Alchemy‐Inspired Green Paper for Spontaneous Recovery of Noble Metals

Recycling of noble metal from waste materials, namely from electronic wastes (e‐waste), spent catalyst, and industrial wastewater, is attracting growing attention due to the scarcity, economic importance, and criticality of those noble metals. Traditional techniques reported to date require toxic reagent and strict extraction conditions, which deeply hinders the development of precious metal recovery in complex environments. Here, an approach is proposed that uses flexible metallic transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) paper, which provides abundant active sites for spontaneous adsorption and reduction of noble metal ions, as an Alchemy‐inspired template to recover noble metal in an efficient and green way without the aid of reductant and heating. The metallic TMD (MoS₂, WS₂) paper is shown to rapidly extract five noble metal ions (Au, Pd, Pt, Ag, and Ru) from complex samples containing various interferents. This unique property endows the metallic TMD paper with gifted ability in extracting gold from e‐waste, and recovering platinum group metals (palladium and platinum) from spent catalysts, which provides a blueprint for the design of next‐generation green platforms for noble metal regeneration.     

How can Cleaner Production practices contribute to meet ISO 14001 requirements? Critical analysis from a survey with industrial companies

The companies’ needs to adopt changes in their way of production to maximize the environmental performance required by their stakeholders, and at the same time, to maximize their economic and market performance, have made them seek for environmental strategies and certifications. In this sense, the Cleaner Production and the Environmental Management System based on ISO 14001 have been, respectively, presented, since the main objective of this research is to identify and analyze Cleaner Production contributions to comply with ISO 14001 requirements. For such, a survey research has been carried out in Brazilian industrial companies certified by ISO 14001. We have identified the main performance factors by leading practices and variables of Cleaner Production that contribute to the compliance with the standard requirements by companies. Thus, it has been noted that Cleaner Production is an important strategy for the preparation of companies for certification as well as for improving their environmental performance.     

Financing resource efficiency and cleaner production in Central America

Resource efficiency, including cleaner production and energy efficiency (CP/EE), is an important strategy for developing countries to grow their economies in a sustainable manner. However, informational, technical and economic barriers often limit the implementation of such strategies in the private sector, particularly among smaller enterprises. Since the 1990s, international aid agencies, governments, banks and non-governmental organizations have supplied financial incentives to encourage enterprises to adopt resource efficient practices in Latin America. “Pathways to Cleaner Production in the Americas” (PCPA) was a 3-year multinational project focused on promoting cleaner production practices in micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) through collaboration with academia. In this paper, we examine the availability and utilization of different types of financing instruments for CP/EE in MSMEs in Central America. We survey nineteen programs across five countries to examine how effectively these instruments are utilized, barriers that hinder their adoption, and best practices for increasing their uptake. We also incorporate the experience of 39 MSMEs that participated in PCPA, with respect to their demand for CP/EE and external financing options. We find a mismatch between MSMEs’ demands and expectations with the supply and interest of financing programs, leading to the underutilization of the funds.     

Metal–Organic Framework‐Derived Materials for Sodium Energy Storage

Recently, sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are extensively explored and are regarded as one of the most promising alternatives to lithium‐ion batteries for electrochemical energy conversion and storage, owing to the abundant raw material resources, low cost, and similar electrochemical behavior of elemental sodium compared to lithium. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted enormous attention due to their high surface areas, tunable structures, and diverse applications in drug delivery, gas storage, and catalysis. Recently, there has been an escalating interest in exploiting MOF‐derived materials as anodes for sodium energy storage due to their fast mass transport resulting from their highly porous structures and relatively simple preparation methods originating from in situ thermal treatment processes. In this Review, the recent progress of the sodium‐ion storage performances of MOF‐derived materials, including MOF‐derived porous carbons, metal oxides, metal oxide/carbon nanocomposites, and other materials (e.g., metal phosphides, metal sulfides, and metal selenides), as SIB anodes is systematically and completely presented and discussed. Moreover, the current challenges and perspectives of MOF‐derived materials in electrochemical energy storage are discussed.     

Evaluation of the global implementation of the UNIDO-UNEP National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPC) Programme

Since 1994 UNIDO and UNEP cooperate in a Programme to establish National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs) in developing and transition countries. An evaluation was conducted in 2007 when the Programme covered 37 countries. The programme evaluation was based on three information sources: a review of Programme strategy and management; self-evaluation by NCPC directors; and independent reviews of 18 NCPCs. It was found that NCPCs had been successful in putting Cleaner Production (CP) on the agenda of business and government, training of professional staff, implementation of low and intermediate technology options in assisted companies and policy change in some countries. An overall assessment was made on six assessment criteria: relevance; effectiveness; efficiency; sustainability; capacity development; and ownership. Limitations in articulation and implementation of the Programme strategy, the complexity of inter-agency cooperation and diversity among Programme countries globally, had a somewhat negative impact on the programme assessment, which was regardless on average satisfactory. It was concluded that the Programme had great potential, as relevance of CP was rising, due to worsening industrial pollution, resource scarcity, globalisation and resulting market pressure. The challenge remained to adapt to the changing interests and diversifying demands from governments and private sector globally.     

