A framework to assess the sustainability of additive manufacturing for spare parts

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising technology for the optimization of the spare parts supply chain. A complete evaluation of whether it is advantageous to switch to this technology for spare parts management should include a comprehensive assessment of its sustainability in addition to its techno-economic viability. General analyses of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of AM have been conducted, but assessments of the sustainability effects of AM in the spare parts field is limited to specific industries. Thus, based on the literature, we designed a framework that can support a life cycle evaluation of the emerging application of AM technology. It represents a methodological approach that covers all the stages of the spare parts life cycle and the three dimensions of sustainability. It has been designed to support both researchers and practitioners who are considering AM for the manufacturing of spare parts. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors

Enhancing Waste-to-Energy and Hydrogen Production through Urban–Industrial Symbiosis: A Multi-Objective Optimisation Model Incorporating a Bayesian Best-Worst Method

A surging demand for sustainable energy and the urgency to lower greenhouse gas emissions is driving industrial systems towards more eco-friendly and cost-effective models. Biogas from agricultural and municipal organic waste is gaining momentum as a renewable energy source. Concurrently, the European Hydrogen Strategy focuses on green hydrogen for decarbonising the industrial and transportation sectors. This paper presents a multi-objective network design model for urban-industrial symbiosis, incorporating anaerobic digestion, cogeneration, photovoltaic, and hydrogen production technologies. Additionally, a Bayesian best-worst method is used to evaluate the weights of the sustainability aspects by decision-makers, integrating these into the mathematical model. The model optimises industrial plant locations considering economic, environmental, and social parameters, including the net present value, energy consumption, and carbon footprint. The model's functionalities are demonstrated through a real-world case study based in Emilia Romagna, Italy. It is subject to sensitivity analysis to evaluate how changes in the inputs affect the outcomes and highlights feasible trade-offs through the exploration of the ε-constraint. The findings demonstrate that the model substantially boosts energy and hydrogen production. It is not only economically viable but also reduces the carbon footprint associated with fossil fuels and landfilling. Additionally, it contributes to job creation. This research has significant implications, with potential future studies intended to focus on system resilience, plant location optimisation, and sustainability assessment

A Review and Analysis of Traffic Data Sources

Transportation is essential for economic and social development, and vehicle flow data can be used for safety monitoring, pollution analysis, and traffic flow management. Unfortunately, traffic management and control centres do not always comply with codified standards, making it difficult to obtain up-To-date data. This paper analyses open traffic datasets and Italian public traffic data sources available online, providing a knowledge base for transportation managers and researchers. Open traffic datasets are dimensionality-reduced and clustered. An event with 209,135 visitors is used to benchmark the public data sources, the time series of traffic flows are decomposed and a regression tree is used to identify different periods. The results suggest that the available Italian sensor grid is not fine enough to identify all incoming and outgoing traffic, more infrastructure investments are required or the available measurements should be coupled with other evaluation approaches capable of extending the punctual data through mathematical means

Cost-benefit evaluation of investment in natural gas distribution

Investment in the distribution of natural gas must be assessed by combining a technical analysis of the investment and an assessment of the social costs and benefits, to evaluate the impact of the project on social welfare in monetary terms. This paper describes how such an analysis can be conducted, by developing a methodology for the evaluation of investment in the distribution of natural gas. Once the net social benefit (NSB) of the investment has been evaluated, it is also important to assess the degree of reliability of such an estimate. This assessment can be conducted through two types of tests: sensitivity analysis and risk analysis. The critical variables are identified in sensitivity analysis as those that have a significant impact on the predicted outcome when they change. To address any uncertainties in the critical variables, a risk analysis quantifies the probability that the NSB is less than that estimated when using modal values for the critical variables. This type of analysis, combined with a technical evaluation, can be effectively used to assess the social consequences of an investment

Ecotoxicity of Plastics from Informal Waste Electric and Electronic Treatment and Recycling

