EcoDesign for Circular Value Creation: Volume II

Vietnam’s extensive eastern coastline exposes it to frequent hydro-meteorological hazards, including severe storms, cyclones, floods, landslides, and coastal erosion. Central Vietnam’s Thua Thien Hue Province is especially vulnerable. Climate change is expected to intensify typhoons and alter rainfall patterns, making effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) education imperative. However, minimal literature is currently available to describe the status of climate change and DRR education in Vietnam and its related problems. Education is crucial to reducing disaster risks and addressing climate change, aligning with the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015–2030. This study offers insights into Vietnam’s current climate change and DRR education to enhance its effectiveness. The methodology includes analyzing government and research reports, meetings, interviews with school administrators and local governments, and reviewing new primary school textbooks for disaster risk and climate change content. This paper’s results emphasize the commendable efforts made by government schools and educational institutions in mitigating the risks associated with natural disasters. This study also highlights the significant improvements in Vietnam’s disaster management framework. Additionally, the research findings indicate that disaster risk is addressed in specific subjects such as Vietnamese, Nature and Society, History and Geography, Ethics, Sciences, and Experimental Activities, as well as the absence of climate change in the curriculum. The differences in disaster risk and climate change content between old and new textbooks were revealed. Shortages in drills, materials, and time for DRR and climate change education are challenges. Nevertheless, government and school support, as well as dedicated teachers, are crucial in promoting DRR education and climate change adaptation.

To mitigate the environmental impact of waste generated by fast-moving consumer goods, several reusable alternatives to single-use products have entered the market, gaining increasing popularity. It is crucial to ensure that these alternatives are reused frequently enough to compensate for their higher environmental footprint during production compared to single-use products. Drawing on prior research, we developed a range of practical tools and exercises to assist design students and professionals in developing reusable solutions that have a greater likelihood of long-term success. The tools were implemented within a 6-week sustainable design course, engaging 87 students, with the aim of evaluating the efficacy of the tools in enhancing the eco-design process and quality of outcomes in terms of long-term use. To assess this, we conducted a survey with the participating students after completion of the course. The results revealed that more than one-third of the designs were product–service systems designed to extend the product lifetime and tailored to specific types of users. The students expressed that they learned new ways of reasoning to design for sustainability. Additionally, from the teachers’ perspective, the students exhibited a deeper understanding of the particular context and challenges than students in the same course in the previous years. Building upon this initial exploration, our plans include expanding the user journey exercise to a ‘lifetime journey’, enabling exploration and comparison of various potential timelines. Moreover, we intend to evaluate the tools with design professionals, and with more specific predefined target groups and cases. Future research should also focus more on the nuance between habitual, routine and one-time usage of a product.

The global consumption trend is based on a waste-making culture that contributes to the excessive use of energy and resources. Governmental organisations are responsible for intervening in the system and reversing this trend. There is a need for interaction between the actors in the system to reject the waste-making culture and integrate sustainable practices into society. To this end, tool choice for promoting sustainable practice to facilitate this interaction is crucial in distributing knowledge and information efficiently. Considering the digitisation process that escalated with the pandemic, social media has become even more of an essential tool in ensuring this social interaction between individuals and organisations. This study aims to reveal sustainability narratives related to how sustainable practices in local culture can inform global consumption—to map out the value flow between individuals, the design process and related actors within the framework of these narratives and to examine how design can play a role in facilitating sustainable practices on a global scale. To this effect, this research examines the Zero Waste Life series on YouTube by NHK World—the international service of Japan’s public media organisation NHK. The opening sentence in each video refers to Japanese traditions emphasising the practice of product care and repair to extend product life and strengthen the user–product relationship. Focusing on cultural practice, it is aimed to reveal the possible contribution of sustainability narratives ingrained in Japanese culture for sustainable design, production and consumption on a global level. Through narrative analysis, the data is evaluated by framing the key actors of sustainable practice and examining their social, economic and environmental impact. The study concludes that local—Japanese—culture provides a valuable source of knowledge for developing new design strategies to promote sustainable practice. Governmental interventions that strive to raise sustainability awareness through introducing indigenous practices are not only beneficial for encouraging sustainable behaviours in society but also provide insights for designers to explore more sustainable ways of production that can inform sustainable consumption globally.

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan reports that most environmental education in Japan lacks substantial action. The interviews we conducted with primary school teachers also revealed that limited space, time, and teaching materials make it difficult for them to implement effective environmental education. To address these issues, this study aims to design a fermentation kit named NIKO (Nuka In Koji Out) and to explore its potential as a tool for promoting environmental education and awareness of non-human beings in daily life. This kit is designed to engage families with children in the process of making rice koji, a traditional Japanese fermented food, and encourages them to interact with invisible microorganisms and begin to think of themselves as part of the ecosystem. The prototype of the NIKO fermentation kit was based on the Design Research Through Practice methodology, which involves hypothesis from literature review and interviews, experiment, analysis, and evaluation. Before and after the workshop, as well as 1 month later, participants completed a questionnaire about their awareness and behavioral changes. Based on the survey results, the fermentation kit workshop was found to be a positive experience for participants, including children, who expressed a sense of joy in making something from scratch and an increased affection for the world of microbes. This research results suggest that the fermentation kit has the potential to provide an effective and engaging way to raise awareness of the importance of microorganisms in daily lives and to introduce environmental education to families with children in Japan.