The quantitative eco-efficiency measurement for small and medium enterprise: a case study of wooden toy industry

Eco-efficiency is a tool for the analysis of the sustainability of industries, which indicates the economic relationship and environmental impact. This research presents the development of eco-efficiency indicators for quantitative measurement of the wooden toy industry, as well as the raw material suppliers who are a part of the supply chain. The eco-efficiency of the wooden toy industry was measured by using the key indicators of the three axes of sustainable development, which are (i) economic indicator: net sale and gross margin, (ii) environmental indicator: material, energy, water consumption, waste disposal, and (iii) social indicator: frequency rate of accidents, local employment, and corporate social responsibility. Moreover, the combined eco-efficiency evaluation of the supplier and company showed that the company’s eco-efficiency has likely increased during 2 years of observation, while the eco-efficiency of the supplier-company combination has decreased. The evaluation of socio-eco-efficiency results showed that the company has acquired a socially supportive management system at the company level, community level, and social level. This research can contribute to the improvement of the resource and process efficiencies in economic, environmental, and social dimensions. It can also provide a basic framework on eco-efficiency evaluation for the small and medium enterprises in Thailand, which will feed into policy and strategic development.     

An evaluation model of water-saving reconstruction projects based on resource value flows

Due to uncertainties in water supply, there is growing demand for water resource management in enterprises. In this study, we evaluated the effects of companies’ water-saving reconstruction projects. We used Hina Advanced Materials Company as a case to construct an investment decision model to (1) calculate the internal and external costs of water resources based on circular economic value analysis theory, and (2) locate the level of water resources circulation. We adopted gray situation decision analysis to identify the typical problems that occur in water resource utilization. Moreover, we demonstrated optimization plans for different potential improvements, thereby providing guidance and references for water resource cost management and the comprehensive optimization of environmental benefits. We concluded that the circulation economic value analysis model can effectively display the flow and amount of value derived from water resource flows, thereby providing guidance and suggestions for optimizing water resource flows.     

An integrated chance-constrained stochastic model for efficient and sustainable supplier selection and order allocation

Effective allocation of scarce resources across supply chain environments is an emerging issue, as enterprises face shortfalls in raw materials, human labour, budgetary resources, equipment, energy and capacity. We consider these related objectives in designing efficient and sustainable supply networks using a multi-objective mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model for efficient and sustainable supplier selection and order allocation with stochastic demand. Our approach considers sustainability dimensions including economic, environmental and social responsibility, but also seeks to design the most efficient supply network given constraints of the supply market. Enterprise efficiency is assessed using a bi-objective data envelopment analysis (DEA) whose inputs include raw materials, current expenses and labour force capacity. The resulting model is non-convex because of the presence of bilinear terms in DEA-related constraints, so we introduce a multi-stage solution procedure that first uses piecewise McCormick envelopes (PCM) to linearise the bilinear terms. Next, we introduce a set of valid inequalities in order to improve solution time of the problem whose dimension significantly increases after being linearised. We then exploit chance constrained programming approaches to deal with stochastic demand. Finally, a single aggregated objective function is derived using a fuzzy multi-objective programming approach. A manufacturing case study demonstrates the validity of the proposed approach, and its effectiveness in designing a supply network that addresses the ‘triple bottom line’ of people, profit and planet that comprises many sustainability initiatives in an efficient manner.     

资源型区域产业结构分析及调整对策研究

在高度集中的计划经济体制下，受国家地域职能分工的影响，资源型区域一般是以资源开发和初级原材料加工产业为主，产业结构单一，整体的系统性较差。随着国际环境和市场环境的变化，这种依托资源开采、经济结构单一的传统工业化战略受到了很大的挑战和冲击。本文以新疆克拉玛依市石油经济转型为例，在分析克拉玛依市产业结构的基础上，认为克拉玛依市产业结构调整的重点应该放在大农业的开发上，并提出了产业结构调整的相应具体措施，谋求资源型区域的可持续性发展。     

Probleme der Rohstoffversorgung bei stahlveredelnden Schwer- und Sondermetallen

Problems regarding the raw material supply of steel improving heavy and minor alloy metals . The supply situation of steel improving heavy and minor alloy metals reveals that the absolute and relative concentration of the raw material output as well as the regional supply agglomeration in developing countries is much more marked as is the case with crude oil. Future development is expected to increase even the import dependence of few large producing countries in the Third World, thus increasing the risk of short-term availability bottlenecks, shortcomings in deliveries and cartelizations in view of a sharply rising demand of alloy metals and a shortage of Europe's own production. Besides the promotion of industrial potentialities to ensure a better adaptability to given supply situations – particularly recycling, substitution and stockpiling – there is a need for a government flanking raw material policy with national and international objectives.     