Plastic materials account for about 20% of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The recycling of this plastic fraction is a complex issue, heavily conditioned by the content of harmful additives, such as brominated flame retardants. Thus, the management and reprocessing of WEEE plastics pose environmental and human health concerns, mainly in developing countries, where informal recycling and disposal are practiced. The objective of this study was twofold. Firstly, it aimed to investigate some of the available options described in the literature for the re-use of WEEE plastic scraps in construction materials, a promising recycling route in the developing countries. Moreover, it presents an evaluation of the impact of these available end-of-life scenarios on the environment by means of the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. In order to consider worker health and human and ecological risks, the LCA analysis focuses on ecotoxicity more than on climate change. The LCA evaluation confirmed that the plastic re-use in the construction sector has a lower toxicity impact on the environment and human health than common landfilling and incineration practices. It also shows that the unregulated handling and dismantling activities, as well as the re-use practices, contribute significantly to the impact of WEEE plastic treatments

Logistic regression for criteria weight elicitation in PROMETHEE-based ranking methods

For a PROMETHEE II method used to rank concurrent alternatives both preference functions and weights are required, and if the weights are unknown, they can be elicited by leveraging present or past partial rankings. If the known partial ranking is incorrect, the eliciting methods are ineffective. In this paper a logistic regression method for weight elicitation is proposed to tackle this scenario. An experiment is carried out to compare the logistic regression method performance against a state-of-the-art linear weight elicitation method, proving the validity of the proposed methodology

Distributed Ledger Technology selection for Digital Battery Passport: A BWM-TOPSIS approach

The growing demand for electric vehicles necessitates an efficient and sustainable life-cycle management of lithium-ion batteries. This work examines existent literature on digital battery passports, crucial for high-quality data for decision-making purposes, and distributed ledger technologies as transparent and efficient enablers. An hybrid BWM-TOPSIS approach is employed to rank various platforms for digital passport implementation in an automotive company. The analysis identifies Hedera as the most suitable ledger, followed by IOTA and EOS. Future research directions include empirical validation of the findings and exploring collaborative decision-making models to enhance the robustness of the selection process

Green supply chain management: Conceptual framework and models for analysis

Sustainability and environmental concerns have been important topics of discussion in recent decades. Green supply chain management assures the effectiveness of public and company policies in greening their operations, increasing the market share, improving the company image and reputation, and increasing profits. The objective of this article is to propose a conceptual framework that considers dimensions, categories, and practices in green supply chain management. After an extensive review of the literature, we identified models and a set of green dimensions, categories, and practices used for green supply chain management. From the analysis of the findings, we propose a conceptual framework that is organized into 3 environmental dimensions, 21 categories, and 64 green practices. The framework can contribute to the literature, given that empirical studies mostly select a limited set of dimensions to evaluate supply chain green practices. Finally, this study offers directions for future research.Sustainability and environmental concerns have been important topics of discussion in recent decades. Green supply chain management assures the effectiveness of public and company policies in greening their operations, increasing the market share, improving the company image and reputation, and increasing profits. The objective of this article is to propose a conceptual framework that considers dimensions, categories, and practices in green supply chain management. After an extensive review of the literature, we identified models and a set of green dimensions, categories, and practices used for green supply chain management. From the analysis of the findings, we propose a conceptual framework that is organized into 3 environmental dimensions, 21 categories, and 64 green practices. The framework can contribute to the literature, given that empirical studies mostly select a limited set of dimensions to evaluate supply chain green practices. Finally, this study offers directions for future research

Integrazione di sistemi a energia rinnovabile nel sistema elettrico locale: stato dell’arte e soluzioni innovative nell’ambito della Simbiosi Industriale e della Simbiosi Urbana-Industriale.

