EcoDesign for Sustainable Products, Services and Social Systems II

The present research on the life cycle assessment of professional digital photography is on the basis of ISO 14040:2006 documents and consists of two main parts including the equipment and the utility behavior. The professional digital photography equipment analyzed within this research is set into three groups: recording, processing, and output. The behavioral patterns regarding the way of equipment utilization have been studied according to the information extracted from the questionnaires filled by the samples selected among the graduates who have received the BA degree in photography from Tehran University of Art during the last 5 years, from 2016 to 2020. The gathered data are analyzed and the output are arranged on the basis of the environmental priorities in order to arrive eventually at some suggestions concerning with the selection of the best eco-friendly equipment and the most sustainable behavioral patterns of professional digital photography.

This paper evaluates the environmental performance of remanufacturing a toner cartridge and compares it with the production of a new toner cartridge. The comparison was carried out through a life cycle assessment and two impact categories: climate change impact and abiotic depletion. According to the LCA result, remanufacturing of a toner cartridge in Sweden has 86% less environmental impact in comparison to producing a new one. The electricity consumption in remanufacturing processes is the main environmental concern, although the calculations were based on cleaner mix energy in Sweden with low CO₂ emission per kWh, in comparison to other countries.

Air conditioners (ACs) are indispensable in our daily lives. It is expected that the demand for ACs will continuously increase across the globe, particularly under the Covid-19 epidemic, where the effective utilization of household AC is attracting attention. As the demand for ACs increases, there is a critical concern about environmental problems due to the incremental energy consumption. Many studies have analyzed the environmental burdens of ACs by using the life cycle assessment. Greenhouse gas emissions were primarily focused so far, whereas few have been analyzed from the viewpoint of resources. The focus on resource use is important since addressing the resource-related issues (i.e., depletion of critical metals) is challenging in recent years. In practice, there is a probability that a large volume of various resources is consumed under the production of AC because of technological innovation in energy efficiency. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate resource use throughout the AC life cycle. Among various indicators for resource use, this study focused on total material requirement (TMR). TMR is considered as a most comprehensive indicator for resource use, involving direct resources, indirect resources, and the accompanying unused mine wastes related to hidden flows.

The system boundary in this study covered the manufacturing stage and the usage stage in Japan. Fifteen types of home ACs manufactured between 2002 and 2019 were analyzed. The TMR of ACs at the manufacturing stage was obtained on the basis of the composition analysis. The TMR of ACs at the usage stage was obtained by calculating the amount of electricity consumption, where the electricity mix of 2018 was utilized.

As a result, it was found that the TMR of the production of assessed ACs are in the range of 1686–4680 kg-TMR. Notably, under the manufacturing stage, the TMR of copper, which has a great mining intensity, accounts for more than 70% of ACs. The TMR of ACs at the manufacturing stage per heating and cooling capacity has slightly increased from 2002 to 2019. This is because of the slight increase in the usage of copper for the heat exchanger. From this, it can be seen that energy efficiency has increased but resource efficiency has not.

This study further compared the TMR of the high-performance model (hereinafter, Model-H) and consumer model (hereinafter, Model-C) of ACs from the perspective of resource payback time (RPT). Considering that Model-H has a higher annual performance factor (APF), which is one of the indicators of energy efficiency, and TMR under the production stage than Model-C, the RPT is defined as the breakeven point where the TMR of Model-H overtakes the TMR of Model-C. The RPT varies depending on the operational condition in the household. For instance, based on the study by Japan Center for Climate Change Actions, the RPT of the Model-C and the Model-H manufactured in 2018 in a living room and a children’s room was 6.64 years and 38 years, respectively. Since the average domestic service life span of Japanese air conditioners is 14 years, it is desirable to use the Model-H when using it in the living room, while a Model-C is preferable when using it in the children’s room. In this way, it is possible to select the optimum air conditioner from the viewpoint of resources according to the operating conditions of ACs.

