Search Results (16)

Food and beverage products globally have experienced significant growth in line with increasing consumer demand, especially among Muslim consumers. However, the lack of robust halal governance frameworks and the deliberate adulteration of halal food products with non-halal ingredients have raised concerns among Muslim consumers. This study aimed to investigate the triggering variables that impact the intention to purchase eco-friendly halal food, particularly among college students in Medan, Indonesia. Surveys and interviews were used to collect data on college students’ awareness, perceived costs of products, availability of alternative options, peer influence, cultural beliefs, and personal preferences. The findings revealed a general understanding of halal food but a lack of understanding of halal requirements. Peer groups, cultural beliefs, and personal preferences affected college students’ willingness to buy. The inconsistencies in the findings were related to the influence of students’ understanding of halal products when intending to buy eco-friendly halal products. This study proposes strategies to positively influence consumer behavior, particularly among college students in Medan, Indonesia, regarding halal food, which ultimately encourages its consumption and fosters a more informed and culturally diverse campus community. Full article

Concerns about environmental protection and sustainable consumption increased among Generation Z, as a consequence of more perceived risks emerging in the context of climate change and depletion of natural resources. The aim of the present research was to identify the main factors that influence the intention to purchase eco-products among the young generation. Quantitative marketing research was carried out on a sample of 269 Gen Z. The research results proved that purchasing intention for eco-products is strongly influenced by the perceived quality of environmentally friendly products, consumer consciousness about eco-products, perceived value of green products, and consumer trust in ecological products. Lower influences were recorded in terms of perceived price and perceived availability of eco-products, with improved total effects when considering the mediating role of eco-trust. Consequently, the provision of eco-products could lead to image benefits for organizations. Full article

The relationship between environmental awareness and actionable change is complex. While extensive literature examines the links between green ideology and eco-friendly behavior, few studies focus on how green ideology influences transportation choices and the built environment. This study investigates the relationship between environmental awareness and walking behavior, addressing three research questions aimed at: identifying socio-demographic characteristics linked to a high level of environmental awareness; exploring how environmental awareness affects perceptions of walkability; and determining whether individuals committed to community environmentalism are more likely to walk to the grocery store. The findings reveal that higher income is associated with considerations of local air quality, noise, and the importance of positive environmental transportation choices. Car ownership negatively impacts the willingness to adjust routes or travel time to minimize environmental impact. Environmentally aware individuals perceive the grocery store as closer, feel safer walking, view sidewalks as more available and in a better condition, and notice more tree shading. Those who consider air quality and noise levels in their walking decisions are more likely to notice tree shading. Individuals committed to community environmentalism are significantly more likely to walk to the grocery store, underscoring the crucial role of environmental values in shaping transportation behaviors and walkability perceptions. Full article

Scrap steel represents a sustainable and recyclable resource, instrumental in diminishing carbon footprints and facilitating the eco-friendly evolution of the steel sector. However, current scrap steel recycling faces a series of challenges, such as high labor intensity and occupational risks for inspectors, complex and diverse sources of scrap steel, varying types of materials, and difficulties in quantifying and standardizing manual visual inspection and rating. Specifically, we propose WaveSegNet, which is based on wavelet transform and a multiscale focusing structure for scrap steel segmentation. Firstly, we utilize wavelet transform to process images and extract features at different frequencies to capture details and structural information in the images. Secondly, we introduce a mechanism of multiscale focusing to further enhance the accuracy of segmentation by extracting and perceiving features at different scales. Through experiments conducted on the public Cityscapes dataset and scrap steel datasets, we have found that WaveSegNet consistently demonstrates superior performance, achieving the highest scores on the mIoU metric. Particularly notable is its performance on the real-world scrap steel dataset, where it outperforms other segmentation algorithms with an average increase of 3.98% in mIoU(SS), reaching 69.8%, and a significant boost of nearly 5.98% in mIoU(MS), achieving 74.8%. These results underscore WaveSegNet’s exceptional capabilities in processing scrap steel images. Additionally, on the publicly available Cityscapes dataset, WaveSegNet shows notable performance enhancements compared with the next best model, Segformer. Moreover, with its modest parameters and computational demands (34.1 M and 322 GFLOPs), WaveSegNet proves to be an ideal choice for resource-constrained environments, demonstrating high computational efficiency and broad applicability. These experimental results attest to the immense potential of WaveSegNet in intelligent scrap steel rating and provide a new solution for the scrap steel recycling industry. These experimental results attest to the immense potential of WaveSegNet in intelligent scrap steel rating and provide a new solution for the scrap steel recycling industry. Full article

