There is no evidence-based discussion on the intended and unintended global social impacts, such as changes in employment, of the European Union's (EU) transition towards the Circular Economy (CE). Consequently, its ethical implications are nebulous. Therefore, this paper assesses CE-induced global employment shifts using the example of the apparel value chains of apparel imported to the EU from the

Driven by the EU 2019 low-carbon emission standard for automobile industry, gasoline car brands such as Fiat have considered either to (1) pay penalty or (2) cooperate with E-vehicle brands such as Tesla to “pool” their carbon emissions. These two strategies result in corresponding supply chain structures where the latter has co-operation relationship between automobile brands because the gasoline

Current studies have focused on China's CO2 emission intensity (CEI); however, its geospatial temporal effect is still not clear. Here, we constructed an evolutionary Geo-tree model in combination with spatial econometrics to examine geospatial temporal processes affecting CEI. The Geo-tree provides a schema to geovisualize the effects of CEI's drivers from 1990 to 2016. Spatial econometric outputs

Changing the household food waste related behaviours of consumers vital to the sustainable transformation of the global food system. This study utilised a video-elicitation methodology to explore the different factors that influence the food provisioning practices of the household dietary gatekeeper from a multi-level perspective, and to consider their food waste implications. Key findings included

The booming of waterway transport urged the efficient management of CO2 emissions from China's waterway transport sector (WTS). The transport structure changes due to the introduction of more inland and coastal waterway transport since the 12th Five Year Period pose new challenges for the carbon-reduction management of China's WTS. This paper investigates the effect of transport structure change on

Increasing environmental concerns and resource scarcity risks have drawn attention to a Circular Economic (CE) model during the last decade. Nevertheless, literature related to the state of practice of CE in the built environment in the United States (U.S.) is still limited. In this context, this study investigates U.S. architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry stakeholders’ awareness

Switching to electricity in the ground transport sector is considered a promising way to achieve the energy transition and CO2 emission reductions required to meet China's carbon neutral target by 2060. In this study, a transport energy model containing an elaborate transport demand model and a technology bottom-up model for detailed behavioral and technological representations was developed to investigate

The End-of-Life (EOL) stage of the first commercial wind farms is fast approaching and uncertainty remains in how to deal with their non-biodegradable Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite wind turbine blades. Repurposing options could potentially delay large volumes of material entering unsustainable waste streams such as landfill or incineration and contribute to the circular economy. To plan

Frequently updated wardrobes are costly to consumers, and they cause a serious waste of resources and environmental pollution, especially for developing economies. In the case of China, one representative emerging economy in developing economies, we explored the effects of virtual social capital on sustainable clothing consumption pattern. Taking the model of a product-service system as a theoretical

Remanufacturing gives a full new service life for every usage cycle of a product. Since remanufacturing avoids material dissipation, it is conceivably superior to material recycling. However, quantifying the effectiveness of remanufacturing is difficult due to the fundamental lack of indicators and supporting tools designed for the task. In this study, the volume of avoided material dissipation was

Behavioural spillover, in which initial behaviour undertaken by individuals leads to other behaviours, has attracted attention of environmental policymakers. We propose to understand behavioural spillover of goal-setting using a goal theoretical perspective. Using a randomized controlled trial, this study examines and compares spillover effects – from electricity-saving to water-saving – of three types

The impact of human activities and climate change occurs across a range of spatial and temporal scales, and the city or regional scale is critical for managing food–energy–water (FEW) resources. We develop a coupled human-natural system model for Cape Town, South Africa, which consists of an agent-based model and a regional hydrologic model, to study the FEW nexus connecting the agricultural, urban

The sharing economy has emerged as a potential way to reduce the environmental impact and costs of using products, whilst increasing their accessibility. However, there is a paucity of literature on its sustainability implications. To help fill this void we provide a first indicative assessment of the potential sustainability implications for the sharing of three product groups in Sweden, namely cars

The global pandemic caused by the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to a dramatic increase in medical waste worldwide. This tremendous increase in medical waste is an important transmission medium for the virus and thus poses new and serious challenges to urban medical waste management. This study investigates the response of medical waste management to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes

Circular economy (CE) principles distinguish between technical and biological cycles. Technical cycles involve the management of stocks of non-renewable abiotic resources that cannot be appropriately returned to the biosphere, whereas, biological cycles involve the flows of renewable biotic resources that can safely cycle in and out of the biosphere. Despite this distinction, existing CE monitors are

Background The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented amount of face mask consumption around the world. The increase in face mask consumption has brought focus to their environmental impact. To keep up with the increased demand for face masks, different variations of reusable face masks such as the embedded filtration layer (EFL) reusable face mask have emerged in the market

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The sustainable and competitive recovery of materials from spent batteries is becoming an urgent issue due to the increasing popularity of hybrid and fully electric vehicles. In this present study, flowsheet simulation was combined with life cycle assessment to investigate the environmental impacts of a conceptual, experimentally proven hydrometallurgical battery recycling process, where nickel metal

There is an urgent need to tackle the major challenge of plastic waste, as the increase in production and consumption of plastics is generating higher levels of waste. The South African government formulated a Waste Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap to facilitate the transition to a circular economy. To support this roadmap, this paper defines the plastic material flows within the country

Construction waste management involves multiple participants and processes. Although existing research has developed a building information model (BIM) based estimation system, the challenge of selecting a transportation and demolition plan that provides overall construction waste management from the perspective of multiple participants remains, and how multiple participants can coordinate the overall

Reducing food loss is key to improving farmers’ economic well-being and the sustainable management of water, energy, labour, and other resources. To develop appropriate solutions, we seek to identify the reasons for farm-level losses, and more specifically, why edible food intended for human consumption does not reach the intended recipients and remains unharvested in British Columbia, Canada. The

Households are the most numerous and atomized segment of waste generation. Quantifying household waste generation and identifying specific strategies to promote recycling and composting is challenging, particularly for developing countries where resources are scarce. In turn, estimates based on global records of municipal waste do not allow to distinguish household generation from other stakeholders

The aim of this study is to investigate the economic, environmental and technological challenges, as well as the environmental potential, of prolonging the life cycle of construction materials with focus on structural timber in Finland. To achieve this, a literature review was conducted along with interviews with actors pertinent to timber construction. Moreover, a case study of life cycle environmental