Resource efficiency has been a focus of the society these days in aiming circular economy. Such resource efficiency evaluation is much more important for long-life products, since such products often try to ease large resource usages by long product lives through durable designs. For those products, service activities can be key factors to prolong product lives. The objective of the study is to propose a numerical model to express product value change including effects of service activities. The study assumes that the reasons for product value changes throughout life cycles are deterioration, obsolescence, and service activities. The case study formalized numerical models to simulate value changes of products. The survey data suggested that “maintenance” along the proper timeline can be the best strategy to enhance resource efficiency. Through the study, it was concluded that numerical models of value change throughout product life cycles can be effective in determining guidelines for resource-efficient life cycle strategies.

The current environmental crisis the planet is facing is mainly due to high consumption and waste production. The fashion industry is one of the main waste generators and consumers of natural resources. Consequently, many companies in the industry are now focusing on sustainable solutions. But sustainable fashion has a long way to go in comparison to other sectors, such as food. There are issues that create ambivalence in the decision-making process for customers, retailers, and producers. Sustainable products cost more for various reasons, so ultimately the price is higher. Retailers often ask themselves questions about investing extra money in this competitive market. If they are not sure about the return, they most likely do not invest eliminating potential initiatives toward a sustainable fashion industry. However, customer preferences are changing toward more environmentally friendly products. Such behavior will eventually influence producers, but at which level and intensity is still unclear. In this paper, we proposed an agent-based model tool based on important criteria to understand how the decision-making process will be influenced by the bottom-up emergent behaviors of environmentally friendly customers. It also might help them to find out the optimum level of selling price required to avoid any monetary loss and, additionally, help retailer invest in promotional activities that are needed to influence the customer for sustainable apparel. Thus, the decision-making process will be more informed, and retailers will feel more confident to go forward to invest in and implement sustainable manufacturing solutions. The preliminary result shows that introducing recycled items reduces the environmental impact and may increase the revenue, and customer influence can play a vital role here.

Metal hydride (MH) is an alloy that reversibly reacts with hydrogen gas and charges/discharges hydrogen into/from it. MH has some merits, such as low-pressure hydrogen storage, which can contribute to the abatement of environmental impacts, and high volumetric density, which can enhance the operation time per one charge. However, MH requires a long hydrogen charging time owing to the temperature increase caused by the exothermic reaction in its hydrogen-charging process. To address this problem, MH can be cooled to prevent the temperature increase during hydrogen charging. Thus, in this study, an MH cooling system using natural refrigerant GF-08 (MHG system) was investigated and compared with an MH cooling system using R410A (MHR system) and a conventional lithium-ion-battery-based energy storage system (Li-ion battery (LIB) system) in terms of the equivalent CO₂ emission and charging time. It was determined that the CO₂ reduction rate of the MHG system was 14.9% (MHR system) and 9.43% (LIB system). Moreover, by focusing on the charging time, it was found that the charging time of the LIB system was 10.3 times longer than those of the MHG and MHR systems. Therefore, MH cooling using GF-08 was proved to be effective at reducing both equivalent CO₂ emissions and charging time compared to the MH cooling system using R410A and a lithium ion battery.

Managing individual parts over their entire life cycle is essential to realize effective reuse of mechanical parts for the development of a sustainable society. Therefore, we propose a scheme in which a part manages itself and supports user maintenance activities. For this purpose, we are developing network agents programmed to follow their real-life counterpart parts throughout their life cycle. We refer to this network agent as a “part agent”; it provides users with appropriate advice on the maintenance of its part and promotes the circulation of reused parts. A part agent uses life cycle simulation (LCS) of the corresponding part to predict the future state of the part by using its life cycle model based on the conditions of its environment and usage of the part. Different from life cycle design, a part agent performs the LCS repeatedly to predict the short-term future mainly in the use/operation phase. LCS uses models representing aspects of the part that a part agent corresponds to, such as the life cycle of the part, its behavior, and its deterioration. One essential point for the models is the representation of the product assembly structure. Assembly plays a crucial role in dealing with the cases that occur in the LCS; an assembly product may fail because of the deterioration of its part, and the repair and replacement of that part can affect the life cycle of the assembly. To manage the reuse of parts in the LCS of assembly, the assembly model should manage the change of properties and behavior of parts because of deterioration, as well as the replacement of parts, including their properties and the effect of change of properties on the assembly. In a previous study, we proposed a method for creating a causal model with stochastic information that represents the progress of deterioration of the part and developed a method for predicting its state based on the model by using the LCS of parts. We have created the assembly model for a manipulator. In this paper, we describe a case study of the prediction of the state of parts and their replacement based on the assembly model.

