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Hydrogen locomotives offer a promising cleaner alternative to conventional diesel locomotives. However, hydrogen production methods and energy sources may introduce additional emissions. This paper evaluates the environmental and potential social impacts of hydrogen locomotives in Canada from a life cycle perspective, encompassing the locomotive's retrofitting components and the fuel life cycle. Results show varying emissions across different hydrogen production pathways and regions. Electrolysis has the highest emission reduction potential in provinces with cleaner electricity sources, such as Manitoba, Quebec and British Columbia, resulting in up to 47% reduction in life cycle emissions. Conversely, in Alberta and Saskatchewan, emissions are approximately three times higher than diesel due to reliance on fossil fuel-derived electricity. The social assessment underscores the imperative of considering emissions, costs, and technical implications to address potential social impacts. This positions hydrogen locomotives with significant challenges that necessitate resolution before they can be considered a superior alternative to diesel. • A social and environmental life cycle analysis of hydrogen locomotives is provided. • Various hydrogen production methods and different regions are analyzed. • Emissions from fuel production are the primary drivers of the lifecycle emissions. • The region's electricity source highly impacts hydrogen locomotive evaluation. • Hydrogen locomotives pose potential social challenges that need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes a comprehensive framework for evaluating the social life cycle of public services through a thorough examination of existing literature published from 2013 to 2022. The central research question is to determine how insights from this literature review can contribute to the advancement of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodologies within the public sector. Methods: To address this question, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis of data sourced from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The quantitative analysis determined the total number of S-LCA and SO-LCA papers published by main journals, and main authors. The qualitative analysis highlighted the different themes and research objectives addressed in the work relating to the S-LCA of products/services and organizations. Our findings indicate that a total of 222 papers on S-LCA were published across 94 journals. However, there is a noticeable gap in research specifically targeting public services, with most studies concentrating on products, services, and organizations. Despite the absence of direct scientific data, our study identified 17 actors, 74 impact subcategories, and 178 indicators that are potentially relevant to the S-LCA of public services. Given the unique characteristics of public services, it is imperative to develop tailored stakeholder categories, subcategories, and performance indicators for each service type. This approach will facilitate more accurate assessments of the social impacts of public services, thereby aiding both the scientific community and S-LCA practitioners in their evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analysis of the importance of the social impact of e-waste in African countries. • Presentation of the S-LCA methodology. • Presentation of the Social Hotspot Analysis of e-waste in Ghana and Nigeria. • Definition of a possible setoff indicators for assessing the Social impact of e-waste with site specific data. The transition towards a circular economy, which has emerged as a promising approach to achieving sustainable development and which involves the reuse of e-waste, may cause significant social impacts on vulnerable groups if it is not addressed in a proper manner. The European Union has established a clear circular economy plan with particular attention on e-waste treatment. However, a considerable amount of e-waste still ends up outside Europe, mainly in African Countries. Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) has been recognized as a valid methodology to assess the social impacts caused by products or services to stakeholders involved along the life cycle perspective. Most S-LCA studies are conducted in the formal sector; however, informal sectors constitute a crucial element of the economy in emerging and developing countries. In particular, formal waste management practices are complemented by the informal sector in Indonesia, African and Latin American countries. The informal sector represents an important support element. Few studies have been conducted on the social impacts of the e-waste sector and even fewer have been implemented following the guidelines of Social Life Cycle Assessment for Products and Organizations. However, we are still far from a complete overview of the social impacts in the e-waste sector, in particular for developing countries. Knowing that most e-waste through illegal exportation ends up in African countries, a social hotspot analysis has been conducted on the electronic sector in African countries, focusing on Nigeria and Ghana, which are the most affected. The study also identifies a set of indicators needed to assess the social performance of e-waste in Nigeria and Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The growth of global food delivery (FD), which could reach a market value of 1510 billion dollars by 2027, could raise significant sustainability concerns, especially in terms of the social impact related to the expansion of the gig economy. This study, therefore, aims to analyze the social sustainability of the FD, taking Italy as a case study. The results could be a baseline to suggest practices that could promote a more socially responsible FD sector. Methods: Social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) was used, following the guidelines of the Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) and considering four categories of stakeholders (workers, value chain actors, society, and local community), 11 risk categories, and 13 subcategories, mainly based on both the availability of data and their adherence to the objectives of the study