The need for sustainable development has become increasingly important in the face of global challenges such as climate change, resource depletion and social inequality. Educating for sustainable development is crucial in promoting sustainable practices and lifestyles for a better future. This chapter examines how to educate for sustainable development by discussing key steps that can be taken to effectively incorporate sustainability education into the curriculum at all levels of education. In doing so, particular attention is given to the challenges of educating engineering students for sustainable development. There are five basic challenges that need to be considered. These are: (1) the lack of practical experience, (2) curriculum overload, (3) lack of soft skills, (4) low diversity, and (5) outdated teaching methods. This chapter will explain all of these challenges and give hints on how they could be solved. It also gives an insight into a practical module where experience was gained, and feasibility was tested. At the Department of Industrial Information Technology, a project module has been carried out annually for three years, which has been evaluated and improved several times regarding the mentioned challenges. The focus of the module was sustainable product development. Its strategy is based on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. For this purpose, a transdisciplinary project was developed that integrates several disciplines of the university as well as society through cooperation with an NGO for inclusion and individual education.

In this chapter, we conducted a card game based on the actual master plan of a local government in a high school class and investigated its effect. This game, based on the concept of futurability education, which refers to the ability to prioritize the future over immediate gains, aimed to promote sustainable decision-making. The game incorporated policies from the local government’s master plan, categorized into four categories. The students individually rated the policy priority and then made group decisions based on the assigned cost limitations. Subsequently, they repeated the process, considering the perspective of imaginary future generations. The game was conducted over 2 years with a total of over 600 students, and questionnaire was conducted 3 times, pre-class, post-class, and follow-ups, to assess its impact. Results showed a significant increase in students’ interest in environmental and social issues. This indicates that futurability education has the potential to arouse high school students’ interest in various contemporary social issues by enhancing their futurability and inspiring them to take action to solve them.

Context and problem: Fast-moving consumer goods are predominantly offered to consumers in single-use products and packaging. This results in the quick turnaround of goods and excessive amounts of waste sent to landfill, incinerated or recycled. For many products, consumers are now offered the choice to purchase and use reusable alternatives, helping to slow the speed of consumption and reduce waste. However, this potential is compromised if consumers continue to purchase single-use goods.Aim and method: Through conducting 13 in-depth interviews, this study explores what influences consumers to continue purchasing single-use products alongside reusable products or to revert back to them temporarily or permanently after reusing. In total 19 product cases were studied, covering beverage bottles, cups, coffee pods, food containers, hair wash, razors, toothbrushes, household cleaners and nappies.Results: Emerging from the interviews, 30 factors influencing the continued consumption of single-use products were identified and categorised according to constructs included in Fogg’s behaviour model, namely motivation, ability and prompt. Whilst most factors were found to emerge in the purchase and use stages of the consumer journey, others spanned all stages of the journey including disposal too. During purchase consumers decided to continue buying single-use products because they could get them closer to home. During use they found single-use products to be better suited to certain contexts, such as when they were travelling. Spanning purchase, use and disposal, they felt happy to continue buying single-use products because the market is evolving to offer more sustainable options.Conclusions and implications: The factors identified indicate that consumers do not necessarily exclusively replace single-use products with reusable ones and continue to buy the former for a wide range of reasons. This compromises the maximum potential for reuse to reduce overconsumption. The factors can be used to deploy interventions that encourage optimum reuse practices without the need for single-use products.

Food and nutrition security relies on the safe, affordable, and nutritious supply of fresh and processed foods to all individuals. Japan has set a national target to halve food loss and waste by 2030 compared to the year 2000. Various initiatives have been implemented to reduce the disposal of potentially edible food and make the food sector more resource efficient. These efforts include reintroducing potential food loss and waste from farms and production side-streams back into the food chain or repurposing them for other food sources. For instance, the utilization of food banks and the consideration of using upcycled foods print cartridges to utilize food loss and waste are being explored. To address these challenges and ensure the sustainability of the food supply chain, it is important to understand the flow of food and nutrition in Japan. Therefore, this study utilized material flow analysis to illustrate this flow and calculated the reuse rate of food loss required to compensate for nutritional deficiencies in Japan. By providing new insights into designing a sustainable food supply chain, this research contributes to the advancement of food and nutrition security and offers valuable suggestions.