Numerous uncertainties arising over the total life cycle of a product can adversely affect its expected performance, including sustainability. These risks must be considered early during the product design process. The effect of these risks is a combination of how likely they are to occur (probability of occurrence) and the potential impact (consequence) if they occur. However, existing methodologies for assessing these risks are focused only on the likelihood of risks, without consideration of the potential impact. The use of probability data alone for assessments limits its effectiveness for risk prioritization. Methods and models for assessing the impact of the potential risks of new product designs can help address these limitations, yet none such methods/models exist. This paper presents a novel approach for quantifying the impacts of new product design risks, developed by adapting the ISO 14040 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methodology. The paper discusses the approach to adapt the selection of impact categories and category indicators, assignment of life cycle inventory results, and calculation of category indicator results from LCIA for risk impact assessment. Issues and challenges arising from adapting these LCIA steps are presented. Assumptions and simplifications that must be made to transform these steps for risk impact assessment are also discussed. In conclusion, the paper provides the next steps and directions for future research following the establishment of the methodology.

Mongolia’s population is concentrated in Ulaanbaatar, making the capital city a densely occupied urban area. Pollution, such as the contamination of soil, water, air quality, and solid waste, is caused by population concentration and overload of social and public services. It negatively impacts the comfort of the living environment and has become a limiting factor of human development. The biggest issue surrounding the current wastewater treatment is greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the treatment process. In Ulaanbaatar, citizens mostly dispose of wastewater in two ways: through a central sewage system or direct disposal into the soil; the latter causes severe soil and groundwater pollution problems. In this study, the authors applied the IPCC’s GHG inventory methodology to estimate the total emission of GHGs from six municipal districts (138 subdistricts) in Ulaanbaatar city. These districts comprised households connected to the central wastewater treatment plant (WWTPs) and those that directly dispose of waste in the land. Subsequently, GHG emissions from the wastewater treatment process were predicted based on the development plan of Ulaanbaatar city. The result showed that 107.2 Gg CO₂e GHGs were emitted from the WWTP, a 70% increase compared to 2005 (44.1 Gg CO₂e). Ger districts accounted for 24% of the total GHG emissions, while residential areas (residential, private houses) accounted for 76%. According to the prediction, GHG emissions will increase by 32% per square meter by 2030 if the total population of Ulaanbaatar City moved to the residential areas without upgrading the central WWTP. However, GHG emissions are projected to decline by 52% in 2030. Even residents in Ger district moved into the residential area, while the central WWTP upgraded as well as the industrial wastewater pretreated at the Khargia WWTP. A total area of 18111.0 ha can be allotted for the development of vegetation cover in the city, which would absorb 3266.7 Gg CO₂e of GHGs per year. The amount of water needed (12.6 thousand m³/day) to grow and maintain the vegetation cover could be supplied by the treated gray water from the central WWTP.

Plastic waste management is a priority issue on the global agenda due to the enormous challenges of more than eight billion tons of nonbiodegradable plastic produced over the last 65 years. Following the enforcement of the notorious Chinese Government waste import ban, the top waste exporters, mainly from high-income countries such as Japan, the United States of America, and Germany, relocated their exports to low- and middle-income countries. While other regions’ immediate impacts and policy changes have been documented, information on the sub-Saharan African region is limited. This study presents an initial investigation of the plastic waste flows in the 16 countries that compose the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the past 5 years. The goal is to contribute with data and assessments to inform policy-making toward safe and sustainable plastic waste flows and subsequent management in the SADC region.

