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 web-app for implementing a ‘Carbon Footprint Calculator’ for smart waste management systems

Nowadays, being “smart” is fundamental to achieve sustainable objectives and targets set by the European Union. Providing smartness to waste management systems deserves considerable attention. Indeed, it is a sector that has experienced remarkable organizational and technological progresses. Much more can be done to involve smart actors who cooperate in decision-making on public or social services. Stakeholders include also citizens whose behaviours strongly affect system performance. Consistently, in the frame of the European project “RES NOVAE”, the authors developed a web-app named “Smart Waste - Carbon Footprint Calculator (SW-CFC)”. SW-CFC is conceived to evaluate and monitor direct and avoided emissions of municipal solid waste management systems. The web-app has two different users profile: public decision makers and citizens. The public decision-makers can use the app to assess the carbon footprint of the ‘status quo’ systems and to evaluate the impact of potential changes in different technical and organizational choices. On the other hand, the use of SW-CFC can stimulate citizens’ consciousness leading their actions on right collection practice. By a short survey section, the app calculates and shows citizen' green attitudes and habits in terms of avoided emissions. Due to the formative and informative purpose of the app, the increase of social involvement is an expected result too

A Cyber - Based DSS for a low carbon integrated waste management system in a smart city

Sustainable Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS) is one of the big challenges of modern society. The topic is nowadays a priority since it contributes to the goals set by "EU 2020 Strategy". New web-based technologies are now available to monitor, manage and elaborate information concerning spatially decentralized systems interacting each other by cloud computing. A growing interest is paid to potential applications of these technologies to manufacturing systems and to municipal services ensuring both flexibility and efficiency. The authors propose a Decision Support Systems (DSS) for a Social - Cyber - Physical framework suitable for the strategic planning and operational phases, by supporting public administrators at municipal level in design and plan an IWMS. The main goal of the DSS is minimize the net carbon emissions of the IWMS. The model has been applied to a middle size city located in Southern Italy. A comparative analysis is carried out investigating the optimization of the stand-alone collecting phase and of the overall IWMS. Results in both cases suggest the adoption of multi stream grouping systems for dry recycled fraction and of single stream grouping system for organic and glass fraction. At the same time a different mix of waste collection modalities is found in the two reference cases

Circular economy strategies for electric and electronic equipment: A fuzzy cognitive map

A worldwide trend is leading the international community to explore the possible paths for the transition from a linear to a circular economic model. Recent studies identified the main enabling factors to facilitate this transition, among which closed loop logistics models and new service-based and function-oriented business models play a significant role. The diffusion of new business models relating to the use of a product rather than its ownership can indeed reduce material consumption and the related environmental impacts, while customer loyalty and company revenues are expected to increase. However, the overall impacts of such models on the environmental, economic and social perspectives are not clear, as several uncertainty factors arise with the implementation of non-ownership models. Therefore, the aim of this work is to evaluate impacts on sustainability dimensions due to the transition from an ownership-based to a product-as-a-service based model in direct and reverse supply chain of a large appliance product, i.e. washing machines. The analysis is carried out developing a fuzzy cognitive map model to quantify direct and indirect effects on the social, economic and environmental dimensions due to the adoption of a new business model. First, both the traditional and the leasing supply chain models are investigated. Then, the key drivers and their causal relationships affecting systems' performance are identified and discussed. Results stress out the great potential of such a change in the improving of the sustainable dimensions highlighting the enabling strategies viable by a policy maker to facilitate the transition to a product-as-a-service based model

Minimizing the carbon footprint of material handling equipment: Comparison of electric and LPG forklifts

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the best Material Handling Equipment (MHE) to minimize the carbon footprint of inbound logistic activities, based on the type of the warehouse (layout, facilities and order-picking strategy) as well as the weight of the loads to be handled. Design/methodology/approach: A model to select the best environmental MHE for inbound logistic activities has been developed. Environmental performance of the MHE has been evaluated in terms of carbon Footprint (CF). The model is tested with a tool adopting a VBA macro as well as a simulation software allowing the evaluation of energy and time required by the forklift in each phase of the material handling cycle: picking, sorting and storing of the items. Findings: Nowadays, it is not possible to identify ‘a priori’ a particular engine equipped forklift performing better than others under an environmental perspective. Consistently, the application of the developed model allows to identify the best MHE tailored to each case analyzed.   Originality/value: This work gives a contribution to the disagreement between environmental performances of forklifts equipped with different engines. The developed model can be considered a valid support for decision makers to identify the best MHE minimizing the carbon footprint of inbound logistic activities

Minimizing Carbon-Footprint of Municipal Waste Separate Collection Systems

Environmental performance of municipal waste management systems plays a key role in the so called smart cities performance. The authors propose a reference framework for public decision-making in optimizing municipal waste separate collection systems. A Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) model is built up to set the collecting system and the optimal level of collection of each fraction. The goal is to minimize carbon footprint of the whole collection system. The model is applied to a full-scale case study. Results obtained stress out the effectiveness of the model. Moreover the Environmental Efficiency Effort index is introduced to test the model solution evaluating the attitude of citizens in participating and improving waste separate collection

The unfolded protein response in amyotrophic later sclerosis: results of a phase 2 trial

: Strong evidence suggests that endoplasmic reticulum stress plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) through altered regulation of proteostasis. Robust preclinical findings demonstrated that guanabenz selectively inhibits endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced eIF2\u3b1-phosphatase, allowing misfolded protein clearance, reduces neuronal death and prolongs survival in in vitro and in vivo models. However, its safety and efficacy in patients with ALS are unknown. To address these issues, we conducted a multicentre, randomized, double-blind trial with a futility design. Patients with ALS who had displayed an onset of symptoms within the previous 18\u2009months were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1:1 ratio to receive 64\u2009mg, 32\u2009mg or 16\u2009mg of guanabenz or placebo daily for 6\u2009months as an add-on therapy to riluzole. The purpose of the placebo group blinding was to determine safety but not efficacy. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients progressing to higher stages of disease within 6\u2009months as measured using the ALS Milano-Torino staging system, compared with a historical cohort of 200 patients with ALS. The secondary outcomes were the rate of decline in the total revised ALS functional rating scale score, slow vital capacity change, time to death, tracheotomy or permanent ventilation and serum light neurofilament level at 6\u2009months. The primary assessment of efficacy was performed using intention-to-treat analysis. The treatment arms using 64\u2009mg and 32\u2009mg guanabenz, both alone and combined, reached the primary hypothesis of non-futility, with the proportions of patients who progressed to higher stages of disease at 6\u2009months being significantly lower than that expected under the hypothesis of non-futility and a significantly lower difference in the median rate of change in the total revised ALS functional rating scale score. This effect was driven by patients with bulbar onset, none of whom (0/18) progressed to a higher stage of disease at 6\u2009months compared with those on 16\u2009mg guanabenz (4/8; 50%), the historical cohort alone (21/49; 43%; P\u2009=\u20090.001) or plus placebo (25/60; 42%; P\u2009=\u20090.001). The proportion of patients who experienced at least one adverse event was higher in any guanabenz arm than in the placebo arm, with higher dosing arms having a significantly higher proportion of drug-related side effects and the 64\u2009mg arm a significantly higher drop-out rate. The number of serious adverse events did not significantly differ between the guanabenz arms and the placebo. Our findings indicate that a larger trial with a molecule targeting the unfolded protein response pathway without the alpha-2 adrenergic related side-effect profile of guanabenz is warranted