With the rapid increase in global electric vehicle sales, there is a growing concern about the large quantities of first end-of-life batteries that will require treatment in the near future. However, one potential solution to this issue lies in the utilization of second-life batteries for less demanding applications. By repurposing lithium-ion batteries, their lifespan can be extended, resulting in both economic and environmental advantages. The household context is seen as a potentially huge market for second-life batteries. This study tries to better understand the current state of repurposing batteries for household applications, by investigating repurposers within the Norwegian context. Three research questions are posed: (1) How is the Norwegian market for second-life battery energy storage systems (SLB ESS) in the household context developing? (2) What barriers are perceived to exist for repurposing LiBs for the household context? and (3) What are the perspectives for a further upscaling of second-life energy storage solutions in the household context? Findings indicate that the market is growing, with several offerings available. Through the material analysed, several barriers have been identified especially concerning safety, first end of life battery sourcing and price reductions of new battery cells amongst others. Future perspectives for an upscaling of the SLB ESS market are discussed and a lack of user perspectives addressed within the current market development is indicated. Finally, a set of research priorities through the lens of design research are proposed.

The Annual sales of Japan’s used auto parts are approximately 100 billion yen. Reusing auto parts also significantly contribute to CO2 reduction in the automotive manufacturing industry. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a sharp increase in demand for used vehicles due to delays in delivering new vehicles. Demand for older used and end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) is increasing to compensate for the short supply of new vehicles. This situation poses a challenge to the used automobile parts industry. Specifically, because there is a shortage of ELV supply, the source of auto-used parts is necessary for production. On the other hand, the production rate of a Japanese used automobile parts company depends largely on the parts selection made subjectively by experience of skilled workers. As the current inventory-to-order ratio does not reflect the efficiency of this approach, we analyzed three years of Japan’s nationwide order, sales, and inventory and distribution from Japan’s largest automobile used parts industry network. The objective of this analysis is to identify parameters that may increase the utilization rate of used parts. By performing a supply–demand balance assessment, we found that more than 80% of the products of the top 10 annual order volume were below 50% inventory. We confirmed that the three key parameters to be considered when selecting parts for reuse that should be considered to increase utilization rate are: (1) data-informed selection of popular car models, (2) matching supply and demand information, and (3) improving the product inventory ratio.

Plastic’s unique properties are vital for a sustainable future, but its excessive global use signifies consumer society’s wastefulness, often found in short-lived products. Plastic development has overlooked recycling needs, resulting in low material recycling due to a wide array of plastic types with varying additives, leading to recycling challenges. Research focused on thermoplastics aims to reduce their diverse variants, increasing performance, and specific properties. This approach, including colored plastics, offers several advantages, such as improved logistics, higher recyclable plastic volumes, and increased recycling value, yielding environmental and economic benefits. A study involving 63 individuals in Sweden’s plastics industry revealed that reducing thermoplastics would benefit recyclers by providing larger volumes of consistent, high-quality recycled plastics at lower costs. This would enhance recycling quality, collection, and sorting. To achieve this, producers and consumers must accept the quality of recycled thermoplastics, supplemented by new laws and standards to unlock the environmental and economic potential of reducing thermoplastic variants within the plastics industry.

Within worldwide attempts to implement and foster sustainable development, recent efforts to benefit from frugal innovations in the context of developed nations are gaining momentum. However, currently the majority of attempts in this direction are based on what is referred to as reverse innovation, that is, taking ultra-low-cost innovations that originated in developing nations and transferring them to, as well as diffusing them successfully in, developed countries. These strategies are pursued mostly by multinational corporations. Hence, those efforts are mostly considered under, as well as driven by, market- and business-oriented policies. Further academic studies are necessary to advance insight into and understanding of reverse innovation. In particular, it is necessary to gain sufficient knowledge and insight to support the creation of frameworks and methods which permit the systematic development of reverse innovation. To address some of these shortcomings, in this chapter, a novel framework and approach are presented. The aim is to facilitate a better understanding of the various facets of reverse innovation, while also enabling the formation of knowledge that is required to systematically adapt and transfer effective frugal solutions to the actual productive resolution of problems in the context of developed nations.

In this chapter, the authors present the methodology for an environmental cost-to-benefit assessment. It will outline the life cycle based assessment of the sensors and controllers as well as IT infrastructure. Different scenario calculations show the environmental impact and the saving potential of two Smart City applications regarding street lighting and waste management.

Balancing indoor comfort with ventilation is challenging in detached houses. This study conducted a sensitivity analysis between thermal insulation (Ua) and airtightness (C). The results show that an air exchange rate of 30 m3/h per person keeps indoor CO2 concentration below 1000 ppm, which indicates good air exchange. This study also found that the cooling system in summer primarily accounts for energy consumption to maintain a comfortable indoor environment.