With the increasing deployment of renewable energy technologies, the current research tends to focus not only on ways to increase systems efficiencies but also on assessing the benefits of their use objectively, as much as the impact of their drawbacks on the environment. One of these technologies is biogas production that has been implemented and developed in many countries for a long time, while it is still starting in others. One of the factors that hinder the spread of this technology is greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the production and use of biogas from wastewater. Most of the existing studies consider the emissions from some processes but ignore biogas environmental impact. The diversity of the methods used to estimate emissions based on available resources and other factors also led to an important variation in the results making an overview of the state of the art of emissions from biogas from wastewater necessary for future research and practice. In this context, a systematic review was carried to identify and explain the existing research concerning the emissions from production and use of biogas from wastewater and the quantities of emissions and their impact on the environment. Scopus and Web of Science were chosen as paper search databases because of the amount and quality of papers they include and the wideness of the screening options. After several screening processes, 73 papers in English ranging from 2010 to 2021 were selected. Most of the experimental case studies were from Europe. There were reviews and theoretical studies from developing countries. Results show that most of the direct emissions (methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O)) result from the aerobic treatments of wastewater and anaerobic digester leakages, but those can be avoided in the case of regular maintenance. The most affected impact categories of the biogas deployment are human health, global warming, and climate change. The findings regarding this topic provide more awareness for engineers and system designers to conceive biogas systems with the least impact on the environment and give an insight into the importance of considering the options to mitigate GHG emissions in wastewater treatment plants equipped with biogas and energy generation for policy making in the countries who did not start implementing it yet.

This study aims to evaluate the evolving municipal solid waste management (MSWM) strategies in Addis Ababa City, capital of Ethiopia, based on greenhouse gas (GHG) and short-lived climate pollutants (i.e., black carbon) emissions. Comparable to the existing practice of open disposal and burning, with only 5% recycling, four alternative scenarios were developed considering advances proposed on the City’s Structural Plan of 2017–2027. The first scenario (S-1) suggests mixed-waste collection and disposal in a sanitary landfill while keeping the current recycling. The second (S-2) promotes the source-separated collection, organic waste composting, recycling in material recycling facilities, and disposal in a sanitary landfill. The third (S-3) adds incineration with energy recovery on S-2 to divert a portion of waste from landfills. The fourth (S-4) replaces composting in S-2 by anaerobic digestion with biogas energy production. The existing practice is estimated to emit 703,291 t CO₂-eq GHG and 75.10 t black carbon (BC) from yearly waste. S-1 showed 55% increase in GHG emission and 92% reduction in BC; S-2 showed 1% increase in GHG and 93% reduction in BC; S-3 showed 83% reduction in GHG and 125% increase in BC; and S-4 showed 11% reduction in GHG and negative net emissions of BC. The results indicated that no proposed scenario is climate-friendly. However, S-3 performs better in GHG reduction, specifically for methane (CH₄). S-4, in turn, is safe in terms of BC. Although the sensitivity analysis revealed GHG emission from S-3 increases with future waste composition changes, it will remain the first choice for the climate. The study identified CH₄ and BC as critical parameters in tracking improvements. Hence, proper planning that involves increasing organic waste transformation, CH₄ recovery from landfills, and strict flue gas management during waste incineration can optimize the results.

With the acceleration of the economic development and urbanization in China, wastewater generation has sharply increased. Previous studies mostly focused on the environmental and economic performances of wastewater-activated sludge reutilization (WASR), a biological treatment of wastewater that produces solid waste. However, policy impacts and comparative analysis integrating environmental, economic, and social performances of the applications to the potential resource recovery were ignored. Therefore, this study considered the following: (1) Environmental and economic performances of WASR scenarios, such as sludge-to-electricity, fertilizer, building material, and biogas, were evaluated by life cycle assessment and life cycle cost (LCC) approaches by replacing the traditional and similar commodities on the market with a system expansion. (2) The whole life cost of these scenarios was applied to include externality, which represents the monetization of emissions to integrate environmental and economic impacts. Major pollutants that contributed to the external costs of these scenarios were identified. The net present value of each WASR scenario was compared, which provided basis for technology improvements and policymaking. (3) Through an LCC of policy scenario analysis, we found that waste disposal subsidy was vital for WASR than the corporate income tax and environmental protection tax. Finally, an evaluation system of WASR integrating environment, economy, and policy aspects was proposed, which provided references for governments and industries. Consequently, future perspectives of sludge reutilization in China and suggestions on sustainable sludge recycling systems for developing countries were deduced.

