomethane. Moreover, the application of CO2 valorization requires collaboration with different actors to integrate current CO2 demand or innovative transformation technologies., Funding Agencies|Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research Charity [20200041]; Swedish Biogas Research Center (BRC) - Swedish Energy Agency [35624-3]

Previous studies showed that resources recovery through landfill mining (LFM) is generally challenging from an economic perspective and that a large share of project costs is related to the external treatment and disposal of bulk process wastes such as combustibles and fines residue. Building on these analyses, this study aims to explore the potential for improving the economy of LFM in Europe by creating value from these bulk process wastes. Specifically, the combustibles are treated through internal incineration with subsequent energy recovery, while fines residue is utilized as construction aggregates. These explored possibilities are investigated considering other varying factors at the site, project, and system levels that cover possible LFM project settings in Europe. A set-based modelling approach is adapted generate multiple LFM scenarios (531,441) and investigate the underlying critical factors that drive the economy of LFM through global sensitivity analysis. Results show that an additional 16% of LFM sce-narios become net profitable, mainly driven by fines residue utilization. Avoided costs for re-landfilling are higher than the revenues from construction aggregates. By contrast, internal incineration is driven by the revenues from recovered energy rather than the avoided gate fee, which is substituted by the costs for building and operating own plants. Overall, the policy conditions remain critical to further improve the economy of LFM in Europe. Recommendations include an inclusive quality standard that relies on pollutant leachability rather than total concentration for higher-value application of fines residue and incentive rather than taxation for producing renewable energy from the combustibles. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Funding Agencies|European Cooperation for Science and Technology-Mining the European Anthroposphere (COST-Action MINEA, Action) [CA15115]; European Training Network for Resource Recovery Through Enhanced Landfill Mining (NEW-MINE) [721185]

The anaerobic digestion of food waste can not only enhance the treatment of organic wastes, but also contributes to renewable energy production and the recirculation of nutrients. These multiple benefits are among the main reasons for the expansion of biogas production from food waste in many countries. We present methodological insights and recommendations on assessing the environmental and economic performance of these systems from a life-cycle perspective. We provide a taxonomy of the value chain of biogas from food waste which describes major activities, flows, and parameters across the value chain with a relatively high detail. By considering the multiple functions of biogas production from food waste, we propose a few key performance indicators (KPI) to allow comparison of different biogas production systems from the perspectives of climate impact, primary energy use, nutrients recycling, and cost. We demonstrate the operational use of our method through an example, where alternatives regarding the heat supply of the biogas plant are investigated. We demonstrate how global and local sensitivity analyses can be combined with the suggested taxonomy and KPIs for uncertainty management and additional analyses. The KPIs provide useful input into decision-making processes regarding the future development of biogas solutions from food waste. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy Agency, Link_oping University

In the transition towards fossil-free transports, there is an increasing interest in upgraded biogas, or biomethane, as a vehicle fuel. Liquefied biogas has more than twice as high energy density as compressed biogas, which opens up the opportunity for use in heavy transports and shipping and for more efficient distribution. There are several ways to produce and distribute compressed and liquefied biogas, but very few studies comparing them and providing an overview. This paper investigates the energy balance, environmental impact and economic aspects of different technologies for upgrading, liquefaction and distribution of biogas for use as a vehicle fuel. Furthermore, liquefaction is studied as a method for efficient long-distance distribution. The results show that the differences between existing technologies for upgrading and liquefaction are small in a well-to-tank perspective, especially if the gas is transported over a long distance before use. Regarding distribution, liquefaction can pay back economically after 25–250 km compared to steel container trailers with compressed gas, and reduce the climate change impact after 10–30 km. Distribution in gas grid is better in all aspects, given that it is available and no addition of propane is required. Liquefaction can potentially expand the geographical boundaries of the market for biogas as a vehicle fuel, and cost reductions resulting from technology maturity allow cost-effective liquefaction even at small production capacities., Funding agencies: Swedish Biogas Research Center (BRC) - Swedish Energy Agency, Biogas Research Center