In recent years, renewable energy use has been increasing due to its pivotal role in mitigating the adverse effects of global warming. In particular, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has begun requiring the installation of photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems in newly constructed houses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Tokyo by 50% by 2030, relative to the emissions recorded in 2000. Nonetheless, the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources such as PV power generation can result in discrepancies between electricity supply and demand, especially during consumer load fluctuations. Additionally, the increasing number of hot summer days has led to air conditioning significantly contributing to energy consumption. According to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, air conditioning accounts for approximately 57% of summer electricity consumption at 2 p.m. Therefore, energy savings in air conditioning will lead to lower electricity costs and environmental impact. However, considering the potential health risks associated with excessive energy conservation in air conditioning is crucial. To address these concerns, increasing renewable energy use can reduce health risks such as heatstroke. However, regardless of the introduction of PV power generation, electricity prices are rapidly increasing, and there is a growing trend toward lowering electricity consumption. Therefore, this study proposes the introduction of a hydrocarbon refrigerant (GF-08) and conducts a system analysis that considers the thermal environment in a residential setting. GF-08, a mixture of propane and propylene in a 1:1 volume ratio, has been reported to consume 28% less electricity than the conventional refrigerant R410A when used for cooling. The originality of this study is that, in addition to the environmental impact assessment pertaining to the cost of electricity consumption, heatstroke risk and other health hazards are also incorporated as indicators. This was achieved by combining PV power generation, an uncertain energy supply, energy use, and air conditioning while considering the hot thermal environment. Empirical data and computational methods, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, were utilized. This study assumed a typical four-person family and evaluated the cost and environmental performances based on the differences in cooling usage methods and equipment throughout sleep. A CFD model estimated the hot and humid environment.

In recent years, the introduction of renewable energies, especially solar power, has been promoted worldwide for the purpose of decarbonization in order to solve the climate change problem. However, it has also been pointed out that solar power plants will emit a large amount of waste such as panels and modules in the future, as their 30-year lifespan will lead to their disposal in the future. In addition, there are monocrystalline silicon (Si) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) type solar panels, both of which use chemicals and need to be disposed of properly. Against this background, it is predicted that there may be a trade-off whereby technologies and products introduced for the purpose of low-carbon emissions result in increased waste emissions. In particular, the Japanese government has set ambitious renewable energy adoption targets, and the introduction of solar power plants in the future could cause environmental problems.This study therefore analyzes how much greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are mitigated and how much chemical emissions are increased over the life cycle of photovoltaic (PV) plants, which are being promoted for installation in Japan, compared to existing coal-fired power plants. The life cycle of PV was assumed to be a case of manufacturing in China, marine transport by ship, operation and management (O&M) in Japan and then recycling in Japan. In order to quantitatively compare and evaluate the impact of emitted GHGs and chemicals, their impacts were converted to disability-adjusted life years (DALY), the human health impact, using the life cycle assessment methodology. In short, this study proposes a method to quantitatively and comparatively assess the risk of waste emissions that may occur as a trade-off for the implementation of low-carbon technologies in response to climate change. This study also highlights that the human health impacts of GHGs and chemicals are highly biased (100.9–113.0%) toward manufacturing in the life cycle of PV plants. In other words, this study suggests that the manufacturer and the country of manufacture may be suffering losses, while users of the product may reap the benefits of low carbon during the O&M period.

The reactors in Taiwan’s First Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) have reached the end of its useful life and it has transitioned into the decommissioning stage. In most studies on the environmental impacts of nuclear power plants, the assessment mainly focuses on the operation phase. There are only few assessments or studies on the decommission of nuclear power plants, because merely few sites have been decommissioned globally and the process is time-consuming. Consequently, the impacts associated with decommissioning the facilities remain uncertain. The decommissioning process is complicated and requires high technologies. While being fundamentally an engineering issue, the impacts encompass economic, environmental, and social aspects. Due to these considerations, a suitable decision-making process in the decommission field of the FNPP requires thorough analyses from a life-cycle perspective. In this regard, the implementation of life cycle assessment (LCA) is an appropriate methodology.A life cycle assessment on decommissioning of the FNPP was conducted, adhering to ISO 14040/44. It is comprised of four steps: goal and scope definition, Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) analysis, Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), and result interpretation. Primary inventory data was obtained from the FNPP Decommission Plan (DP) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, while the Ecoinvent database was used for model building. The environmental impacts are estimated using the International reference Life Cycle Data system (ILCD).The environmental impact of this study is based on the “Establishment of A Framework to Facilitate Sustainable Investment” (refer to as European Union [EU] taxonomy) by the council of the EU. The assessment results were interpreted, applied, and discussed in compliance with sustainable development. If generated electric energy is used as the functional unit of life cycle assessment during decommissioning stage, the assessment result could be inaccurate. As the result, the amount of post-decommission waste is used in this study as the functional unit of the impact results to evaluate the decommissioning life cycle of the FNPP. The impact assessment is underestimated since the screened buildings and equipment, expanded components, early decommissioning, and differences in reactors are not considered. The study indicates that decommissioning the FNPP includes construction and demolition, which require high electricity and heat demand.CO2 emission in Global Warming Potential (GWP) is the major pollution source in decommissioning tasks, with Marine Aquatic Eco-Toxicity Potential (MAET) and Human Toxicity Potential (HTP) following. Most impacts from decommissioning are due to the building storage of Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW), Dry Storage Facility (DSF), and plant deconstruction.