As the circular economy (CE) concept gains relevance, there is an increased need for indicators to monitor and support the progress of CE. While micro-level indicators are particularly crucial in stimulating behavioral change among companies and consumers, the knowledge of how to design or select micro-level indicators to meet specific needs is limited, and no concrete method for evaluating micro-level indicators has been established. Furthermore, few studies have explored the link between micro-level circularity indicators and their macro-level impact. In order to contribute to the establishment of an evaluation method for micro-level indicators, in which they are evaluated for their impact on macro-level environmental sustainability, we first propose a framework to clarify the structural relationship between micro-level indicators and their macro-level impact. Then, we use the agent-based modelling technique to analyze a simple case of micro-level indicator implementation from a macro perspective.

Nowadays, due to many advantages of PET bottles, their usage is increasing. In Tehran metropolis, the capital of Iran, because of unprincipled methods of collecting and recycling waste PET bottles, large amounts of them are left everywhere or separated illegally and turn into low-quality and contaminated flakes by unauthorized factories; therefore, finding a way to reuse these wastes can help reduce their pollution. This research is aimed to first evaluate all types of most PET bottles used by companies in Tehran metropolis and, second, in case of utilizing these recycled bottles in a 400 × 200 × 200 mm concrete blocks as standard block in building constructions, to determine the percentage of meeting the construction needs and the amount of reduction and consumption of energy and greenhouse gases caused by it compared to other common blocks. To reach the aims, all different most used PET bottles with 500 mL volume of water were collected from all hypermarkets in five main regions of Tehran metropolis, and the exact dimensions and volumes were measured in order to evaluate fitting eight waste bottles in each standard concrete block. Then, by comparing the number of blocks that can be made with total waste bottles with Tehran construction needs, the percentage of meeting the construction needs was determined. Eventually by calculating the rate of heat loss, the amount of energy saving and greenhouse gases reduction caused by it were determined. Results showed that total bottle concrete blocks meet approximately 71% of Tehran metropolis construction needs and they can reduce heat loss and greenhouse gases more than two times compared to common blocks. For further research, the energy saving can be examined by utilizing a combination of PET bottles and fibers in cement blocks.

The increase in the demand for two-wheelers in Myanmar has led to a significant increase in the import of used two-wheelers from Asian countries. The practical life span of two-wheelers newly reused in Myanmar is therefore quite short, resulting in the quick and significant generation of end-of-life vehicles. While there has been an increase in the number of studies based on developing waste estimation models, the scenario where reused products are imported in a given country has not been given significant attention. A model is required to account for the two-wheelers imported for reuse by second and third owners in Myanmar, considering the difference in life span of the two-wheelers. In a scenario analysis the number of obsolete two-wheelers imported for reuse in Myanmar were considered during the period 2010–2040. A population balance model modified was used in the scenario analysis. Through the analyses, it was estimated that the number of discarded two-wheelers in Myanmar in 2040 will be in the range of 742,000 to 1,784,000 units, which is 32–73 times more than in 2020. By conducting the techno-economic analysis, the policy implications in Myanmar were presented and then the uncertainty in estimating the number of obsolete two-wheelers was discussed based on the comparison of the case in Myanmar and Cambodia.

In Japan, efforts have been made to reduce CO₂ emissions by utilizing recycled parts of automobiles for more than 10 years, and an annual amount of reduction in CO₂ emission of approximately 130,000–140,000 tons per year has been estimated. This initiative has received a great deal of attention globally in the field of automobile recycling; however, we need to examine whether the strategy of utilizing recycled auto parts for CO₂ emission reduction can be applied overseas. In China, which has the largest number of vehicles in the world, the effect of reducing CO₂ emissions through the use of used automobile parts has not been investigated. However, based on the number of payments for non-life insurance accidents in China, we estimated the potential for reducing CO₂ emissions through the use of used automobile parts based on the number of traffic accidents in China, using current data from Japan, and obtained the result of 5952 t-CO₂/Y on average over 5 years. In addition, we collected information on the current situation of automobile recycling, administrative efforts, and policies and conducted a fact-finding survey and analysis of specific methods and issues regarding the introduction of Japanese-style CO₂ emission reduction programs in China.