Promoting sustainable choices requires making food with proper environmental performance readily available to consumers, but these products must be appealing to ensure market success. The aim of the present study was to investigate the acceptability and perception of an eco-designed product using a home-use-test approach to identify its desired extrinsic features and to better understand how consumers would use the product in a real consumption context. First, three focus groups were conducted to identify the key perceived aspects of the product. A consumer survey was designed with the information gathered from the focus groups, and a home-use-test was then performed (n = 207). Results showed high acceptance of the product, as well as its potential corrections, e.g., to thicken the texture of the sauce. A total of 64% of consumers expressed their willingness to switch from a well-known brand to the new developed product, and this hypothetical shift could lead up to a 58% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with the product use. Understanding consumer expectations at every design stage helps the development of market-viable and sustainable products, and the present research proposes an interesting methodology that can be effectively applied during the final stages of eco-designed food development. Full article

Chiroptera are one of the most diverse mammal orders. They are considered reservoirs of main human pathogens, where coronaviruses (CoVs) and paramyxoviruses (PMVs) may be highlighted. Moreover, the growing number of publications on CoVs and PMVs in wildlife reinforces the scientific community’s interest in eco-vigilance, especially because of the emergence of important human pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2 and Nipha viruses. Considering that Brazil presents continental dimensions, is biologically rich containing one of the most diverse continental biotas and presents a rich biodiversity of animals classified in the order Chiroptera, the mapping of CoV and PMV genetics related to human pathogens is important and the aim of the present work. CoVs can be classified into four genera: Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Deltacoronavirus and Gammacoronavirus. Delta- and gammacoronaviruses infect mainly birds, while alpha- and betacoronaviruses contain important animal and human pathogens. Almost 60% of alpha- and betacoronaviruses are related to bats, which are considered natural hosts of these viral genera members. The studies on CoV presence in bats from Brazil have mainly assayed phyllostomid, molossid and vespertilionid bats in the South, Southeast and North territories. Despite Brazil not hosting rhinophilid or pteropodid bats, which are natural reservoirs of SARS-related CoVs and henipaviruses, respectively, CoVs and PMVs reported in Brazilian bats are genetically closely related to some human pathogens. Most works performed with Brazilian bats reported alpha-CoVs that were closely related to other bat-CoVs, despite a few reports of beta-CoVs grouped in the Merbecovirus and Embecovirus subgenera. The family Paramyxoviridae includes four subfamilies (Avulavirinae, Metaparamyxovirinae, Orthoparamyxovirinae and Rubulavirinae), and bats are significant drivers of PMV cross-species viral transmission. Additionally, the studies that have evaluated PMV presence in Brazilian bats have mainly found sequences classified in the Jeilongvirus and Morbillivirus genera that belong to the Orthoparamyxovirinae subfamily. Despite the increasing amount of research on Brazilian bats, studies analyzing these samples are still scarce. When surveying the representativeness of the CoVs and PMVs found and the available genomic sequences, it can be perceived that there may be gaps in the knowledge. The continuous monitoring of viral sequences that are closely related to human pathogens may be helpful in mapping and predicting future hotspots in the emergence of zoonotic agents. Full article

Understanding how occupants behave and interact with building systems is vital to energy efficiency in buildings. The building occupants’ behaviours are complex and influenced by diverse factors. A deep understanding of the underlying environmental, contextual, social, and psychological factors is the first step of many in establishing the relationship between the indoor environment and occupants’ behaviours. The current study investigates the influence of occupants’ perceived indoor environmental comfort, the availability of control, and the social-psychological impacts on occupant behaviours in a New Zealand context. The data were collected through online surveys, and 99 office occupants responded. A machine learning technique was applied to identify the critical factors influencing the decision-making of occupant behaviours. Of the occupant behaviours considered in the study, adjusting windows, doors, shades and blinds, and drinking beverages were mostly practised (>70%) while adjusting lighting, personal fans, thermostats/heaters, and computers (40–70%) was moderately practised by occupants. The availability of specific user controls was the main predictor of most occupant behaviours, followed by social-psychological factors such as actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, behavioural interventions, subjective norms, organisational support, personal norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioural control. The indoor environmental parameters such as indoor temperature, indoor air quality, natural light, and inside noise were highlighted as most influential in decision-making for occupant behaviours. Additionally, the demographic factors: gender, work duration, days at work, and permanence/temporariness of workspace, were also impactful. Knowing the complexity of occupants’ decision-making with respect to their behaviours helps building managers use this sensitive information to enhance building energy performance and enable more energy feedback to the occupants to raise their awareness. Such information is helpful for creating an intelligent environmental control system loop with eco-feedback and establishing occupant-centric buildings or features. Full article