In this study, environmental impact of battery swapping services (BSS) for electric vehicles (EVs) is assessed to analyze the environmental benefit of managing batteries in product service system. While the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of EVs are estimated to be smaller than that of internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), the high purchasing cost, short cruising range, long charging time, and lack of charging facilities exist as issues hindering the proliferation of EV. Battery swapping, which has been expanding mainly in China in recent years, is a new technology that may resolve these issues. There exist past studies on life cycle assessment (LCA) of EV and life cycle simulator of EV batteries, but it remains unclear how BSS contribute to the overall environmental impact. To analyze the environmental impact of BSS for EVs, this study developed various scenarios with four scenario variables: vehicle technology, battery materials, battery capacity, and end-of-life. For each scenario, life cycle GHG emissions and resource consumption were comparatively assessed. Total material requirement (TMR) and crustal scarcity indicator (CSI) were applied as resource consumption indicators. The results show that a battery swapping EV with a small-capacity NMC111 battery (40 kWh) that is completely recycled and reused can reduce the life cycle GHG emissions by 41% compared to a conventional EV with a large-capacity NMC111 battery (100 kWh) that is neither recycled nor reused. In the same comparison, TMR and CSI were reduced by 82 and 88%, respectively. Furthermore, focusing on the battery cathode material, when the battery is completely recycled and reused, the NMC111 battery results in the lowest GHG emissions and the NMC811 battery results in the lowest resource consumption. Based on these results, a BSS system should perform battery recycling and LIB reuse, and select small-capacity NMC batteries.

This paper investigates the impact of combined operations of stationary hydrogen refueling station (SHRS) and mobile hydrogen refueling station (MHRS) on the economics and risk of hydrogen transportation. In terms of economic efficiency, the MHRS is effective in the transitional period to a hydrogen society with low demand, and its operation in combination with the SHRS is efficient. When focusing on hydrogen transportation risk, while SHRS is located in urban areas and city centers with high hydrogen demand, MHRS is more likely to be located in rural areas and outskirts of cities with low demand posing greater transportation risk than expected. For future detailed analysis, it is necessary to calculate the acceptable risk for each municipality and to optimize the facility location and transportation routes for MHRS and SHRS considering multi-period and multi-hydrogen carriers.

Due to the global ramp-up of electromobility, the need for lithium-ion batteries is constantly growing. This causes various challenges for the automotive industry. Especially, the procurement of raw materials for battery production is associated with many difficulties. For instance, the availability of some of these raw materials is strongly concentrated in individual regions worldwide, which leads to dependencies on certain regions or suppliers and incalculable price fluctuations for many automotive companies. To counter such problems, many supply chain actors seek to integrate end-of-life strategies (reuse, refurbishment, repurposing, and recycling). The resulting closed-loop supply chains can extend life cycles, use raw materials more efficiently, and can help to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.In this context, the question arises regarding how the battery market will develop in the coming years, including the return rate of used batteries and how the capacity build-up of production and recovery of lithium-ion batteries should be designed to fulfill the demand. The objective of this research is to develop a method that allows decision-makers to determine the timing and dimensions at which capacities of the production and recovery processes need to be built up to design a long-term stable supply chain. Therefore, the optimal capacity expansion strategy along the closed-loop supply chain must be identified.We designed a two-step approach to derive an economically and environmentally beneficial capacity expansion strategy. First, a life cycle simulation model will be used to determine the demand progression, return rate, and distribution of the different end-of-life strategies of batteries based on the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. Following, we determine the total capacity requirements for the production and recovery plants. Second, the results are used within a mathematical optimization model that supports decision-makers to determine the optimal capacity expansion strategy, considering, for example, economies of scale. Only by linking these two models and developing the two-step approach is it possible to simulate the dynamic changes in the system environment and develop an optimal capacity expansion strategy.To quantify and illustrate the results of this two-step approach, a case study was conducted between the development of the German and Japanese battery markets. Comparable economic conditions characterize both countries, but very different strategies and preferences of the population regarding the market penetration of electric vehicles. The analysis shows that the total emissions for the production and recovery processes are higher in Germany than in Japan. However, when considering the emissions per battery, the values in Japan are higher than in Germany. The results also indicate that it would be economically more reasonable for the German market to make high investments in large plants along the value chain at an early stage. In contrast, based on the historically much slower ramp-up, it would make more sense to build small plants in Japan and always stay as close as possible to current demand.