Toward decarbonization, it is expected that hydrogenation and electrification will progress in the industrial sector, which accounts for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in Japan. Research on measures and scenarios related to decarbonization are underway, and there are few previous studies that quantitatively evaluate the trade-off relationship of the environmental load impact between CO₂ emission reduction and earth resource consumption which includes material consumption, land system change, atmospheric aerosol loading, and chemical pollution. In this study, a comprehensive framework for the evaluation of environmental load impact with footprint indicators is presented, considering the technical options for decarbonization from 2030 to 2050 in power generation. In the power generation process, there are some measures for decarbonization, including the utilization of renewable energy power generation. A special focus in this study is set on the future scenarios of energy and material requirements for the construction of renewable energy power plants and evaluating the direct and indirect environmental load required as footprint indicators with the material footprint, ecological footprint, carbon footprint, and chemical footprint, which is a new indicator estimating the environmental loads of chemical substances. The chemical footprint is the indicator defined as the occupation of a theoretical freshwater volume needed to dilute a chemical emission to the point where it causes no damage to the ecosystem. In this study, material and energy consumption, including chemical substances, are estimated according to future scenarios and the effects of chemical substances were mainly evaluated. As a result, there is a trade-off between an increase in ecological footprint and carbon footprint due to newly introduced steel resources and an increase in material footprint and chemical footprint due to copper resources as the composition ratio of offshore wind power generation increases. While promoting the decarbonization of power generation fuel for the purpose of directly reducing CO₂ emission, the introduction of base metal materials accompanying the construction of new renewable energy power generation facilities will increase the indirect environmental load. In the evaluation of technical options for the decarbonization of the power generation process for the future, a comprehensive and quantitative evaluation framework, including the evaluation of the environmental load associated with the use of chemical substances, is presented.

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is one of the agricultural residues which currently has not been widely utilized in terms of energy recovery. Studying the EFB energy recovery potential is a crucial step in supporting the development of sustainable and efficient use of bioresources. Thus, the proposal of this study is to determine the optimal location of the biomass power plant from oil palm empty fruit bunch by using the GIS (geographic information system) analysis technique. The main methodologies in this research include cluster analysis and suitability analysis. Geolocation of each palm oil mill and EFB availability data were used for cluster analysis to identify statistically significant spatial clusters of EFB in Southern Thailand. Electrical grids, roads, rivers, streams, residential areas, and elevations were the selected criteria for suitability analysis to show the appropriate location for biomass plants with respect to the clustering pattern, restricted areas, and suitability criteria. The results indicated that EFB concentrated in three provinces including Chumphon, Surat Thani, and Krabi with a 90% confidence level. Moreover, 27 palm oil mills matched the criteria, and the optimal location of biomass plants was found with a potential output of 17.13 MW, 24.24 MW, and 32.74 MV from the 5 km, 10 km, and 15 km range, respectively.

The primary source of food waste is all due to the ingredients’ defects, which consumers do not favor. There are three categories: poor visual appearance, damaged packaging, and expiration date food, which lead to unnecessary food waste. This research hopes to discuss the solution of suboptimal food reuse through the perspective of sustainable development and the problem of food waste. The method mainly adopts literature analysis, the KJ (Kawakita Jiro) method, and interviews. Through the department of design, students converged the reuse solution through the KJ method. Five concept samples with poor visual appearance, as well as four concept samples each for damaged packaging and expiration date food were extracted. After the evaluation of concept samples by scholars, some solutions were put forward, including the best solution for poor visual appearance is “reuse of pet vegetable biscuits,” the best solution for reuse of damaged packaging is “planning of reduced packaging promotion activities,” and the best solution for expiration date food reuse is the “planning and design of store commodity management platform.” In addition, after cross-comparison with the best solutions of the three categories through the critical summary of the interviews, they all correspond to each other. In terms of the overall design strategy for reusing suboptimal food, three main application strategies were summarized: (1) the application of the concept of sustainable circulation, (2) the consumer’s point of view as the center, and (3) thinking about the utilization of food materials. The results of this study can be used as a reference for designers to make relevant designs and also as a reference for industries and governments in formulating strategies for sustainable development goals in food projects. At the same time, it hopes to provide scholars engaged in sustainable design research with a foundation for subsequent studies to promote a sustainable food circle.