and FD. Results and discussion: The main risks are associated with low wages, improper working hours, high accidentality, and approximation in food handling. Specifically, the wages of riders, 23% of whom are migrants, are just 14% above the poverty line in Italy and 67% below the median income. With 30-h work weeks, moreover, riders may face high risks of economic vulnerability. Stressful working conditions and the absence of mandatory protective equipment have resulted in 17 fatalities × 100,000 workers and 25 accidents × 1000 workers, which could generate a medium risk that violations of labor laws will occur. All this is also due to the low unionization in the Italian FD. Finally, results also show a flaw in food safety, as riders are not required to have HACCP and ATP attestation. Conclusions: Italian legislation and the business models of FD companies are still shown to be insufficient to guarantee the fairness of protections for riders, which are substantiated by low wages, high accident rates, poor union rights, and improper working hours. In addition, doubts are raised about the hygiene of containers carrying food during transport, as they could induce a potential microbiological health risk for consumers, especially related to food handling during transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The effects of tourism extend beyond purely economic considerations; they also have an impact on both the environment and people. Development of tools and procedures that foster consensus among practitioners and enable the measurement and benchmarking of impacts are required for tourism managers to be able to work on lowering and mitigating the sector's effects, while enhancing the positive benefits. In this study a methodological proposition to assess the social impacts of tourism packages is presented. Aim and scope: This study adapts and tests for the first time a social evaluation technique, the Product Social Impact Assessment (PSIA) method, to assess the social implications of tourism products and services. It is iteratively tested on 9 tourism packages in Mediterranean Protected Areas. Numerous parties, including managers of protected areas and private tourism stakeholders, have engaged in this process at various stages, such as developing the packages or supplying the data required for the assessment. Conclusions: The methodology tested appears appropriate to quantify and qualify the social impacts of tourism packages and is valid for enhancing the social performance since positive progress between the two testing faces was registered. This study is a step towards standardizing the social assessment of tourism packages following a Life Cycle Assessment approach, and future developments are needed to make the approach proposed in the paper adequate to assess the social impacts of the upstream and downstream components of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The mining industry plays a critical role in the global economy by providing raw materials and metals for various sectors, but it is also associated with environmental and social impacts. This paper presents a comparison of the findings from social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) with those obtained from a stakeholders' risk perception analysis. The goal is to provide a multifaceted view on the challenges faced by the mining industry in achieving sustainable practices. Methods: This research reports the results of S-LCA and stakeholders' risk perception analysis used to evaluate the social dimension of sustainability in two different European Horizon 2020 projects: (i) recovery of secondary metals and minerals from mining residues through bioleaching and chemical precipitation (project NEMO with a demonstration site in Finland), and (ii) recycling of wastewater and valorization of tailings from mining activities to create geopolymers through chemical activation (project ITERAMS with a demonstration site in Portugal). Results: The S-LCA conducted in NEMO reveals that fair salary is the social category presenting the highest risk (22% of the total). This risk is unequally shared between foreground activities (4%) and background activities (18%), and it occurs mostly in Finland. The S-LCA in ITERAMS shows that the low percentage of employees organized in trade unions accounts for the highest social risk (14%), occurring mostly with the background activities (8.5% out of the 14%). The risk perception analysis conducted among involved stakeholders for both projects highlighted that the analysis performed using only S-LCA databases overestimated some social issues (e.g., access to biomass, trade unionism) that were not relevant for local stakeholders while underestimating, or even ignoring, other social issues that are considered important by the same stakeholders (e.g., health and safety, housing prices). Conclusions: The two case studies show the critical need to integrate locally gathered data from stakeholders directly involved in the projects with the broader insights offered by sector-level S-LCA. Local analysis can capture site-specific dynamics and social risk perceptions, while S-LCA can extend the analysis to the entire supply chain. Both analyses highlighted that one of the main limitations of the current S-LCA framework is the omission of the positive environmental, social and economic effects resulting from the proposed projects. Ultimately, these case studies provided valuable insights for the stakeholders involved in both projects, facilitating information sharing concerning the primary social risks associated with the development and implementation of the technologies proposed by the projects. This empowers decision-makers with the information required to formulate strategies that can enhance the sustainability of the bioleaching and geopolymer technologies used to valorize mining residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the social dynamics and development potential of agricultural enterprises is fundamental to promoting sustainable territorial growth. This study aims to assess the impact of growers of small and medium-sized hydrangea crops in the Colombian province of La Paz through a social life cycle analysis (S-LCA), shedding light on their fundamental roles as