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Sustainable Development of Building Process Cycle on the Environment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 12423

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Czestochowa University of Technology, Faculty of Management, ul. Dabrowskiego 69, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Interests: sustainability; production engineering; quality engineering; service quality; customer's perception; e-commerce; surveys; metallurgy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We produce more and more new and better products. We use a variety of materials for their products, often without realizing that many of them may soon disappear from the earth. Customers buy these products, often because they want only to have the latest model, and after the use throw them away, without thinking about the consequences of such action. All this affects the state of the environment itself, but also the amount of the available resources. Many of these resources are not renewable, and others, despite the possibility of renewal, are unable to renew due to the speed of their use.

The problem of scarcity has been discussed for many years. It can be defined as the basic economic problem of people having limited resources with a simultaneous increase in demand for individual goods. This means that society does not have enough productive resources to meet all its needs (Begg et al., 2007; Ingaldi et al., 2016). It should be remembered that the problem of scarcity is not only about materials that we needed for production, but in many countries there is a shortage of basic materials needed to live such as water, food, medicines (Porkka et al., 2016).

To counteract the phenomenon of scarcity, various actions are carried out, various types of regulations are introduced. One example is sustainable development and under this concept Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as Global Goals. They are a set of 17 goals under a universal agreement to end poverty, protect everything that makes the planet habitable, and give everyone peace and prosperity in the future (Morton et al., 2017). They were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, are part of UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda (Global Goals | Policy and advocacy). Their basis is not only an action plan for people, the planet and well-being, which aims to eliminate poverty and hunger, but also to combat inequalities within and between countries, build world peace, protect human rights and promote gender equality, empowerment of women, ensure the sustainability of our planet and its natural resources (Boto-Álvare and García-Fernández, 2020). The task of modern enterprises is Management of Manufacturing which is based on Sustainability Goals in their production processes.

Circular economy is an instrument that supports the sustainable development. It can be defined as economic system which replaces the concept of ‘end-of-life’ with reducing, alternatively reusing, recycling materials in production/distribution and consumption processes (Kirchherr et al., 2018). It allows for the rational use of resources and reduction of the negative environmental impact of manufactured products, which, like the materials used for their production, should remain in the economy as long as possible, and waste generation should be minimized as much as possible. In such cases semi-closed loop or closed loop production systems can be used (Huang et al., 2013).

The aim of this Special Issue is present, how management of manufacturing in modern enterprises that use the principles of Sustainability Goals and Circular Economy in their activities, should look like. The present Call for Papers encourages submissions (original research articles, case studies, reviews and critical perspectives) about various solutions used in enterprises, based on the presented assumptions. 

Dr. Manuela Ingaldi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • circular economy
  • close-loop system
  • management of manufacturing
  • manufacturing engineering
  • scarcity
  • sustainability
  • sustainability goals

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 5232 KiB  
Article
Innovative Approaches to Model Visualization for Integrated Management Systems
by Alena Pauliková, Katarína Lestyánszka Škůrková, Lucia Kopilčáková, Antoaneta Zhelyazkova-Stoyanova and Damyan Kirechev
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8812; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168812 - 6 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3359
Abstract
With a growing number of standards and their related requirements for manufacturers and/or service providers, there is a need to simplify their application process. The aim of this article is to propose a simplified implementation of multiple management system standards (MSSs) through visualization [...] Read more.
With a growing number of standards and their related requirements for manufacturers and/or service providers, there is a need to simplify their application process. The aim of this article is to propose a simplified implementation of multiple management system standards (MSSs) through visualization management. Results of visualization provide a perspective of interrelatedness of requirements of MSSs, and how they fit in the overall context. The three standards used in this project, defined as a complex triplet of integrated management systems (IMSs), are: Quality (QMS), Environment (EMS) and Event Sustainability (ESMS) Management Standards. Visualization is developed by creating clusters using a program intended for creating small world networks. This step is preceded by the creation of a database in a spreadsheet format for data mining, where the requirements are divided into specific and common ones. The main emphasis will be on facilitating the assessment of synergies. The resulting visualized composed cluster model of selected areas includes the clauses. It is possible to further extend the model by adding other standards, depending on needs of interested parties. In essence, the model is a part of visual process, and it simplifies, speeds up and clarifies managerial decision-making processes related to the implementation of the MSSs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Building Process Cycle on the Environment)
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21 pages, 718 KiB  
Article
Circular Economy Business Models in the SME Sector
by Katarzyna Brendzel-Skowera
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7059; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137059 - 23 Jun 2021
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5488
Abstract
The article focuses on a bottom-up approach to implementing the concept of circular economy. All enterprises, not only the most aware ones, face the challenges of this economy. The modification of business models towards circular economy becomes a necessity. However, questions arise as [...] Read more.
The article focuses on a bottom-up approach to implementing the concept of circular economy. All enterprises, not only the most aware ones, face the challenges of this economy. The modification of business models towards circular economy becomes a necessity. However, questions arise as to whether the use of circular economy business models is widely practiced and how enterprises are coping with the implementation of these models. This article presents the results of research aimed at assessing the organizational maturity of enterprises in terms of implementing the principles of circular economy. Based on the concept of organizational maturity levels of the CMMI model, the classification of circular business models according to R2Pi and the integrated business model (the so-called business model canvas), the maturity index of the circular economy business model is constructed. The results obtained do not allow one to formulate very optimistic conclusions. First of all, a competency gap in the field of circular business models is identified, which translates into a limited application of these models in practice. The most frequently implemented models are: circular raw materials, recovery of raw materials, modification and repair. Most enterprises tend to undertake activities that are characteristic of circular economy. Furthermore, the importance of these activities increases with the age of the enterprise. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Building Process Cycle on the Environment)
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16 pages, 6802 KiB  
Article
The Management of Polymer and Biodegradable Composite Waste in Relation to Petroleum-Based Thermoplastic Polymer Waste—In Terms of Energy Consumption and Processability
by Tomasz Stachowiak and Katarzyna Łukasik
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3701; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073701 - 26 Mar 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2631
Abstract
The article presents a comparative analysis of the flow and utilisation of biodegradable polymer waste in relation to the waste of petroleum-based thermoplastic polymers. It compares energy expenditures and the costs of the reutilisation of both types of plastics in industrial applications. The [...] Read more.
The article presents a comparative analysis of the flow and utilisation of biodegradable polymer waste in relation to the waste of petroleum-based thermoplastic polymers. It compares energy expenditures and the costs of the reutilisation of both types of plastics in industrial applications. The performed studies and an analysis of the yielded results enabled the acquisition of real data involving the subject of managing petroleum-based plastic waste after the end of its life cycle, as well as biodegradable plastic waste, over the recent years, which is the main purpose of the study. So far, this subject has not been analysed very frequently, and, considering climate change, the predatory economy and the growing population of our planet, it is becoming an important topic, within the scope of which it is necessary to develop a new approach and new solutions regarding legal regulations and social awareness, as well as the technological possibilities of their implementation. The authors’ own research will indicate factual results related to managing various types of waste, based on the example of data acquired from a company involved in the retreatment of plastics and give answers to bothering questions such as: Is there an impact of retreatment on technological indicators defined by means of the mass flow rate? Is the retreatment of biodegradable plastics justified in terms of economy, energy and ecology? Is the retreatment of biodegradable plastics efficient? Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Building Process Cycle on the Environment)
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