Search results for "resource efficiency"
showing 10 items of 17 documents
An exploratory study for analyzing the energy savings obtainable by reshaping processes of sheet metal based components
2017
Abstract Producing materials causes about 25% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Reshaping could be one of the most efficient strategy to foster material reuse and lower the environmental impact due to material production. Sheet metal forming processes can be applied to reshape sheet metal based component. This research field is still almost unexplored and the actual environmental impact saving potential has not been quantified. The present paper aims at starting to cover this research gap, a modeling effort to quantify the environmental impact saving of reshaping is proposed. Primary energy demand for conventional recycling and reshaping are quantified and compared. Primary energy savings…
A methodology for the semi-automatic generation of analytical models in manufacturing
2018
International audience; Advanced analytics can enable manufacturing engineers to improve product quality and achieve equipment and resource efficiency gains using large amounts of data collected during manufacturing. Manufacturing engineers, however, often lack the expertise to apply advanced analytics, relying instead on frequent consultations with data scientists. Furthermore, collaborations between manufacturing engineers and data scientists have resulted in highly specialized applications that are not relevant to broader use cases. The manufacturing industry can benefit from the techniques applied in these collaborations if they can be generalized for a wide range of manufacturing probl…
Backcasting for desirable futures in Finnish forest-based firms
2020
Purpose In Finland, new forest-based sector (FBS) businesses are seen as important for the transition to the circular bioeconomy. The purpose of this study is to explore the transition of Finnish FBS companies to new business models. The aim is to understand how FBS companies define their ideal future states and related business models for the year 2030. Design/methodology/approach This study uses thematic interviews with managers from various FBS firms and companies from interfacing sectors. In the interviews, the key idea of backcasting was pursued when respondents discussed the desirable future states of their business. Findings The effort to achieve growth of the business and the appea…
Evaluating the material resource efficiency of secondary aluminium production: A Monte Carlo-based decision-support tool
2019
The contamination of aluminium streams during the different life cycle stages by alloy mixing and/or accumulation of foreign elements, in combination with the limited melt purification options during remelting, represents an important limiting factor in recycling. Consequently, in secondary aluminium production, primary aluminium is used to dilute the concentration of the residual elements, and alloying elements are added to adjust the composition to the target alloy specifications. However, adding elements, for which their refinement in a subsequent recycling step is problematic, results in permanent down-cycling or ‘quality losses’. Hence, it is crucial to more efficiently control the com…
Environmental Management Systems (Ems) - Control Instrument of the Impact of the Organization Activities on the Environment
2015
Abstract Due to the ability to create and use technology, the human being has found various ways to transform the resources of the Earth in all sorts of new materials, equipment and energy sources. At least since the last industrial revolution until now, each generation has added more technology to the received legacy, but at the same time, left the planet in a far more degraded state than the inherited condition. Within these changes, small and medium enterprises (SME) in their capacity as pillars of the economic development of a nation, have been compelled to change their previous strategies. Implementing an Environmental Management Systems (EMS) can be seen as the only way to connect the…
Full-scale validation of bio-recycled asphalt mixtures for road pavements
2019
Abstract Recycling of asphalt has become a well-established practice in many countries, however the road pavement industry remains a bulk consumer of extracted raw materials. Novel solutions that find root in circular economy concepts and life-cycle approaches are needed in order to enable optimisation of infrastructure resource efficiency, starting from the design stage and spanning the whole value chain in the construction sector. Itis within this framework that the present study presents a full-scale validation of asphalt mixtures specifically designed to ensure durability of flexible road pavements and at the same time enabling the reuse of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) through the i…
Environmental management of granite slab production from an industrial ecology standpoint
2014
Abstract The granite production chain is high energy and water intensive with low resource efficiency. This paper focus on characterizing the potential for environmental improvement of the granite production chain by promoting the optimization of sawing technology, the implementation of rainwater harvesting (RWH) and the material recovery of wasted granite (sludge). The environmental performance of multi-blade gangsaw (MBGS) and diamond multi-wire saw (DMWS) technologies is compared by mean of life cycle assessment. Results demonstrate that DMWS technology contribute 30% of water savings, 40% of energy savings and 80% of material savings per square meter of polished granite tiles (60 x 40 x…
Valorization of Wastewater from Table Olives: NMR Identification of Antioxidant Phenolic Fraction and Microwave Single-Phase Reaction of Sugary Fract…
2021
The table olive industry is producing a huge amount of wastewater, which is a post-processing cost and an environmental concern. The present study aims to valorize this processing by-product to obtain a value-added product, thereby enhancing resource efficiency and contributing to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this sense, a chemical reaction-based platform was developed to obtain valuable components, such as levulinic acid (LA) and 5-hydromethylfurfural (HMF). The products were then analyzed using NMR identification of the antioxidant phenolic fraction and microwave single-phase reaction of the sugary fraction. According to the results, the highest concentration of phen…
Manufacturing strategies for efficiency in energy and resources use: The role of metal shaping processes
2017
Abstract Manufacturing sector nowadays has to deal with the global need to reduce the environmental impact of human activity. As manufacturing accounts for a significant portion of the global CO 2 emissions, scientific research should be addressed to understand the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and, in the meantime, to take advantage of their full potential in reducing the overall CO 2 emissions. The present review paper aims at describing the role of metal shaping processes in reducing the environmental impact across different stages of metal components life. Actually, an increased consciousness concerning both the environmental performances of manufacturing processes and…
Temporary employment and technical efficiency in Spain
2004
Analyses how the high proportion of temporary employment affects the firm's technical efficiency. Uses the stochastic frontier approach to measure the technical efficiency of the Spanish manufacturing firms during the period 1990‐2001. A negative relation between technical efficiency and the proportion of temporary jobs has been obtained. Also, shows that permanent employment makes an important contribution to output while temporary does not.