The promotion of sustainable consumption plays an extremely important role in Vietnam’s National Green Growth Strategy. However, despite an increase in concerns about environmental issues, eco-friendly buying behaviors in general and organic food consumption in particular are still unpopular among Vietnamese consumers, leading to a question about the importance of situational factors, which this article focuses on. Based on attitudes; subjective norms; perceived norms, which are mentioned in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and consumer choice theory; and social norms from social categorization theory, the research created a questionnaire and then sent it to respondents who were in charge of buying food for their family in Hanoi. Then, 423 of the 570 responses received were used to create the structural equation model (SEM) with four distinct stages in AMOS statistical software, which evidences the crucial role of situational factors. Subjective norms and social norms have the highest positive impact on organic food purchase among households in Hanoi. Moreover, households’ organic food purchase is also positively affected by perceived behavior control and the availability of products but negatively affected by the price of products, which strongly fits with TPB, social categorization theory, and other studies. In particular, there is no evidence about relationships between knowledge of or attitude toward organic food and family income and organic food purchase among households in Hanoi. In addition, age and education status do not have any impact on respondents’ behavior in organic food purchase in this city. Finally, the authors propose some suggestions to promote organic food consumption among households in Hanoi. First is that businesses specializing in the production and supply of organic products should focus on customer care activities, innovate business models, and advertise to attract customers to use organic products. Second is that the government should issue regulations to encourage businesses to invest in the research and production of organic products as well as implement strict regulations to penalize violations in the production and supply of organic products. Full article

Hammams are key providers of affordable hygiene and wellbeing services for the less wealthy in the Maghreb region. However, the UN climate change conference COP22, held in Marrakech in 2016, highlighted hammams are major contributors to air pollution, deforestation, loss of ecosystems, water overconsumption and wastage in Morocco. This paper analyses the complexity of advancing their energy transition from the viewpoint of key stakeholders engaged in two half-day virtual forums focusing on the water–energy nexus; organised as part of the AHRC funded project “Eco-Hammam: engaging key stakeholders with bespoke low-carbon technologies for lighting, heating, and water recycling to sustain a Moroccan heritage”. Results reveal that the Moroccan hammam sector could benefit greatly from stakeholders’ networking and collaboration to accelerate the uptake of low-carbon technologies and ecological practices. Key stakeholders’ priorities and barriers (economic, policy-induced or governance related) are presented and show that the lack of coordination between governmental and non-governmental organisations is perceived as contributing to the slow pace of the hammam energy transition. Although managers seem fully aware of available energy transition technologies for their furnaces, energy and water are treated independently and disconnected in their governance. Finally, Marrakech is identified as a potential hammam sustainability hub. Full article

Stringent emission regulations and increased demand for improved fuel economy have called for advanced turbo technologies in automotive engines. The use of turbochargers on smaller engines is one such concept, but they are limited by a time delay in reaching the required boost during transient operation. The amount of turbocharger lag plays a key role in the driver’s perceived quality of a passenger vehicle’s engine response. This paper investigates an alternative method to the conventional design of a turbocharger turbine to improve the transient response of a passenger vehicle. The investigation utilises the Ford Eco-Boost 1.6 L petrol engine, an established production engine, equipped with a turbocharger of similar performance to the GT1548 produced by Honeywell. The commercially available Ricardo WAVE was used to model the engine. Comparing the steady-state performance showed that the axial turbine provides higher efficiencies at all operating conditions of an engine. The transient case demonstrated an improved transient response at all operating conditions of the engine. The study concluded that, by designing a similar sized axial turbine, the mass moment of inertia can be reduced by 12.64% and transient response can be improved on average by 11.76%, with a maximum of 21.05% improvement. This study provides encouragement for the wider application of this turbine type to vehicles operating on dynamic driving cycles such as passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, and certain off-road applications. Full article

Sustainability in the automotive sector and appropriate end-of-life (EOL) management options for car tyres are important and constitute global issues. There is currently an oversupply of EOL tyres and the potential of circular economy (CE) tyres and for bio-based (BB) tyres warrants further investigation. Likewise, BB and CE tyres might be an interesting approach to improve the overall sustainability of the tyre life cycle. Research on drivers for the acceptance of CE and BB tyres is currently missing. In 1989, a socio-economy model was created to understand the acceptance of various products. This model is still popular in many areas but does not address sustainability questions of the 21st century appropriately. This article aims to provide a better understanding of the factors which drive acceptance of sustainable tyres. It presents an acceptance model and related influence factors in three areas: variables related to the consumers, perceived product characteristics and stimulating moderator variables. The third aspect refers in particular to labels and certification influencing consumer views on existing product characteristics. This article ends by discussing how availability of such labels could be promoted through eco-labelling of tyres and related standardization, addressing the industry and policy makers to make the automotive sector more sustainable. Full article