The transportation sector consumes 21% of the global final energy consumption, and the growing global economy will likely increase the need for transport. Furthermore, it will likely contribute to increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the future without proper mitigation efforts. Related to this issue, the Avoid-Shift-Improve (A-S-I) framework is one approach that can be used to achieve sustainability in the transportation sector, particularly in urban transportation. In this work, we simulate the development of public transportation network and vehicle electrification strategies related to the framework using a dynamic model with a case study in the Greater Jakarta Area in Indonesia. Our results show that the framework can simultaneously reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions. Furthermore, we found that there is an interaction between the public transportation network development and vehicle electrification, in that increasing the use of public transportation could potentially have a negative effect on electric vehicle use.

This study conducts an environmental and economic evaluation of the use of CO2 from Japan’s waste incineration facilities in Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) facilities. Our analysis shows that introducing CCUS to manage CO2 from a 300 t/D waste incineration facility can reduce CO2 emissions. However, even under a cleaner energy vision, the CO2 emissions of the whole system are still positive, making it difficult to achieve the carbon neutrality target. On the economic side, introducing CCUS increases expenses, resulting in greater losses for the overall waste incineration business than if it exclusively operates incineration only.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) as defined by ISO 14040 and 14,044 is designed as an iterative approach to stepwise improve data quality until the required quality for the goal of the study has been reached. This paper proposes an approach to automate the quality assessment required for deciding on potentially necessary quality improvements in the next iteration step. The approach focusses on the mapping of secondary LCA datasets for background system analysis (also known as Scope 3 analysis in terms of the greenhouse gas (GHG) protocol). It takes the quality of three types of data into account: (1) The quality of the primary data describing the material, energy, and product flows to be modeled; (2) the quality of the secondary data these flows are to be modeled with; and (3) the quality of the mapping decisions for connecting the two data sources. The approach comprises the quality descriptions for the three data types as well as the automatic computation and visualization of the quality scores along with the computation of environmental impacts. The visualization is implemented in an interactive dashboard tool that allows for explorative analysis of the environmental impacts in relation to quality of the underlying data and decisions. The approach is demonstrated in a realistic use case based on experience from real industry cases in the field of purchased electronic components.

Remanufacturing is a value-retaining process that can be adopted to reach a more circular economy. It presents a promising opportunity for improving resource efficiency and enhancing sustainable activities today and in the future. This paper contains environmental assessments of remanufactured automotive parts compared to newly produced parts. The aim is to address the potential of reducing global warming impact as well as improving resource and energy efficiency. The result is used to assess the potential of applying a remanufacturing strategy to reduce environmental load and to determine the variables that are of major importance. Assumptions, methods, and data are consistently applied for all product groups, making it possible to draw conclusions considering specific characteristics of the different automotive parts. The results show that collecting used automotive parts (cores) and remanufacturing them leads to a substantially lower environmental load than when producing new parts. The reuse rate of a core and the energy used in the remanufacturing process are the main environmental hotspots. Reusing larger components primarily affects global warming and energy use, while the type of material is the main aspect regarding abiotic resources. Energy use is a primary contributing factor considering global warming and cumulative energy use. The overall effects due to transports are similar for the two product systems, even though the payload is lower with remanufacturing due to higher share of transports with trucks.

Design is described as the main factor influencing a product’s sustainability. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to determine the environmental impact of a product during its life cycle. However, conducting an LCA requires large amounts of information that can be difficult to obtain. For this reason, together with the fact that an LCA is time-consuming, there is reason to explore the possibilities for a simplified life cycle assessment (SLCA). The aim of this paper is to investigate how an SLCA tool could be developed to support decision-making in product development processes. The SLCA tool developed for product designers includes, for example, climate impact results. The tool gives the designers an understanding of where efforts to reduce the climate impact can be allocated.

As the scope and standards of environmental regulations are expanding and strengthening, environmental impact assessment and carbon emission reduction activities for new product lines are spreading, and the environmental impact of Scope 3 is also gaining attention. Companies are disclosing environmental information through life cycle assessment (LCA) and EPD results, but there are differences in environmental information results by country due to different standards for calculating environmental performance. Therefore, this study selected body wash products among cosmetics and compared the data collection and methodology in Korea and Europe and the results of applying them, and second, compared the carbon emissions of using recycled plastics in the containers of these products compared to the existing ones.