天然生物质水凝胶吸附材料研究进展

生物质资源产量大,但是利用效率不高,将其制备成高吸附性水凝胶不仅可消除环境污染,减少资源浪费,还可以有效地降低成本。综述了近年来天然生物质功能性水凝胶的制备原料及其制备方法,重点概述了水凝胶在重金属离子和染料吸附方面的应用,总结并展望了生物质凝胶的重点研究方向和未来发展前景。     

Decision-making support system for human resource allocation in product development projects

Recent dismal economic conditions and a ruthlessly competitive environment have forced many companies to restructure, or reorganize their priorities. For such companies, the concentration of various resources upon their particular corporate strong points has become a central strategy. Consequently, there has been a rapid increase in the importance of (1) selecting profitable projects from a wealth of possible alternatives and (2) optimizing the allocation of current resources among the selected projects. This paper proposes an optimization system for project selection that not only yields the most beneficial project set, but also the optimum allocation of human resources for the selected projects. The optimization system consists of two algorithms, namely (1) a project selection algorithm for choosing the set of projects that maximizes the total estimated profit, and (2) a human resource allocation algorithm for optimally placing human resources among the selected projects, having considered the satisfaction level provided by each employee's skills, personal motivation and career goals.     

Strategic capacity management: Meeting technological demands and performance criteria

Although manufacturing contributes a large part to the current performance of companies, few companies deal systematically with issues related to strategic capacity management. As well as decisions on outsourcing and acquisition of resources, this involves triggering process innovation, process development and improving performance by adapting organizational structures. Action Research in companies reveals the importance of capacity management at a strategic level as well as the implementation at tactical and operational levels. The methods of Strategic Capacity Management, as proposed in this paper, provide an industrial company with tools for implementing its manufacturing strategy. Only the design of organizational structures has received attention in the past--little research has been done in the area of manufacturing technology and integral models for sourcing. Through matching product configurations with product-market strategies and product development, the methods point to areas of improvement. The new methods include decision-models for outsourcing and capacity management, product development, and a manufacturing technology scan. All the methods deploy performance evaluations as a base for selecting alternatives to define improvements. These improvements lead to decisions on investments for resources, resource utilization and development of processes, including initiation of manufacturing technologies, as demonstrated by four case studies.     

VOC emission reduction and energy efficiency in the flexible packaging printing processes: analysis and implementation

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions into the atmosphere are among the primary environmental problems caused by flexible packaging printing plants. Since 1999, VOC emissions from the use of solvents in various technological processes have been limited by the volatile organic compounds solvents emissions directive, and by directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions since 2010. Thus, flexible packaging plants require processing technologies or other solutions to ensure compliance with these requirements. In this paper, combined VOC pollution prevention and treatment alternatives were suggested and were evaluated for their technical, environmental, and economic feasibility. A flexible plastic packaging company that produces over 1920 t/year of plastic packaging for the food industry was selected for detailed analysis. The material and energy flow analysis shows that VOC emissions from the main technological processes reached 112.2 kg/t of production, and a considerable amount of energy (up to 771.6 kWh/t of production) was used. Three integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) alternatives of the five analysed in this study were selected and implemented within the company to reduce its VOC emissions and energy consumption. The results indicate that after the implementation of the three suggested economically reasonable IPPC alternatives (replacement of solvent-based with water-based inks; modernisation of the ventilation and lighting system), the VOC emissions decreased to 8.4 kg/t (92.5%) and the total energy consumption for the production of 1 t of flexible packaging decreased to 605.6 kWh/t (21.5%). This study shows that IPPC methods not only significantly reduces VOC emissions from flexible packaging printing processes, but also saves energy and raw materials, and reduces costs.     

Selection and implementation of pollution prevention techniques in small and medium enterprises in countries in transition

This paper aims to open the discussion about the possibility and economic feasibility of applying pollution prevention techniques in industrial enterprises with smaller production capacities than those specified in Directive 2010/75/EU. The work refers to countries with transition economies where low cost of environmental resources and pollution fees are present. The research is conducted on pilot sample of seven small- and medium-size enterprises belonging to the food and beverage sector. The enterprises have different characteristics in terms of company size, capacity levels, production processes employed, and status of the transition in terms of their ownership status. The selection of appropriate prevention techniques is done using newly developed Method for Identification of Prevention Techniques (“MIP”). The MIP method combines: (i) Minimization Opportunities Environmental Diagnosis methodology developed by Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production Barcelona and its approach to data collection, (ii) United Nation Industrial Development Organisation’s step-by-step approach to environmental diagnosis of industrial enterprises, (iii) Driving Forces, Pressure, State, Impact, Response Framework used by European Environmental Agency to facilitate problem–solution identification, (iv) Multicriteria ranking method for selection of best available techniques, and (v) Philosophy of Shewhart–Deming’s circle to introduce the system of planning, control, and correction and integrate prevention concept into business policy. This provided necessary flexibility corresponding to companies’ abilities to finance implementation. The results confirmed that the pollution prevention concept can be applied to small- and medium-sized companies of different production capacities and organization levels with both environmental and economic benefits.     