catalysts for regional development. For this purpose, the prioritization of actors and performance indicators is conducted following the methodologies proposed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Social variables are identified using the subcategory assessment method (SAM) to strengthen and assess indicators of low and high performance. Sixteen subcategories are qualitatively assessed, with 56% falling short of performance benchmarks, 25% meeting the benchmarks, 13% exceeding the benchmarks with proactive behavior, and 6% having potential with effort. Priority areas were identified as local employment and economic development contributions. This study highlights the significant impact of hydrangea production on territorial development, emphasizing the need to improve social security and health conditions for workers. Environmental actions to reduce agrochemical use are also advocated. This study proposes transforming the social life cycle analysis into an opportunity to evaluate actors' performance and their contribution to territorial and sustainable development. It emphasizes the importance of assessing social impacts, ethical implications, and community relations throughout the crop value chain, with governance being a crucial aspect for territorial development. This study advocates the integration of these analyses into farm operations, serving as a benchmark for similar assessments across various agricultural activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Traditionally, life cycle assessment (LCA) has focused on environmental aspects, but integrating social aspects in LCA has gained traction among scholars and practitioners. This study aims to review key social life cycle assessment (SLCA) themes, namely, drivers and barriers of SLCA implementation, methodology and measurement metrics, classification of initiatives to improve SLCA and customer perspectives in SLCA. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 148 scientific papers extracted from the Web of Science database were used and analyzed using bibliometric and content analysis. Findings: The findings suggest that the existing research ignores several aspects of SCLA, which impedes positive growth in topical scholarship, and the study proposes a classification of SLCA research paths to enrich future research. This study contributes positively to SLCA by further developing this area, and as such, this research is a primer to gain deeper knowledge about the state-of-the-art in SLCA as well as to foresee its future scope and challenges. Originality/value: The study provides an up-to-date review of extant research pertaining to SLCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Chocolate is a widely consumed product and consumers are increasingly interested in its sustainability. However, the lack of scientific studies covering the social dimension hinders a holistic assessment of the sustainability. A social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) was conducted in cooperation with a Colombian chocolate manufacturer following the Guidelines for S-LCA of Products and Organizations 2020. This study represents the first application of S-LCA in the chocolate sector covering both cocoa cultivation and chocolate manufacturing. Methods: The study aimed to identify the main social hotspots within the value chain of a dark chocolate product, as well as to identify the potential and actual social performance of this product. The stakeholders assessed in the study were workers (in the cocoa plantation and manufacturing plant), society, and the local community. Primary inventory data was collected through on-site semi-structured interviews as well as through the review of company reports. Secondary data used to build the reference scales for impact assessment were taken from national regulations and best practice standards. In total, 16 subcategories were assessed. Results and discussion: The overall results showed an outcome of at least a compliance level (0), and a performance beyond compliance (+ 1 or + 2) for the local community and society. The latter was attributable to the role of the company as an agent of change in a region heavily impacted by violence and poverty. Furthermore, numerous interviewees stressed the importance of companies in the Colombian post-conflict context to re-integrate former conflict actors back into the labor market. For workers, the results also indicated a performance on the compliance level or above, with child labor and health and safety scoring as + 2 and social benefits/social security scoring as + 1. Areas of improvement were identified in subcategories where the score was on the compliance level (0) such as working hours, fair salary, equal opportunities, and employment relationships. Conclusions: A main challenge encountered was the definition of reference scales for subcategories with no recognized standards applicable to the socio-political context. This suggested a necessity for further S-LCA applications in regions with armed conflicts. The study provided insight into the social sustainability of the chocolate industry across the life cycle, covering the cocoa plantation and the manufacturing plant. At the same time, it provided the company with a tool to measure the positive and negative social impacts of their actions on stakeholders and redirect efforts towards the areas most in need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A sustainability assessment of SCCA produced from bio-wastes has been performed. • CAFIPLA reduces the environmental impact and social risk of the benchmark technology. • The plant is profitable as long as the product is sold above 0.49 €/kg. Bio-based products are a fast-growing market due to increasing consumer consciousness for sustainability. Although this is per se a positive trend, it leads to a higher demand for organic feedstocks which normally comes from primary agricultural sources and can lead to undesired deforestation or other land use changes to farmland. At the same time, Europe is facing another challenge related with the treatment of organic wastes. In this context, the project CAFIPLA developed an integrated process to convert heterogeneous organic materials to building blocks for the bio-based economy. This