Recently, H2 production from biomass resources has attracted increasing attention because of its eco-friendliness. It generates syngas, including impurities. The product of H2 can be obtained through purification and removal processes. However, since the use of H2 containing H2S damages fuel cell devices, a removal scheme is necessary. A common adsorbent of impurities is metal oxides such as ZnO and Fe2O3, which are practical to adsorb but have significant environmental impacts. Neutralized sediment (NS), which is always generated while treating mining wastewater, is an alternative to conventional adsorbents because it contains iron. Compared with ZnO, although NS has shown to perform approximately 26% lower at 300 °C, it has a markedly smaller environmental impact. In previous studies, NS captured more H2S at higher temperatures. However, the inner temperature distribution of a reactor may not be uniform because of operating conditions such as temperature differences from the outside, the size of a reactor, and active time. Thus, there can be a difference between the actual required amount of NS and the steady-state calculation result of it. Therefore, it is important to clarify time and positional changes to suggest a more efficient reactor geometry and an appropriate used amount. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) helps simulate the time and positional changes. CFD modeling was used to investigate the performance due to the inner temperature distribution of a reactor. Then, we estimated the amount of NS with changing reaction temperature: at low temperature, 40 °C, and at high temperature, 300 °C. Finally, we compared the environmental impact in each case with global warming potential (GWP) and abiotic depletion potential (ADP). Consequently, the breakthrough time of NS at high temperatures became 85% of that of the previous study due to heat release from the reactor. In the life-cycle assessment, the ADP was almost the same in both cases; however, the GWP at high temperatures was 78.5% of the value at low temperatures.

Choosing the most sustainable route for end-of-life (EoL) treatment of disposal products and materials contributes to enabling the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. In an industrial production context, weighing up between EoL options has been done mainly with financial indicators such as investment cost and benefit margins, while other aspects of sustainability dimensions, such as environmental and social, are not commonly assessed with measurable parameters yet. Hitherto, efforts have been made in developing assessment systems and indicators for non-monetary values like environmental impacts or circularity, yet there are many limitations in each method, and there is no standardization for emerging topic of circular economy yet. Combining application of two or more environmental assessment methods can minimize weaknesses of each. This study assesses three different EoL treatment routes for steel wire rope disposed after hoisting application with life cycle assessment (LCA) and circularity indicator (CI) methodologies by quantifying climate impact and product circularity with carbon footprint of product (CFP) and in-use occupation ratio and final retention in society (UOR and FRS), respectively. Steel wire rope after 10 years of hoisting can be treated in three different routes (1) material recycling with traditional route of directly recycling in electric arc furnace (EAF) for steel with EAF dust recycling, (2) novelty route of pre-removal of Zinc coating for zinc recovery before recycling in EAF, or (3) repurposing as concrete reinforcement material. UOR and FRS are circularity indicators (CI) used to evaluate the circularity of a material or product by measuring how efficiently a material is being used over time and how much of the used material is recoverable at the end of a certain time period. Specifically, UOR compares duration of time that material is being used in an application to its theoretical maximum use duration, which is a set period of time during which the material can be used without requiring significant repairs or replacements. However, FRS represents the share of recoverable material. A material with a higher UOR would be considered more circular, as it is being used for larger proportion of its maximum use duration. UOR and FRS when combined with LCA provide better insight on the environmental and circularity impact of repurposing, to support sustainable resource management decisions in two scenarios: recycling and repurposing. Result from LCA and CI calculations was analyzed and interpreted separately and then combined for an overview of repurposing and material recycling of EoL steel wire rope from hoisting application. Findings from this study advance the understanding of sustainability assessment for EcoDesign in EoL technologies and management.

Export products are one of the possible routes for the transboundary movement of chemical substances from Japan but are not included in the scope of the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) system in Japan. Scholars performed stock flow and exposure analyses and evaluated the substitution of chemicals with safer substances. However, all these works were conducted in Japan, and no quantitative study has considered the risks derived from chemicals in export products from the country. To fill such gap, this study quantitatively assessed the human health risk derived from the chemical substances contained in export products from Japan to the importing country and to verify the effectiveness of risk reduction measures, including substance substitution. Target countries were selected by characterizing Japan’s export partner countries. Human health risks were then estimated using Trade Statistics of Japan, cumulative Weibull distribution function, emission factors, and the USE tox model. The main finding was that the greatest risk reduction was achieved when substance substitution was conducted, and the importation of used products containing controlled substances was regulated in the importing country.

This chapter proposes a novel framework for quantifying human rights risks in global supply chain: multi-regional socially extended input-output analysis, or MRSEIO. MRSEIO combines social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) and multi-regional input-output analysis (MRIO) and is capable of identifying social risks at different stages of a product’s supply chain. As a demonstration, the authors calculated the negative global human rights impact of the Japanese economy for the year of 2015. Our MRSEIO analysis indicated that a total of 1.656 × 1012 hours of labor was conducted globally under various human rights risks to sustain Japanese economy, equivalent of putting 965 million labors at risk. Notwithstanding the limitations, the authors believe the MRSEIO framework provides a powerful tool in ensuring responsible supply chains.