La riduzione delle emissioni climalteranti è considerata un obiettivo strategico, sia a livello europeo che globale. Una maggiore diffusione delle fonti energetiche rinnovabili (FER) è considerata essenziale per una transizione verso un sistema energetico più sostenibile. Questa transizione verso un’energia a basse emissioni di carbonio richiede lo sviluppo e l'uso di tecnologie innovative, in particolare nei settori di utilizzo finale (edifici, industria e trasporti), e nuovi approcci economici, di gestione e di mercato. Lo studio presentato in questa tesi esplora le opportunità sostenibili offerte dall'approccio di simbiosi industriale e urbano-industriale basati sull'energia. La simbiosi industriale energetica (SIE) propone la condivisione di risorse, strutture e infrastrutture legate all'energia come un modello efficace per promuovere misure di risparmio energetico e l'adozione di fonti energetiche rinnovabili a livello industriale. Inoltre, è possibile perseguire una strategia energetica a basse emissioni di carbonio creando sinergie energetiche tra i distretti industriali e le aree urbane adiacenti. Stabilire la simbiosi energetica urbana-industriale (SUIE) consente di ottimizzare la produzione e il consumo di energia e di sfruttare il know-how locale e le risorse umane. Il nuovo sistema integrato necessita infatti di un cambio di prospettiva, considerando un'azione multi-stakeholder: aziende di servizi energetici, comunità locali, settore industriale, consumatori, policy maker, ricercatori devono impegnarsi attivamente nei processi di pianificazione partecipativa per guidare la trasformazione del sistema energetico e del processo di ricerca e innovazione, e rispondere adeguatamente alle esigenze del territorio. Nella tesi viene presentata un'analisi approfondita dei molteplici driver e barriere tecnici, economici, organizzativi, normativi, ambientali e sociali dell'approccio di simbiosi energetica, con l'obiettivo di modellare le configurazioni ottimali delle sinergie energetiche tra le imprese che comprendano l’uso di FER. Viene inoltre sviluppata una metodologia per supportare energy manager, singole imprese, gruppi di imprese all'interno di parchi industriali e decisori per valutare le sinergie e i progetti energetici che coinvolgono FER, tenendo conto degli impatti economici, ambientali e sociali dei progetti. Inoltre, viene sviluppato un framework orientato alla sostenibilità con l'obiettivo di modellare le sinergie energetiche urbano-industriali comprendenti le FER da un punto di vista multi-stakeholder per supportare il processo decisionale sulla sostenibilità economica, ambientale e sociale delle sinergie energetiche. L’applicazione degli strumenti decisionali sviluppati a specifici casi studio consente di sottolineare come le strategie collettive (SIE o SUIE) consentano una migliore gestione della fornitura di energia da fonti rinnovabili.Reducing emissions responsible for the climate change is recognized as a strategic goal at European and global level. A higher deployment of renewable energy sources (RES) is considered as essential for a transition towards a more sustainable energy system. This low-carbon energy transition requires both the development and use of innovative technologies, particularly at end-use sectors (buildings, industry and transport), and new management approaches as well as new market design and business models. This study explores the sustainability driven opportunities offered by the energy based Industrial and Urban-Industrial Symbiosis approach. The Industrial Energy Symbiosis (IES) considers the sharing of energy-related resources, facilities and infrastructures as an effective model to promote energy conservation measures and the renewable energy sources uptake at the industrial level. In addition, an improved low-carbon strategy can be achieved creating energy synergies between industrial districts and the adjacent urban areas. Establishing Urban-Industrial Energy Symbiosis (UIES) allows optimizing the energy production and consumption and exploiting the local knowhow and human resources. These new integrated system needs a change of perspective, considering a multi-stakeholder action: energy service companies, local communities, industry sector, consumers, policy makers, researchers must get actively involved in participatory planning processes to guide the transformation of the energy system and the research and innovation process, and respond adequately to the needs of the territory. Thus, an in-depth analysis of the manifold technical, economic, organizational, regulatory, environmental and social drivers and barriers of the energy symbiosis approach are presented, with the aim of modelling the optimal energy synergies configurations among firms including RES. A methodology is developed to support energy managers, single firms, groups of firms within industrial parks, and decision-makers to evaluate energy synergies and projects involving RES, taking into account the economic, environmental and social impacts of the projects. Lastly, a sustainability-driven framework is developed, with the aim of modeling Urban–Industrial Energy Symbiosis networks integrating RES from a multi-stakeholder point of view and supporting decision-making on the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the energy synergies. The application of the developed decision-making tools to specific case studies emphasizes how collective strategies (IES or UIES) allow better management of the energy supplied by renewable sources