In recent years, organic farming has garnered much attention worldwide. In addition, with the increasing demand for induction heat (IH) cooking in Japan, the trends surrounding the consumption of vegetables are rapidly changing. In this study, we assessed the life cycle impacts of tomatoes in each consumption path, considering differences in the cultivation and cooking methods. We found that the cultivation stage had the largest impact on the tomato life cycle and the other stages were not negligible in all impact categories. It was also suggested that the marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential (MAETP) was the most influential area in the environmental impact of tomatoes from cultivation to consumption. In addition, MAETP was found to have a significant effect on the consumption path, including IH cooking. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was conducted at the cultivation and cooking stages where there was a large degree of uncertainty. As a result, it was found that cultivation affects abiotic depletion potential (ADP), ozone layer depletion potential (ODP), freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential (FAETP), and terrestrial ecotoxicity potential (TETP). Furthermore, for cooking, sensitivity analysis showed that increasing or decreasing the output by 10% in the consumption path including IH cooking changed the MAETP value by 6.1% at maximum. The effect on ODP was greater for gas cooking, resulting in a maximum increase or decrease of 8.3%.

Food products have unique characteristics among economic sectors. They include perishability, several special requirements for storage and transport, and the availability of soils with specific conditions to obtain high-quality crops. Moreover, because more consumers have become interested recently in the origin and sustainability of their food, product design must be done in consideration not only of the product itself but of its environmental effects and related services. Therefore, sustainable product and service design cannot be separated in the food supply system. In this context, one sustainability topic, which has received special attention from consumers, governments, and other stakeholders recently, is food loss and waste (FLW) measurement and management. A direct relation exists between FLW and the second Sustainable Development Goal “Zero hunger.” Structured studies on this topic are relevant to support social improvement. However, food chain stakeholders face several difficulties when adopting techniques and methods, such as a circular economy, when wanting to obtain sustainable profit from FLW. For that reason, a case study was conducted in Colombia as a mixed analysis of FLW and how to use food effectively to feed society better. Results show that the main obstacles to a Circular Food Economy are gaps between the requirements of consumers, training of farmers, and market design, uncertainty about where FLW occurs, and lack of efficient access to transportation. Key factors identified for adopting circular initiatives are tax reduction, governmental incentives, ICT adoption, and lack of interdisciplinary design of public policies. Also, even though regional food insecurity has increased because of COVID-19, huge amounts of new food products and services have been created as a result of the pandemic restrictions.

For sustainable metal use for the wide industrial sector, benefits and risks need to be managed from the view of life cycle thinking. Knowledge of the present mercury pollution state is significantly required for solution effectiveness assessment in future mercury control. Most previous research about mercury exposure focused on restricted areas. Research on the national or international scale remained as a minority. Disability-adjusted life years (DALY) was seldom used for heavy metal risk assessment before. DALY is capable of quantifying health impact in terms of mortality and morbidity as an endpoint and could be utilized in Life Cycle Impact Analysis. The main objectives of this research are (1) investigation of the average human exposure level to mercury in China and a comparison to Japan, (2) identification of the most important exposure routes to provide a reference for future Hg control, and (3) assessment of DALY for the population in both countries. We conducted a national scale risk assessment of total human exposure to mercury for the Chinese and Japanese populations. A database of concentration in soil, diet, and atmosphere was constructed by a systematic literature review. We evaluated the average exposure doses and health risks in Japan and China. As a result, the average total Hg exposure dose is 1.48 × 10⁻⁴ mg/(kg-BW × day) in Japan, 2.18 × 10⁻⁴ mg/(kg-BW × day) in normal areas in China, and 7.81 × 10⁻⁴ mg/(kg-BW × day) in the vicinity of mercury sources in China. The Chinese population is exposed to a higher mercury level compared to Japan. The most important exposure route for mercury exposure is identified as ingestion exposure in both countries. The general average DALY is 6.91 × 10⁻⁷ years per lifelong exposure, much lower than 6.63 × 10⁻⁶ years in normal areas in China, and 9.96 × 10⁻⁴ years in the vicinity of mercury sources in China. The average DALY for the vicinity of Hg sources in China exceeds the tolerable DALY level. The result of this research indicates the priority in controlling Hg pollution in highly polluted areas in China. DALY, as a health impact factor, could be utilized in future Life Cycle Impact Analysis.