Understanding the perspectives of different stakeholders on emerging technological concepts is an important step towards their implementation. Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM) is one of these emerging concepts. It aims at valorizing past waste streams to higher added values in a sustainable manner. Yet, assessment of ELFM mainly focusses on environmental and private economic issues, and societal impacts are rarely analyzed. This study uses semi-structured interviews to build understanding for different ELFM practitioners and researchers and develops five stakeholder archetypes for ELFM implementation: the Engaged Citizen, the Entrepreneur, the Technology Enthusiast, the Visionary and the Skeptic. The archetypes outline major differences in approaching ELFM implementation. The stakeholder perceptions are put into context with existing literature, and implications for ELFM implementation and future research are discussed. Results show that differences in regulatory changes and technology choices are affected by different stakeholder perspectives and more research is needed to balance inner- and inter-dimensional conflicts of ELFMs sustainability. The developed archetypes can especially be helpful when evaluating social impacts, whose perception often depends on opinion and is difficult to quantify., Funding Agencies|European Unions EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020European Union (EU) [721185]

As landfill mining (LFM) gains public attention, systematic assessment of its economic potential is deemed necessary. The aim of this review is to critically analyze the usefulness and validity of previous economic assessments of LFM. Following the life cycle costing (LCC) framework, (i) the employed methods based on goal and scope, technical parameters and data inventory, and modelling choices were contrasted with respect to (ii) the synthesized main findings based on net profitability and economic performance drivers. Results showed that the selected studies (n=15) are mostly case study-specific and concluded that LFM has a weak economic potential, hinting at the importance of favorable market and regulation settings. However, several method issues are apparent as costs and revenues are accounted at different levels of aggregation, scope and scale-from process to sub-process level, from private to societal economics, and from laboratory to pilot-scale, respectively. Moreover, despite the inherent large uncertainties, more than half of the studies did not perform any uncertainty or sensitivity analyses posing validity issues. Consequently, this also limits the usefulness of results as individual case studies and as a collective, towards a generic understanding of LFM economics. Irrespective of case study-specific or generic aims, this review recommends that future assessments should be learning-oriented. That is, uncovering granular information about what builds up the net profitability of LFM, to be able to systematically determine promising paths for the development of cost-efficient projects., Funding Agencies|European Training Network for Resource Recovery Through Enhanced Landfill Mining (NEW-MINE) under the European Unions EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020European Union (EU) [721185]

The heavy transport sector is facing a growth within technology and infrastructure for use of natural gas. This opens an opportunity for the biogas market to grow as well, especially in the form of liquefied biogas (LBG). This study presents an investigation of the energy balance, environmental impact and economic aspects of current technologies for production of LBG: mixed refrigerant cycle, nitrogen cycle, pressure reduction and cryogenic liquefaction. Calculations are based on a review of recent literature and data from the biogas industry. The results show that mixed refrigerant cycle is the most economic and energy efficient technology for liquefaction of upgraded biogas, followed by nitrogen cycle. The lowest electricity use and environmental impact is achieved if the liquefaction process is preceded by amine scrubber upgrading. Pressure reduction liquefaction is inexpensive and can be an alternative in areas connected to a high-pressure gas grid, but as a method for liquefaction it is not very efficient as only about 10% of the incoming gas is liquefied and the rest remains in its gaseous form. Moreover, addition of propane for distribution in the natural gas grid increases the environmental impact compared to other distribution pathways. The cryogenic technology has a higher energy use than other liquefaction technologies but compensates by also including CO₂ separation, which could make it suitable if there is no existing upgrading facility in place. However, there are technical difficulties to overcome and it is not widely implemented., BRC - Biogas Research Center

Landfill owners, governmental institutions, technology providers, academia and local communities are important stakeholders involved in Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM). This concept of excavating and processing historical waste streams to higher added values can be seen as a continuation of traditional landfill mining (LFM) and seems to be an innovative and promising idea for potential environmental and societal benefits. However, ELFMs profitability is still under debate, and environmental as well as societal impacts have to be further investigated. This study provides a first step towards an anticipatory approach, assessing ELFM through stakeholder integration. In the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholders, involved in a case study in Flanders, Belgium. Participants were selected across a quadruple helix (QH) framework, i.e. industrial, governmental, scientific, and local community actors. The research comprises 13 interviews conducted with an aim to elicit stakeholder needs for ELFM implementation using a general inductive approach. In total 18 different stakeholder needs were identified. The paper explains how the stakeholder needs refer to the different dimensions of sustainability, which groups of stakeholders they primarily affect, and what types of uncertainty could be influenced by their implementation. The stakeholder needs are structured into societal, environmental, regulatory and techno-economic needs. Results show additional economic, environmental, and societal aspects of ELFM to be integrated into ELFM research, as well as a need for the dynamic modeling of impacts. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Funding Agencies|European Unions EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020European Union (EU) [721185]