study performs a life cycle sustainability assessment (life cycle assessment, life cycle costing and social life cycle assessment) of the production of short chain carboxylic acids (SCCA) employing municipal bio-wastes as a feedstock. In addition to a hot-spot identification to detect the main sources of impact, a comparison of the novel technology with the current benchmark is carried out applying a cradle-to-gate approach and using 1 kg of SCCA as a functional unit. Results show the great performance of CAFIPLA in all the environmental categories analysed. Furthermore, the profitability of the plant is also verified, reaching a payback period below 6 years as long as the product is sold above 0.49 €/kg. Finally, the potential social risk associated to the supply chain is also improved with CAFIPLA technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify and map out circular economy in scientific literature in the global and Africa context. The circular economy has been adopted mostly in industrial production systems in the developed economies, its application in Africa is limited mostly to environment sector. A paucity of scholarly research and scientific publications on CE instigated the need to map out circular economy for sustainable development Africa. This article provides an overview of scientific publications on circular economy built in Africa through the Scopus database. The study used bibliometric analysis based on data obtained from Scopus database highlighting scientific literature. The analysis obtained 414 publications from 2005 to 2024. It provides descriptive and analytical graphs and bibliographic maps generated in R-Studio software. Findings shows main scientific and scholars are in European and Chinese universities with scanty publications in Africa. These findings signal the inadequacy of scientific research to inform policies on circular economy in Africa. It calls for future demand for more research and scientific publication on circular economy linked to sustainability in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is an important sector of the European Union in social, economic and environmental terms. To ensure the sustainability of the sector, improvements are needed in key operations. Weeding is one of the most important activities affecting farm productivity, farmer safety, food safety and security, and the state of the environment. New technical and organizational solutions are needed to achieve the goals of the EU policy for sustainable agriculture. One of the advanced techniques is laser-based weed control. It is important to fully understand the impact of the introduction of these techniques on markets and agricultural practices in the context of sustainability. For this reason, a social life cycle analysis (S-LCA) was carried out. The method applied in the study was based on a participatory approach. The assessment was carried out from three perspectives: the general society, the farmers and the business perspective in relation to agriculture. Expert interviews based on questionnaires and workshops were conducted to gather opinions on the impact of new laser technology on specific aspects of its implementation. The results show generally positive effects from all perspectives, especially from the farmers' perspective. From the farmers' point of view, the most favored factors influencing the widespread introduction of WLAT are the economic consequences, the most important of which are the production costs associated with the introduction of the new technology. According to business experts, the perspective of business development, with particular emphasis on new prospects for businesses and development, is the most important factor. The quality of life and the environment are most valued by society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the application of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) in the construction sector and explicitly focuses on carbon reinforced concrete (CRC). The publication consists of two parts: (1) a scientific literature review on the current implementation of S-LCA in the construction sector, and (2) the definition of the relevant social hotspots for the cradle-to-gate production of CRC. The literature review was conducted to provide a general overview and compare S-LCA studies in the construction sector; second, countries that provide the relevant input materials needed for CRC were identified. Analysis within the Social Hotspot Database (SHDB) helped determine the relative importance of the CRC supply country for each social category and subcategory. By developing a metric in the form of scores for each risk information, the potential risks indicated by the SHDB were measured. The results show that the focus of the indicators to be highlighted and further used in the indicator catalog is particularly in the area of labor rights and decent work in the health and safety subcategory. Missing data within the SHDB may result in a defined high average score and lead to a lower level of information. In the future, the identified 36 social indicators for CRC should be revised again in cooperation with the manufacturing industry. This study aims to further raise awareness in the construction sector of life-cycle-based sustainability that goes beyond the environmental aspects, and it is the first social hotspot screening using the SHDB for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a successful energy and mobility transition, multifaceted technologies, e.g., fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) are developed. Next to technical advantages, environmental, economic, and social aspects must be considered. Especially the social implications for various stakeholders are often neglected but are no less important. Thus, goal of this study is to identify possible social risks associated with the production of an FCEV in Germany, using the concept of Social Life Cycle Assessment. Social topics investigated are association and bargaining rights, trade unionism, fair salary, gender wage gap and w eekly hours of work. Results show that the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is a hotspot component, bearing 31–41% of the risk, which is mainly caused by the membrane. Germany