Industrial ecology in university curriculum: new M.Sc. Programme in Environmental Management and Cleaner Production

To ensure long-term capacity building in the area of industrial ecology, a new M.Sc. Programme in Environmental Management and Cleaner Production has been developed in the framework of the BALTECH consortium, which consists of technical universities in the Baltic Sea region. The programme was started at Kaunas University of Technology in September 2002. This paper presents prerequisites for the establishment of the new M.Sc. programme , its aims, goals and structure as well as the relation of different subjects of the programme to the concept of industrial ecology.     

基于产业链演化的物流网络资源配置策略

从基础设施、信息系统、服务功能等角度分析物流网络资源,总结地理环境和商业市场因素对物流基础设施的空间构型的影响,提出从市场角度研究物流资源配置的必要性.分析社会经济系统中经济运行链式结构由企业集群至产业链的发展趋势,从服务范围、服务核心、需求市场、利用效率等层面研究不同经济运行结构条件对物流网络资源影响,从设施、信息和功能等分项角度总结瓶颈问题,提出资源配置对策.     

锂离子电池LiFeO2基材料研究进展

LiCoO2是目前商品锂离子电池中最广泛应用的正极材料,然而其价格昂贵且对环境有害,促使人们研究开发新型正极材料。由于Fe是地球上最丰富且无毒的金属,具有与LiCoO2相似岩盐结构的LiFeO2研究引起人们广泛关注。综述了LiFeO2基锂离子电池材料的研究进展,评述了制备与性能,展望了LiFeO2基锂离子电池材料未来的发展方向和应用前景。     

Developing a novel approach to assess the efficiency of resource utilisation in organisations: a case study for an automotive supplier

There are different business processes in each organisation. Each business process utilises some resources to perform its related activities, produces specified outputs (products/services) and reaches organisational goals. In this paper, an approach is presented to assess the ability of business processes to utilise resources. To apply the presented framework, a manufacturing firm in the automotive industry was selected. Initially, four main business process groups were chosen for the assessment. Then, 15 processes of the four determined process groups and resources utilised by each process were identified. All of the recognised 19 resources were classified into six major categories, including physical, relational, organisational, informational, human and legal resources. Afterward, a hierarchical top-down analysis was performed to determine the ability of process groups and processes to utilise resource categories and resources. The results of the analysis show which resources have been strongly/weakly utilised by which business processes. In other words, by applying the suggested framework, it is possible to accurately identify the strengths and weaknesses of the resource utilisation. Therefore, the company can focus on weaknesses, prioritise them and develop improvement actions to increase the ability to utilise resources in the specified areas.     

Demand for metals

The long-term future average growth of world consumption for most metals is likely to be much lower than that in the recent post-war period because of the lower average growth of real GDP and the generally declining metal consumption relative to GDP in the industrial economies.Average GDP growth in the developed Western industrial economies will remain relatively low until the pervasive problems of these economies, concerning their structural (resource allocation and utilization) responses to such economic stimuli as technological change, foreign competition and higher energy prices, are clearly resolved. Furthermore, it is possible that these problems will indeed soon be resolved through a deep recession if contemporary economic conditions represent the peak of a long (50-year) economic wave, as a minority opinion suggests. Such a recession would precede another boom.Relatively low average GDP growth in the developed economies would retard growth in the less developed economies. Also, the centrally planned economies, notably the U.S.S.R., face economic problems at least at severe as those in the West.Metal consumption per unit GDP (or metal consumption intensity) is likely to generally decline in developed industrial economies for most metals for two, and possibly three, reasons. First, at relatively high levels of per capita GDP there will continue to be a marked shift in the structure (composition) of GDP towards less or non-metal intensive goods and services as demand for many high metal-intensive durable goods tends to become saturated. Second, technological change will continue to contribute immensely both to higher levels of per capita GDP and, more importantly, to developing new less metal-intensive goods (such as lighter cars) and technologies (such as telecommunications). Finally, although it is not clear whether the real prices of most metals will now rise significantly in the long term (after large declines in the past), to the extent that if they do metal consumption will be further relatively discouraged.In addition, the industrialization that is under way today in some developing countries is, and will continue to be, less metal-intensive (especially for the ‘old’ metals) than applied for developing countries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Metal consumption intensity data are shown for seven metals and six countries.