E-waste Management as a Global Challenge (Introductory Chapter)

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment management (E-waste or WEEE) is a crucial issue in the solid waste management sector with global interconnections between well-developed, transitional and developing countries. Consumption society and addiction to technology dictate the daily life in high and middle-income countries where population consumes large amounts of EEE products (electrical and electronic equipment) which sooner become e-waste. This fraction is a fast-growing waste stream which needs special treatment and management due to the toxic potential of public health and environment. On the other hand, the e-waste contains valuable materials which may be recovered (precious metals, Cu) reused and recycled (metals, plastics) by various industries mitigating the consumption of natural resources. The new challenge of e-waste management system is to shift the paradigm from a toxic pollution source to a viable resource in the context of sustainable development

Assessing the Efficiency of a PSS Solution for Waste Collection: A Simulation Based Approach ☆

Abstract Driven by both policy pressures and environmental concerns, new business models are becoming applied in waste management mainly based on introducing more equitable and sustainable pricing schemes (e.g. "pay-as-you-throw"): the aim is to support the transition from a tax based system to a pure service based approach, where the user pays for the actual use of the waste management service provided. This new trend requires the service provider's activities to be planned with a schedule that reflects the actual users' needs in order to reach a real efficiency in the collection phase: dynamic routing and scheduling schemes, which could be enabled through the application of smart technologies, can lead to a more rational use of the resources. In the last decade, technological progresses allowed a growing use of IoT (Internet-of-Things) applications in the service sector; recent pilot applications are being tested also in waste management; one example is the introduction of bin level detection and data transmission technologies for waste collection. This work aims to contribute to the assessment of IoT-based PSS solutions for waste collection. The main objective is to evaluate the cost efficiency of a PSS for waste collection enabling dynamic scheduling, comparing it to the performance of more common schemes (e.g. fixed routing and scheduling service and call-based service). Hybrid simulation modelling – based on system dynamics, discrete events and agent based modelling- has been applied to test the transition from a fixed to a "pay-as-you-throw" fee in WEEE (waste from electrical and electronic equipment). A test case regarding an Italian municipality has been proposed to assess quantitative results based on a simulation model

Integrating IoT technologies for an "intelligent" safety management in the process industry

Abstract IoT (Internet of Things) technologies are wide spreading in several industrial sector due to a combination of increasing technical performance together with decreasing purchase prices: thus, new tools are been evaluated for adoption in new fields of application, like safety at work. In recent years, several projects and prototypes as well as industrial solutions have been developed using IOT technologies especially to dynamically managing safety levels at complex workplaces. The aim of this study is to describe a prototype system where the so called Smart Objects (SOs) - integrating different IoT technologies- interact in a working environment through a digital platform for managing different type of hazards – e.g. involving safety of plants as well as workers - usually influencing safety levels especially in process industry. The fields of application of the proposed system vary from tracking periodic mandatory maintenance and analyzing aging of equipment, processing or containing hazardous materials, to remote tracking of hazardous conditions of workers

Integrating Safety-I and Safety-II Approaches in Near Miss Management: A Critical Analysis

Safety-II is a recently theorized approach, considering safety as the ability of a system to reach a positive outcome under variable conditions: analyzing “what goes right” can help to understand the dynamics of the analyzed system and improve its inherent safety level. On the contrary, a more traditional perspective, defined as Safety-I, aims at analyzing “what goes wrong”, thereby relating the safety level of a system to the number of adverse events that occurred. This study explores the potentialities of integrating these two approaches in near-miss management. Through a Safety-I approach, near-miss events are analyzed to identify the root causes generating the event chain, in order to delete them and prevent future accidents. Applying a Safety-II approach, the analysis can include elements that contributed to limiting the consequences and blocking the event chain, revealing the resilience level of the systems. This study presents a critical analysis of the two approaches and proposes a practical framework to integrate them into near-miss management systems. A test case shows the potential benefits of this integration. This work provides a tool to support the implementation of Safety-II on the operative level while suggesting a new perspective for near-miss management