is, next to China and India, the major hotspot country, depending on the social topic. Changes in component prices can have an influence on this, as can be seen at the example of the membrane. • Social aspects of fuel cell electric vehicles must be examined beside technology. • Social Life Cycle Assessment is used to identify social hotspots. • The proton exchange membrane fuel cell is a social hotspot due to the membrane. • China, Germany and India are social hotspot countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper conducts a review of the different research carried out recently on the behavior of non-structural elements (NSEs) and the life cycle assessment (LCA) during an earthquake. It focuses on the study conducted recently and identifies the gaps and way forward for future work. Methods: A systematic literature review was carried out among the different research works. The proposed literature review includes (i) identifying the recent research work using the keywords in available search engines, (ii) studying different research papers and selecting the relevant papers only, and (iii) vulnerability and LCA for NSEs and their research gaps. Results and discussions: A summary is given of the importance and type of NSEs under earthquakes, including life cycle cost assessment for NSE, environment life cycle assessment (ELCA) and social life cycle assessment (SLCA) for different facilities and the embodied energies. Conclusions and recommendations: This paper highlights the problems associated with NSEs. For new constructions, modifications to improve the performance of NSEs, particularly infill walls are under research, however for old buildings, their location is also vital. Numerical methods are performed using different tools available; however, implementation is a big challenge to economize the life cycle and its impact on the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, today's affordable housing and co-housing projects represent complex products, complementing the physical intervention with economic and social techniques. This means that purely environmental and economical evaluation is not sufficient for these projects. While environmental and economical evaluation methodologies are widespread and advanced in the construction sector, methodologies to evaluate the social impacts of housing projects are rarely used and therefore underdeveloped. This study elaborates a framework to evaluate and monitor the social impacts of a complex social housing and co-housing project. The method adopted implements the Social Life Cycle Assessment, integrating a Post Occupancy Evaluation as the main tool for collecting and analysing data. The presented assessment framework is elaborated for the E-Co-Housing Model, a new experimental model so far as the development of affordable housing in Budapest is concerned. However, it delivers a starting point for more complex sustainability analysis of residential buildings in general. The guideline for the Evaluation Framework is the methodology of the Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products, clarifying and improving some of its usual elements. The study of the E-Co-Housing Model shows that housing products, especially affordable and co-housing projects significantly differ from other products. The differences are their main stakeholder groups, their life cycle stages and in their impact ways too. Therefore, housing products need a special S-LCA methodology to assess in a balanced way the complex aspects of its environmental, economic, and social sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building industry has significant environmental, economic, and social impacts. The trend of construction industrialization to promote sustainable development is becoming increasingly evident. As an essential component of this process, prefabricated components provide a foundation for studying the sustainability of prefabricated buildings. This study proposes a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) model involving environmental, economic, and social aspects to assess the sustainability of prefabricated components. The sustainability impacts on the raw material extraction and production, off-plant transport, material processing and component manufacturing, on-plant transport, and component storage stages are comprehensively assessed. The LCSA model is applied to four types of prefabricated components: interior wallboards, precast stairs, composite beams, and composite floor slabs. The results show that the precast stairs exhibit the highest sustainability score and that the performances of environmental, economic, and social pillars of four components are slightly different. These findings enhance our understanding of the sustainability of prefabricated components and broaden the scope of LCSA applications. The established sustainability assessment model is expected to help guide prefabrication scheme designs and production plan optimization, further encouraging the wider adoption of sustainable practices in construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify and map out circular economy in scientific literature in the global and Africa context. The circular economy has been adopted mostly in industrial production systems in the developed economies, its application in Africa is limited mostly to environment sector. A paucity of scholarly research and scientific publications on CE instigated the need to map out circular economy for sustainable development Africa. This article provides an overview of scientific publications on circular economy built in Africa through the Scopus database. The study used bibliometric analysis based on data obtained from Scopus database highlighting scientific literature. The analysis obtained 414 publications from 2005 to 2024. It provides descriptive and analytical graphs and bibliographic maps generated in R-Studio software. Findings shows main scientific and scholars are in European and Chinese universities with scanty publications in Africa. These findings signal the inadequacy of scientific research to inform policies on circular economy in Africa. It calls for future demand for more research and scientific publication on circular economy linked to sustainability in Africa.

Attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals demands a partnership between industrial sectors. The power sector pulls the challenging goal of providing affordable and clean energy to society and industry, each with specific issues. This work recognises the need to address the three dimensions of sustainability and identifies a gap in the literature on indicators to assess the social dimension. In this context, the research presents the employment-weighted fair-wage potential, relating the electricity produced to social data, with ten power technology options. The proposed indicator ranks the alternatives, pinpointing the best technology based on social aspects. The analysis employs a social life-cycle approach with primary and secondary data, worldwide real and living wages, and employment factors. The findings indicate the values of the gas- and oil-based technologies as 3.55 and 3.51 at the operation and maintenance stages, respectively. In contrast, photovoltaics offers the lowest potential value (1.32), followed by biomass-biogas (1.86). Run-of-river emerges as the fairest wage potential option (3.33), followed by the reservoir (2.80), while Solar PV technology presents the lowest value (1.16).

Tourism has a significant multiplier effect on other socioeconomic sectors, leading to improved infrastructure and public services. Its environmental impact, however, remains a subject of concern and there has been a growing emphasis on increasing the sustainability of tourism attractions. Despite the global importance of sustainability evaluation, there are just a few widely accepted methodologies for evaluating it. The life cycle concept is utilised to assess environmental, economic and social impacts and one critical life cycle tool is social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). Tourism-associated activities are ideally suited for the elaboration of data related to social sustainability due to tourism-specific service specifications. As a result, the main question is how can S-LCA help to ensure the long-term viability of cultural tourism destinations. This paper investigates the theoretical evolution of both S-LCA and cultural tourism in order to answer this question. A new framework S-LCA for sustainable cultural tourist destinations is developed and examined, as are potential application gaps. The hypothesized S-LCA conceptual framework S-LCA can thus play an effective role in accomplishing the principles and objectives of sustainable tourism destination management by bringing all stakeholders’ interests together.

The EU-funded project eGHOST supports the fuel cells and hydrogen (FCH) industry in shaping the eco (re)design of hydrogen-related products such as proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks. Within this framework, a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of a PEMFC stack was conducted to evaluate its potential environmental, economic, and social impacts. The climate change indicator for one 48 kW el PEMFC stack is 1160 kg CO 2 eq., with platinum accounting for 63.5% of the total value. The cost depends mainly on the production rate, and it is 2233 €/stack for an annual production of 50,000 stacks. Social hotspots are mainly associated with platinum production in South Africa. Illustrative ecodesign actions allow a reduction in climate change of 31% and 46% in the realistic (short-term) and optimistic (long-term) concept, respectively. A further reduction in climate change (54% in the optimistic concept) is achieved if 95% recycled Pt is used. • A life cycle sustainability assessment of PEMFC stack manufacture is conducted. • The carbon footprint of the 48 kWe PEMFC stack is estimated to be 1160 kg CO2 equivalent. • The cost, for a production rate of 50,000 PEMFC stacks/year, is 2233 €/stack. • Platinum production in South Africa arises as a sustainability hotspot. • Ecodesign actions on Pt loading and recycling lead to high carbon footprint reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the social impacts on various stakeholders — consumers, workers, value chain actors, local community, and society — who are directly or indirectly impacted by the construction of land transportation infrastructure. The study further extends to determine the scale of change in these social impacts with the incorporation of circular economy (CE) in the sector. Methods: The study is based on the UNEP-SETAC methodology for social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). Separate questionnaires are designed for each of the stakeholder categories — ensuring assessment for every social impact category. Social impact scores (SICs) are determined for every social impact category for the existing business-as-usual (BaU) scenario for every stakeholder category. Furthermore, to determine the change in social impacts in a circular economy scenario, experts are interviewed to understand and account for the change. The change in social impacts is mapped using a "Potential Circular Impact" formula devised by the authors. Finally, the results are compared based on the scale of social impacts in the BaU and CE scenarios. Results: It is observed that in the BaU scenario, the value chain actors have the highest social scores, implying that value chain actors fare well in the selected social impact categories. Furthermore, the consumers have the least social well-being, followed by the local community. In the case of a transition to CE, it is observed that the highest social benefits will be available for consumers, whereas the workers will be least benefited. The results also present the scale of change with the adoption of circular economy with respect to every social impact category, as well as corresponding performance indicators. Conclusion: The study presents a general trend of the potential social trade-offs of implementation of CE in the construction sector. The results can aid construction management and policy makers to design and implement strategies for the welfare of various stakeholders. The research is also of value for accounting social impacts of transitioning to CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals demands a partnership between industrial sectors. The power sector pulls the challenging goal of providing affordable and