Towards Sustainable Manufacturing Through Collaborative Circular Economy Strategies

The principles of a circular economy (CE)—social, economic and environmental—could enhance the sustainability of the manufacturing sector, but radical transitions and collaboration are required in order to fully engage with this paradigm change. This study is based on the assumption that, through collaborative strategies, a CE could transform the inefficiencies of linear value chains into novel competitive advantages for manufacturing companies. This conceptual paper presents a framework that integrates the identified inefficiencies of linear manufacturing value chains and an assessment model describing the five maturity levels of CE. At the lowest level—linearity—there is no collaboration; at the next—industrial piloting—experiments are conducted with discrete pilot projects within supply-chain partners. The third level—systemic material management—cannot be achieved without close collaboration and fair data exchange, while the next level—CE thinking—envisages a closed-loop supply chain. The highest level—full circularity—contributes not only to environmental, but also to economic and social sustainability. This paper argues that the identification of novel value circles and the co-creation of value with a variety of partners are crucial aspects for enabling the CE transition

Enhancement of the Yu and Ledeen gas-liquid chromatographic method for sialic acid estimation: Use of methane chemical ionization mass fragmentography

The sialic acid present in erythrocyte ghosts was estimated by methane chemical ionization mass fragmentography of the trimethylsilyl methyl glycosides. The internal standard was 3,4,6-tris-trimethylsilyl-α-phenyl-2-deoxy-2-acetamide-D-glucosaminide, as proposed by Yu and Ledeen. The [MH-16]+ions (m/e 610 for the TMS-methylglycoside of N-acetylneuraminic acid and m/e 498 for the internal standard) were used for quantifying nanogram levels of sialic acid in the presence of other contaminating substances. This effectively raises the signal-to-noise ratio for the Yu and Ledeen method by at least two orders of magnitude. The sensitivity and linearity of the method, without use of isotopic carriers, were tested using known quantities of N-acetylneuraminic acid. The limit of detection was below 0.4 nanograms (approximately one picomole). The useful range of detection was 10 ng-1 μg, showing a large dynamic range

Developing a Qualitative Maturity Scale for Circularity in Manufacturing

Circular Economy (CE) is gaining momentum and its diffusion in manufacturing companies remains a key element to be addressed. Indeed, the principles and practice of circularity can enhance sustainability in the manufacturing sector, but changes are required in organizations in order to fully embrace this paradigm. Therefore, several assessment models have been proposed to quantitatively measure CE performance, yet covering niche aspects, whereas a holistic perspective is usually neglected. In addition, there is significant scope to improve the elements composing the big picture through delineating where possible improvements might occur and this can be provided through an evaluation of the current status of a manufacturing company in respect to the optimum or reference model. Therefore, the goal of this contribution is to create the building blocks for a maturity model assessment proposing a complete and exhaustive maturity scale supporting companies in clarifying strategic objectives towards circularity in manufacturing. This goal has been achieved through a review of the scientific literature and a validation exercise performed through two workshops in which practitioners and researchers have been involved. This mixed-methodology allowed to strengthen the results obtained