Influence of Green Initiatives on Environmental, Economic and Operational Outcomes: The Case of the Brazilian Packaging Supply Chain

The adoption of green initiatives in supply chains is fundamental in the relationship among companies that have the obligation to assume the principles of environmental management. Packages take part in this scenario and they are fundamental in guaranteeing the quality of the products and their commercialization, bringing about the concern with their final destination and impacts caused to the environment. The aim of this research was to verify if the adoption of green initiatives in the packaging supply chain affects the environmental, economic and operational outcomes of companies participating in this chain, according to the perception of professionals who work in these companies. The study was conducted by means of a survey directed to professionals of various hierarchical levels working in Brazilian industries of the packaging supply chain. It is a quantitative study, and responses were analyzed through statistical techniques. The results have pointed out that only the environmental outcomes of companies in this supply chain were influenced by the adoption of green initiatives

Have we reached the turning point? Looking for evidence of SOC increase under conservation agriculture and cover crop practices

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in agricultural soils is currently of special interest because it can help mitigate global warming through atmospheric carbon (C) sequestration. Recommended management practices, such as conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage with cover crops (CC), could have significant implications for C sequestration potential. A field experiment was carried out in northeast Italy to compare the implementation of CA and CC with conventional agriculture (CV). The experiment began in 2010 on three farms to evaluate SOC stock variation over a 6-year period. Two extensive soil sampling operations were conducted in 2011 and 2017 in 240 locations, for a total of 1,440 analysed soil samples, considering the SOC stratification within a 0\u201350-cm profile. The results suggested that CA changed the SOC distribution rather than the total amount of SOC. Compared to CV, after the introduction of CA, a general increase in SOC (0.25 Mg C ha 121 y 121) was observed in the 0\u201330-cm layer, whereas no stock variation was observed in the 0\u201350-cm layer. In contrast, compared to CV, the use of CC decreased the SOC stocks by 0.74 Mg C ha 121 y 121 in the 0\u201350-cm layer. Over a 6-year period, no benefit in SOC sequestration was observed with CA and CC. However, we hypothesize that these findings could still be affected by transitory dynamics, highlighting the low soil reactivity to soil-improving agricultural systems. A longer study period would be required to better understand the potential benefits of CA and CC on SOC sequestration. Highlights: We hypothesized that conservation practices increase SOC after a 6-year adoption No-tillage enhanced SOC stratification in conservation agriculture C addition with cover crops induced SOC stock reductions due to a priming effect An SOC increase was not observed after 6 years of conservation practices

Hydrogel application for improving soil pore network in agroecosystems. Preliminary results on three different soils

Superabsorbent hydrogels are three-dimensional macromolecular compounds that can absorb and retain large amounts of water. One benefit of amending soils with hydrogels includes better soil structure (i.e., pore network), which can lead to an increase in the retention of water and nutrients, and thus improve crop yield. The objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate the effect of superabsorbent hydrogels on the specific porosity and pore size distribution of three soils and 2) estimate soil swelling from HG application. Two hydrogels (polyacrylate \u201cCI\u201d and cellulose-based \u201cH30\u201d) were used in a randomized complete block design with three soil types (sand (S), sandy loam (SL), and clay (C)), three treatments (CI, H30, and CTRL (control)), with three replicates each. Specific porosity and pore size distribution were measured with three techniques (gas adsorption, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and x-ray computed microtomography) measuring a pore diameter range from 0.4 nm to 2163 \ub5m. Our results showed that while not always significant, HG amended soils had an overall increased porosity >12% regarding macroporosity (i.e., pores >828 \ub5m) compared to the CTRL treatment. Both HGs caused soil volume change from 1237% (shrinkage) to 6% (swelling); however, H30 caused significantly lower rates compared to CI, possibly due to soil-like substances incorporated into the H30 structure. Because of this, further studies investigating the interaction between different moisture contents and H30 should be conducted to determine if H30 helps to maintain soil structure