clean energy to society and industry, each with specific issues. This work recognises the need to address the three dimensions of sustainability and identifies a gap in the literature on indicators to assess the social dimension. In this context, the research presents the employment-weighted fair-wage potential, relating the electricity produced to social data, with ten power technology options. The proposed indicator ranks the alternatives, pinpointing the best technology based on social aspects. The analysis employs a social life-cycle approach with primary and secondary data, worldwide real and living wages, and employment factors. The findings indicate the values of the gas- and oil-based technologies as 3.55 and 3.51 at the operation and maintenance stages, respectively. In contrast, photovoltaics offers the lowest potential value (1.32), followed by biomass-biogas (1.86). Run-of-river emerges as the fairest wage potential option (3.33), followed by the reservoir (2.80), while Solar PV technology presents the lowest value (1.16). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of this work was to quantify and understand the impacts of intensive pig production at family-farm level. A case study from the west of Santa Catarina State was used to identify adverse issues (hotspots) of pig production by integrating the assessment of the environmental, economic, and social aspects of the system. The quantitative and qualitative indicators calculated can guide and support the decision-making processes for a variety of stakeholders and actors. Methods: The environmental performance of the pig production system was assessed from cradle-to-farm gate using environmental Life Cycle Assessment methodology set out in ISO 14040 (ISO 2006a). The functional unit (FU) was 1 kg of Liveweight (kg-LW). The structure of the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) was based on Neugebauer et al. (J Clean Prod 102:165–176, 2015) and Chen and Holden (J Clean Prod 172:1169–1179, 2018), who proposed a tiered framework to evaluate the impacts on the environmental, social, and financial aspects of a product. The economic dimension or Life Cycle Cost (Hunkeler et al. in Environmental life cycle costing. Crc Press, London, 2008) focused on farm-level activities. The social impact was calculated based on the UNEP/SETAC (2009) guidelines. Results and discussion: The environmental performance of the finishing pig production was slightly lower than reference value for climate impacts, acidification, and eutrophication. The economic impacts tended to be positive, reflecting the efforts of the farmer and employee to maintain high productivity and reduce the number of pig losses in comparison with the reference values. However, this effort did not result in greater profitability, causing low farm income. The impacts of low profitability were not transferred to the employee since the wage were above the reference value. There is a need for more education for small farmers, which is known to have a positive correlation with the adoption of new technologies, thus reducing adverse environmental and social impacts and increasing economic return. Conclusions: The interaction of social and economic factors suggests it is unlikely that the farm can achieve better environmental performance. The limited economic return and low level of education have a negative impact on the farmer's capacity to adopt new technologies to improve environmental outcomes. The use of LCSA, based on a consistent model across the three aspects of sustainability, made it possible to understand the interaction of these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This paper aims to give a system-wide overview of agricultural life cycle assessment (LCA), based on the understanding of agriculture as a complex providing humanity with food, energy and other vital resources and considering all forms of sector’s influence: environmental, social, and economic. This review is intended to outline the temporal and geographical spread of agricultural LCA research, the main aspects studied with LCA in agriculture, and relevant scientific themes via bibliometric analysis and an overview of high-quality scientific publications in this field. Methodology / approach. This study used traditional bibliometric research techniques: performance analysis, scientific mapping, and network analysis. Bibliometric analysis was conducted through the Bibliometrix R package in the RStudio and its extension – Biblioshiny. The bibliographic collection covers 259 academic English-language articles indexed in Scopus for 1999–2022. Results. The study identifies a significant growth in a number of agricultural LCA publications, a tendency of current LCA research to continue and complement earlier research findings, and to accentuate environmental aspects of agricultural activity. Developed countries lead this field of research in terms of productivity and impact. However, LCA studies are geographically concentrated, and collaboration between developed and developing countries is weak. The following issues shape the agri-LCA research structure: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions analysis; LCA of various impacts of agriculture; challenges of agriculture environmental impacts measuring; LCA usage to ensure agriculture sustainability; agri-LCA methodology. Emphasis on GHG emissions in agri-LCA could lead to biased decisions promoting climate-resilient agriculture but neglecting other impacts and dimensions of the sector’s sustainability. Originality / scientific novelty. It was found that the rapid development of the field of research featured a certain stability, continuity, and historical relationship between the issues studied. Research transform from a highly specialised topic into a broader one by the scope of publishing sources but are highly geographically concentrated and not equally distributed even within the European Union. As far as is known, these results have not been previously reported. Practical value / implications. The identified “closedness” of the research community leads to weak scientific progress. Sharing knowledge and involving a broader set of stakeholders to promote LCA application in agriculture globally must be a priority of scholars and policymakers.