Digital twins and collaborative robotics: a SWOT-AHP analysis to assess sustainable applications

Digital twins, complex infrastructures able to connect physical systems with virtual ones in a bi-directional way, seem to be promising enablers of production system replication in real time. In the manufacturing field, cooperation and collaboration between humans and robots (properly cobots) in a shared environment is spreading. Digital twins and cobots are becoming fundamental tools to support humans in the workplace. This study aims at evaluating the benefits as well as criticalities of applying digital twin technology for cobot implementation within manufacturing operations. The adopted hybrid methodology combines SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process) to assess the sustainability of digital twins and cobot implementation in a specific workplace by analyzing economic, as well as safety and environmental impacts. The main findings reported that application of digital twins and cobots may improve safety in the workplace by reducing hazards. Furthermore, the potential integration of digital twins and cobots represents an effective solution to overcome the weaknesses and threats of correlated systems, that have been envisaged separately. The potential contribution of using digital twins in designing and managing these applications could help researchers and technicians. Results have practical implications as they allow for the application of optimal innovative solutions in the manufacturing and re-manufacturing sector with an extending domain for further research

Supporting Circular Economy through Use-Based Business Models: The Washing Machines Case

Abstract The circular economy paradigm is being widely studied as a possible path to a sustainable development, decoupling economic growth from material consumption and environmental impacts. The introduction of new business models, based on use rather than ownership, has been identified as one of the possible enabling actions for the implementation of circular economy strategies. Thus, product-service systems (PSS) can represent a viable way for companies and customers to switch from a linear to a circular scheme, keeping together the advantages of a customer-oriented offer to those of dematerialization. In this work, an example of innovative, circular business model for the large appliances sector is proposed, based on a PSS and a closed-loop supply chain. A context study, supported by a deep literature analysis, is performed to identify the main changes involved in the transition from a traditional to a circular supply chain in the sector, as well as the main impacts on the actors involved, through causal loop diagrams. The study is a first step for the realization of a system dynamics model, for a further research on impact assessment

A Measurement Tool for Circular Economy Practices: A Case Study in Pallet Supply Chains

A circular economy (CE) is an economic system where products and services are traded in closed loops or ‘cycles’. This work develops a framework for assessing the extent to which product supply chains incorporate circular economy principles, and applies this framework to a specific material handling application, the wooden pallet supply chain. The main decisions affecting circularity and the most common decision alternatives for the wooden pallet supply chain are identified for the Pre-manufacturing, manufacturing, product delivery, customer use, and end-of-life phases. A streamlined life cycle assessment tool is developed for supporting a quick analysis about how the level of adoption of CE strategies could support environmental sustainability in pallet supply chains. A questionnaire, scoring, and assessment are presented for each phase of a pallet supply chain to reduce input and use of natural resources, reduce emission levels, reduce valuable materials losses, increase share of renewable and recyclable resources, and increase the value of durability of products. A case study is used to test the proposed method and present a contrast between two scenarios

A Cloud-Based Tool for Integrating Occupational Risk Assessment Within Management Systems for {SMEs}

About 67% of workers employed in the industrial and service sectors in the European Union are currently contracted by Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which represent the economic heart of the European economy. However, this strength is counterbalanced by a considerably higher overall accident rate compared to Large Enterprises (LEs), and this trend seems to be confirmed worldwide. Moreover, most available tools for risk assessment and occupational health and safety (OHS) management are originally designed to fit the needs of LEs, resulting in a gap for SMEs. Therefore, the effective management of OHS in SMEs has become a crucial issue for researchers, practitioners and policymakers, aiming to improve the social and economic sustainability of small companies. The main purpose of this study is to provide guidelines to implement effective risk assessment processes and integrate them with OHS management systems in SMEs. A literature analysis of risk assessment and OHS management in SMEs highlights the main findings and gaps. Then, the three-phases methodology adopted is presented, outlining the main steps and outputs of the project. Finally, the web-based software tool for OHS risk analysis and management, designed to answer the specific needs of SMEs, is presented