In 2020, the surge in COVID-19 cases led to a self-imposed lockdown on Japanese citizens. This reduced job opportunities, while forcing others to work remotely from home. Households with low incomes, such as those living on part-time jobs and pensions, are among the most vulnerable to these changes. College students belong to this category of households, as the majority live on minimum hourly-paid jobs, while paying for daily life expenses. To explore the effects of the lockdowns on this household category, we investigated 218 independent college student households in a survey on their attitudes and practices toward energy use during the COVID-19 lockdowns, as well as other effects on daily lives. The results reveal that 93.1% of the respondents were affected by the lockdowns in one way or another, while 68.8% of the respondents reported an increase in their energy consumption inside the household.

Individual purchasing behavior has substantial impact on the environment and our society. To encourage sustainable consumption, this paper explores the application of clustering analysis techniques for modelling customer preference for sustainability information. This study has analyzed sales data provided by a furniture company that covers a one-year period and 7602 customer accounts. The analysis focused on the purchases of office chairs. Clustering analysis was applied to build preference models of the customers. This study has identified 3 typical customer behavior signatures w.r.t. the sustainability categories used in a sustainability index. We have shown how these models can be used to predict new customers’ sustainability preferences. The stability of the proposed solutions has been studied by comparing the preference models generated on different product groups. The results can provide insights for designing sustainability communication strategies to attract potential customers.

High quality, accessible data is critical for intelligent sustainable manufacturing and live data related to the product use stage enables informed real-time decision making. Existing smartphone use stage data collection tools lack a focus on sustainability, convenience, and personalized feedback to the user. This study presents the design of a custom Android app which can collect battery usage, power consumption, and emissions data from personal electronic devices to influence sustainable product use as well as improve designs of future iterations of the product. Initial tests of the app demonstrate the ability to integrate the desired capabilities into a single platform by gathering data relevant to data-driven sustainable manufacturing and displaying it to users in real time. Future work to improve the app for versatality and other platforms are also discussed.

Car sharing services are effective at decreasing the number of privately owned cars in a region while satisfying citizens’ convenience. In this paper, we aim to develop a method for estimating the environmental impact change due to the diffusion of car sharing in the future. For this purpose, we assume two scenarios for comparison, i.e., business-as-usual (BaU) scenario and car sharing diffusion scenario. To allow for scenario analysis, we develop a model by combining a binomial logit model and life cycle assessment (LCA). In a case study of Bangkok, results revealed that the number of car sales and CO₂ emissions in the car sharing diffusion scenario in 2030 were 20.6% and 18.9% lower than the BaU scenario, respectively. The sensitively analysis result showed that increasing the initial cost of private cars and shortening the travel time to the parking spot for car sharing were significant for car sharing diffusion.

In this study, an HIA (Heath impact assessment) model is developed to study the health and economic impacts of the electrification of public transport in Delhi. Health impact functions are obtained from C-R (concentration-response) models developed on the basis of relative risk studies and other epidemiological research. Baseline data on the economic values of health impacts is obtained from the available studies. The intervention scenario is based on powering all DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses by battery. The model results revealed a significant reduction of emission and related health and economic benefits. The expected reduction in annual mortality is estimated at 793 cases, which will be equivalent to annual savings of USD 515 M (million) as well as 0.491 million tons of reduction in CO₂ emissions.

The transportation system in Vietnam is based mainly on motorcycles, with few passenger vehicles and little public transportation. In addition, ride-sharing services for motorcycles are popular in Vietnam. To reduce the environmental load in Vietnam, changes in the transportation system should be analyzed. In this study, we evaluated the environmental load of the Vietnamese transportation system in various scenarios by using a lifecycle simulation. The main changes in the transportation system were in the electricity mix, the mode of transportation, and the ride-sharing diffusion rate. The results show that it is necessary to not only increase the use of electric motorcycles but also to change the power mix and develop manufacturing technology.