In recent years, the public debate on the health and sustainability of palm oil and its use by food industries has strongly influenced consumer choices. Consequently, palm oil-free products have asserted their image as healthier and more sustainable food products. The current paper contributes to the extant knowledge on consumers’ perception of palm oil, particularly concerning preferences for food products carrying a “palm oil-free” label on their packaging. A web survey with a sample of 291 individuals was performed. Determinants of consumers’ preferences towards the “palm oil-free” label were estimated with an ordered logistic model using as the dependent variable the purchasing frequency of palm oil-free foods and a set of independent variables. Results show that respondents generally prefer palm oil-free products, perceiving these products as healthier or eco-friendly. Furthermore, individuals are strongly influenced by the available information on these foods that may guide their choices for palm oil-free foods, which may be perceived as cleaner. Findings also highlight the low degree of information on this ingredient, underlining the need for public information and communication campaigns through different media, in order to emphasize that no scientifically proven negative health effect is currently attributed to palm oil consumption. Full article

With the development of the Internet, many brand name manufacturers including Apple, Lenovo, and Canon offer remanufactured products through their official website. Confronting the competition from remanufactured products that are available from the manufactured-owned channel, more and more retailers have recognized that customer service level is one of the most important performance metrics and have aggressively attempted to obtain larger market shares by providing high levels of post-sale services. Although numerous researchers have studied various competitive strategies in remanufacturing, to the best of our knowledge, there is little research highlighting whether and how economic performance and sustainability issues related to remanufacturing operations are affected by the retailer’s service levels. In this paper, we fill this gap by developing two models for the closed-loop supply chain where all remanufactured products are available from the manufactured-owned channel, while the equilibrium behavior of the retailer can be characterized under two possible scenarios: (1) Confronting the cannibalization from direct channels where the retailer only responds on prices (i.e., Model P); or (2) on providing competitive prices and high service levels for new products (i.e., Model S). Our analysis suggests that, from managers’ perspective, if the manufacturers care more about economic benefits, encouraging the retailer to provide higher levels of post-sale services is a beneficial strategy. If they are more concerned with environmental performance, Model P is preferred. However, from the angle of environmental groups and agencies, if the level of eco-centrism is too pronounced, though Model S has a greater profitability for both parties, a more significant welfare loss due to environmental hazard is perceived by the society. As a result, besides avoiding indulging in overproducing on new products, environmental groups and agencies should take emissions trading or taxation into consideration to stimulate remanufacturing operations. Full article

Intense fishing pressure has been depleting marine resources worldwide. At a time when almost a third of world stocks are overexploited, the demand for fish and seafood is growing both due to the increasing world population and to rising per capita consumption. Over the past few decades, the demand for fish products has in turn grown considerably in Italy, although concern about sustainable fisheries here is not perceived as keenly as in Northern European countries, where certified fish and seafood products coming from sustainable fisheries are widely available. In this study, 248 fish and seafood products sold by a major Italian retailer were evaluated in terms of geographic origin, gear used, species conservation status, and stock status to gain information in view of the introduction of sustainable fishery products in Italy’s outlets. A literature review illustrated that most species came from some of the most intensely exploited fishing grounds in the world, where they are usually caught by trawls. The results highlighted the importance of supplying seafood products coming from sustainable sources and fisheries through the adoption of eco-labels and certification schemes. Finally, the present study stresses the urgency to promote more responsible fish and seafood consumption in Italy. Full article

Use of fertilizers has enabled a massive increase in crop production yields. However, this has come with severe negative externalities (e.g., greenhouse gas emission; eutrophication of non-agricultural ecosystems). Eco-innovations are one option to reduce the environmental impact of fertilizers without compromising fertilizer productivity. Although numerous eco-innovations in the domain of fertilizers are available, they have not yet seen a sufficient adoption rate. In this paper we explore main drivers for adoption of eco-innovations in the German fertilizer supply chain based on empirical investigations at three levels of the fertilizer supply chain: producers, traders, and farmers. We strive to take a “chain perspective” on environmental concerns and knowledge of fertilizer specific eco-innovations. The study was carried out in two steps: initially we conducted exploratory expert interviews with eight actors of the fertilizer supply chain. The statements generated thereby fed into a questionnaire answered by 57 participants stemming from fertilizer production (n = 12), traders (n = 34) and farmers (n = 11) level. Findings suggest that drivers for eco-innovations are perceived differently by the various actors in the fertilizer supply chain. Overall knowledge on eco-innovations decreases downstream the chain. By taking a chain perspective on the adoption of eco-innovation, our paper contributes to the emerging body of literature on drivers for eco-innovation, and also maps out managerial implications of fostering the implementation of eco-innovations in the fertilizer supply chain. Full article