By applying the multiregional socially extended input–output (MRSEIO) framework, the authors evaluated human rights risks of 12 power sources in the UK as a case study. Results show that human rights violation risks for renewable electricity, such as solar and wind power, are 4–22 times greater than the electricity from gas per 1 USD of cradle-to-gate production. This almost counter-intuitive results might be attributed to the higher cost percentage in the construction sector, which has inherently hazardous characteristics. Furthermore, renewable power sources like solar PV (photovoltaics) would also be affected by potential forced labor in high-risk regions due to its unique supply chain. Notwithstanding limitations, the authors believe that this framework would enable a more quantitative discussion on the social aspects of the power sector, contributing to policymaking that considers not only environmental aspects but also human rights risks in the construction of future energy supply chain.

The importance of the office well-being has been widely discussed. There are many factors that affect the productivity of office workers, and the well-being of their working space is a significant factor. The indoor environmental comfort is also evaluated in several certification systems. On the other hand, these environmental factors are generally evaluated for the entire space and are not evaluated according to the location and intentions of individual person.To achieve sustainable office management, it was deemed necessary to consider both the working environment and energy efficiency. We assumed that a new office well-being index by seat-specific task would contribute to enhance workers’ satisfaction, and less energy consumption could be evaluated by considering those satisfactions together. Task are classified into three forms based on work content: F (focus), N (normal work), and R (relaxation). The index is scored based on six office environmental elements (temperature, humidity, illumination, noise, equipment, and privacy) selected from preliminary studies, and the significance of the difference in rankings is confirmed through a ranking survey. We used directly evaluative methods to determine the usage-specific weighting coefficients of each element. From January to August 2022, we conducted surveys in the model office located in Tokyo and determined the model equation based on the usage-specific weighting coefficients. Secondly, based on the indicators for improving well-being by seat/task and with the aim of achieving energy efficiency while maintaining satisfaction, we conducted a field experiment in the model office. Illumination and temperature were set in certain degrees, followed by verifications of a significant change in the index evaluation results due to changes in the office environment, and a reduction in power consumption of PAC indoor units and illumination.

Sustainable design and environmental optimization of processes over the last years became an essential part of industrial development. The transformation of complex industrial processes requires standardized methods which consider applicability and compliance for companies. In the context of sustainable development, measures need to consider the three dimensions of sustainability and interrelations between them. This chapter thereby presents a first step towards the creation of a sustainable decision framework which combines assessment methods for all three dimensions. The research within this chapter is focused on the environmental dimension and investigates methods for combining the assessment of the environmental impact and circularity of material flows. While life cycle assessment (LCA) is an accepted and standardized method for evaluating the environmental impact, circularity assessment (CA) still lacks standardization. Lastly, the trade-offs between the different metrics are just recently being investigated in scientific research. A number of decision methods were identified that are able to combine results of CA and LCA. The respective CA metrics were further examined to representatively show potential applications. Lastly, requirements for harmonized CA and LCA in the environmental dimension are summarized and generic requirements for a sustainable decision framework with metrics for all three dimensions of sustainability derived. This research thereby contributes to the development of a sustainable decision framework based on standardized methodologies and data that supports holistic and knowledge-based decision-making in manufacturing companies.

For effective promotion of regional revitalization policies and municipal Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) measures, we have organized integrated strategic elements that relate sustainable developments, as the goal in urban–regional strategies, to municipal management activities, as the foundation, based on an integrated analysis of urban/city assessment scores using SDG indicators and fiscal expenditure data. Specifically, we selected 15 items and 24 SDG indicators for prefectures from the list of localized SDG indicators, calculated scores for each goal item, and conducted a factor analysis of the multi-item dataset by adding object-specific expenditure data. Results show eight factors that exhibited the relationship between the state of the target region and its expenditure structure. The factor with the highest contribution suggests the need to maintain rural areas in addition to urbanization, as indicated by the low evaluation of SDG1 and SDG3. It also implies the necessity of promoting agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Another factor indicates the necessity of security measures, social security, education, and human capital formation for ensuring the safety and well-being of people and maintaining urban areas and their health conditions.

Our planet is currently confronted with a significant challenge of ecosystem disturbance, leading to a loss of biodiversity on a global scale. In previous studies within the field of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), the inclusion of biodiversity loss in the endpoint categories has been proposed. However, there still remains a substantial research gap between LCIA and ecology. Therefore, in this study, we utilized species distribution models based on ecological predictions of habitat change, combined with land-use data for the year 2100 under the RCP8.5 scenario, to model the distribution of 160 species from four different biotic groups. After predicting the future distribution of species habitats, we established species damage factors by creating spatial potentially disappeared fraction (PDF). Our results indicate that under future land-use change scenarios, the four taxa and 160 species all experience varying degrees of loss on a global scale. Particularly, some underdeveloped regions, including South Africa, face higher risks and greater challenges with biodiversity loss. It is worth noting that agricultural land shows high-loss hotspots in South Africa under different land-use effects, which is closely related to the increasing demand for agricultural land due to population growth in the region.