To verify the responsible and sustainable functioning of circular economy (CE), assessing the sustainability of CE methods is essential. The consistent absence of a social aspect within the CE has been a recurring topic in research. This paper aims to pinpoint social-benefit aspects that are quantifiable in monetary values and investigate how attributing monetary significance to these elements can enhance the evaluation of social sustainability, leading to more informed decision-making processes. The methodology involves both quantitative and qualitative research methods. A quantitative research study was initiated in February 2023. Two approaches were used for sample selection. First, a case study approach was applied to select a specific SME within the tapioca industry. Survey interviews with workers follow the second step. This study also incorporates qualitative methods like literature review and interviews with key informants (cassava and social experts, government officials, and business owners) in April 2023. This research utilized descriptive analysis as a diagnostic tool, offering valuable insights. Challenges in monetizing social factors are discussed, highlighting the need for standardized frameworks, transparency, and stakeholder engagement. The paper also provides a practical example of monetizing social aspects within a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) tapioca industry to address issues such as gender wage gaps, worker safety, and community engagement. The findings suggest that the costs of monetizing social aspects may outweigh the benefits in certain cases, calling for a reassessment of practices to ensure a more equitable and sustainable approach to social responsibility. Integrating social factors into assessments improves decision-making processes and stakeholder engagement, ultimately leading to more socially responsible decisions.

The sustainable development goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda encompass a range of global challenges aimed at promoting prosperity and security for both current and future generations. Within this context, the Social Life Cycle Assessment emerges as a valuable tool for assessing the socioeconomic impact assessment associated with the life cycle of industrial products. Despite the presence of a methodological framework with a structured process, the implementation of the Social Life Cycle Assessment within the industrial domain is hampered by the lack of precise indicators, context-specific databases, limited case studies, and the dynamic characteristics inherent in social data. This study conducts a comprehensive review of the scientific literature and examines methodologies, databases, and software, focusing specifically on its applicability in the design and development of industrial products. The main objective is to evaluate the current research effort, identify available technical and digital resources for implementation in industrial companies, and outline key areas of work and specific challenges related to the social dimension of life cycle assessment. The results emphasize the priority of improving indicator frameworks within specific impact categories and developing novel metrics to mitigate uncertainty in decision-making processes. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of transitioning to standardized application procedures within industrial product sectors, thus ensuring methodological consistency and improving the reliability of assessments.

Social responsibility issues keep reoccurring despite the popularity of numerous approaches perceived widely as adequate. In this paper, the authors conducted a systematic literature review to explore this phenomenon from a systems thinking standpoint. The findings revealed that each approach is founded on a different systemic paradigm, makes different assumptions on the nature of social responsibility issues, and has different objectives when resolving them. Therefore, employing any of these approaches alone will certainly fail given their underlying systemic limitations. The findings also revealed that these approaches are complementary from a critical systems thinking perspective, hence, researchers and practitioners can use their tools and methods together in the form of tailored interventions to better address efficiency, subjectivity, and fairness when resolving social responsibility issues. This paper concludes by proposing a practical framework based on critical systems practice which encompasses four systemic paradigms allowing the inclusion of a spectrum of perspectives, and assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]