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Disposable paper cups comprise typical single-use plastic items, as they are lined internally with a thin plastic coating for waterproofing. They are consumed at a staggering rate worldwide, with the UK alone consuming around 7 million cups daily, thus annually producing around 30,000 tonnes of paper cup waste. Contrary to popular belief, less than 1 in 400 paper cups is currently recycled in the UK, which is in stark contrast to the waste hierarchy and the European Commission's ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan. Paper cups typically end up in landfill sites or even improperly disposed of, contributing to (micro)plastic waste and potentially polluting the world's oceans. The implications of the latter are not fully known yet and cannot be quantified by existing life cycle impact assessment methods. By employing the life cycle assessment methodology, UK's annual carbon footprint from paper cup consumption was found to be 75 kt of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is similar to that of manufacturing 11,500 mid-size passenger cars. Globally, their environmental footprint was found to be comparable to that of some 1.5 M average European inhabitants, indicating the nature and extent of the single-use plastics problem, which paper cups are just a typical example of. Paper cup recycling could reduce this environmental footprint by up to 40%, whereas switching to reusable cups appears to be more environmentally sustainable, achieving a threefold reduction in carbon emissions, which at global scale is more than twice Malta's annual carbon footprint. Results indicate that consumerism along with small daily choices, such as using reusable cups or bags instead of their disposable counterparts, could play a huge role in climate change. At policy level, no concrete measures to curb the superfluous consumption of paper cups, as well as of other single-use plastic items that are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, have materialised. Furthermore, it appears that decision- and policy-makers tend to step in to curtail wasteful and polluting practices only when environmental problems have started to generate widespread concern, instead of undertaking preventative policy measures. Image 1 • The environmental sustainability of disposable paper cups was examined. • 75 kt CO 2eq are emitted annually in the UK and 7.5 Mt CO 2eq globally. • Switching to reusable cups axes carbon emissions by threefold. • Robust LCIA methods should be introduced to account for (micro)plastic pollution. • Existing policy on single use plastics appears to be too little too late. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The swift urbanization and ensuing challenges in global cities require a transition towards "intelligent" urban management. This change is motivated by the necessity to enrich the quality of life, tackling crucial issues such as transportation. How can municipal authorities effectively utilize smart city principles and technologies to enhance efficiency and sustainability in urban living? This query plays a vital role in steering urban policies and city governance towards a more sustainable and intelligent future. The paper suggests a survey-based research perspective unprecedented on "disruptive" transportation, offering a longitudinal examination (2010–2023) of cross-national comparison (ITA-UK) using a relatively large sample (No. 450 total) and divided into No.150 –UK 2023, No.150 –ITA 2023, and No. 150 Italy 2010 respectively. The sample base considers the two Capitals (London and Rome) for diversity, population size, and ongoing projects related to "smart" urban developed. Intending to offer a valuable analytical tool for policymakers, scholars, managers, and professionals, the paper primarily explores the evolutionary progression of sustainability concepts inherent in the smart city paradigm and their fusion with transportation; after the cross-national comparison is essential for highlighting mindset disparities that influence future planning endeavors for future urban transportation sector. The key findings revolve around cultural, ideological, ownership disparities and individualistic tendencies that contribute to a resistance to change. The empirical analysis demonstrates an advancement for Italy compared to previous years, but still cautious particularly concerning the adoption of shared mobility alternatives, which also presents a viable solution for increasing the adoption of electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable construction can be defined as efficient resource use with ecological design. Three pillars are required to achieve sustainable construction: environmental protection, social well-being and economic prosperity. An increase in sustainable construction awareness among industry stakeholders could help improve levels of implementation. This paper aims to assess levels of awareness among UK practitioners and identify the barriers that inhibit sustainable construction. A mixed-method approach with questionnaire surveys and interviews was adopted. Questionnaire were distributed using MS Forms through social media (e.g., LinkedIn, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp) and the researcher's contacts. The survey concluded with 127 useable responses. Interviews were also conducted over MS Teams with eight professionals with different backgrounds. Respondents for the interview were conveniently gathered through snowball sampling. Data from the questionnaire survey were analysed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's Alpha and RII were calculated for the level of awareness of sustainable construction practices and barriers to adoption of sustainable construction. Transcripts from the interview were thematically analysed using NVivo. The findings showed that the industry practitioners have above-average levels of awareness. Sustainable construction practices that respondents were most aware of was reduce, reuse and recycle. Respondents were not as aware of newer sustainable practices such as digital twin. Surprisingly, the most prevalent barrier was not cost. According to the respondents, the most prevalent barrier was a tendency to maintain current practices. Many real-life experiences are documented in this research. Insights into current practice in the industry and key barriers to adopting sustainable construction are identified. Addressing these barriers could improve the adoption of sustainable construction in the UK. • investigates up-to-date techniques for attaining sustainable construction in the UK. • assess the level of awareness among industry practitioners. • identifies the hurdles faced by the industry to attain sustainable construction. • explains the current practices of construction and areas for potential improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is part of what we can call " post New Public Management (NPM) studies " which denounce that the policies of austerity and competition have made local public transport fragmented and less attractive for customers. These studies that indicate the need for greater coordination within this sector as a condition of social and environmental, and not only financial, sustainability are increasingly numerous. We show how the public transport legislative evolution in UK (more strictly Great Britain) has aimed towards the assurance of more coordination into a fragmented sector. However in its last stage, the Bus Services Act 2017, we find not only more incentives to increase coordination but the 'rehabilitation' of a contested concept such as the integrated transport planning. Specifically, we show that the 'rehabilitation' of the integrated transport planning did not happen immediately but gradually over the years through several reforms. During this transition, both negative and positive aspects, and the tensions between competitive mechanisms and coordination mechanisms have lived together. This tension demonstrates the challenge of finding an appropriate role for public and private actors to make public transport fully sustainable. The case of Great Britain shows that transport sustainability must be found in a mix of mechanisms: not only market and partnership but also hierarchical mechanisms, such as an integrated and coordinated planning. Image 10764 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biscuits are a major product category in the global confectionary sector. Despite this, their environmental impacts are poorly characterised. Therefore, this paper sets out to evaluate the life cycle environmental sustainability of the following widely-consumed types of biscuit, both at the product and sectoral levels: crackers, low fat/sugar, semi-sweet, chocolate-coated and sandwich biscuits with chocolate or vanilla cream. The results obtained through life cycle assessment demonstrate that, in addition to being healthier, low fat/sugar biscuits have the lowest impacts across most of the 18 categories considered. Chocolate-coated biscuits are environmentally the least sustainable. The most significant life cycle stage for all types is the raw materials production, causing 41%–61% of the total impacts, with flour, sugar and palm oil being the key hotspots. Replacing palm with rapeseed oil would improve five impacts but worsen another five, including a 34% increase in agricultural land occupation and marine eutrophication. Therefore, the cultivation and production of palm oil, rather than its replacement, should be targeted for improvements. The second most crucial stage is manufacturing, contributing up to 54% of the impacts, followed by transport with up to 35%. Reducing energy consumption by 25% in manufacturing would reduce primary energy demand by 8%–12%, fossil fuel depletion by 9%–12% and global warming potential by 6%–9%. The latter would increase by 55% if land use change related to cocoa was involved, despite a very small amount of cocoa in the biscuits (∼1%). The analysis at a sectoral level in the UK, the leading consumer of biscuits in Europe, reveals that biscuits contribute 7.4% of primary energy demand and 0.5% of greenhouse gas emissions of the whole UK food sector. These results can help guide manufacturers in mitigating the hotspots in the supply chain and consumers in selecting environmentally more sustainable biscuits. • The environmental sustainability of six types of biscuit is evaluated for the first time. • Low fat/sugar biscuits have the lowest impacts and chocolate-coated the highest. • Global warming potential of chocolate biscuits is 55% higher with land use change. • Flour, sugar and palm oil are the key hotpots, followed by biscuits manufacturing. • Biscuits contribute 7.4% of energy demand and 0.5% of GWP of the UK food sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details the specific aims and purposes of the Damage Assessment Tracking Criteria; a series of evaluation tools designed to aid in remanufacturing inspection operations. The background and justification of this model, which is detailed in a separate work, identifies ill definition and an over reliance on opinion as barriers to effective inspection activities. Analysis of this issue led to the building of the Damage Assessment Tracking Criteria; a 4-model foundation that aims to provide a more comprehensive and more structured approach to the inspection stages of the typical remanufacturing process. Through expert opinion this model was evaluated multiple times. One review was used to gauge the level of idea communication within an academic situation, this was followed up by external industrial reviews of the model by those most likely to utilise it during industry practice. After extensive feedback and modification the final model assessment was carried out with an expert panel that were instructed to be as critical as possible with the model in order to ensure that its evaluation was as robust as possible. The results of these reviews were all on the positive side of the scale. Multiple statements regarding the potential value and suitability of each model aspect and justification for their use was presented in the format of an evaluation form which was used by those involved to present their findings and feedback. Negative feedback was addressed and successful modification yielding more positive results in the next evaluation was achieved. Though walking the line between specificity and generic was noted to be the most difficult factor to consider when developing the models, the final findings of the evaluation show that significant value was perceived by those operating within industry. The potential benefits of customised variants of the models is acknowledged by all parties as a possible future avenue of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the interest of climate change mitigation, policy makers, businesses and non-governmental organisations have devised initiatives designed to reduce in-use emissions whilst, at the same time, the number of energy-consuming products in homes, and household energy consumption, is increasing. Retailers are important because they are at the interface between manufacturers of products and consumers and they supply the vast majority of consumer goods in developed countries like the UK, including energy using products. Large retailers have a consistent history of corporate responsibility reporting and have included plans and actions to influence consumer emissions within them. This paper adapts two frameworks to use them for systematically assessing large retailers' initiatives aimed at reducing consumers' emissions. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is adapted and used to analyse the strategic scope and coherence of these initiatives in relation to the businesses' sustainability strategies. The ISM ‘Individual Social Material’ framework is adapted and used to analyse how consumer behaviour change mechanisms are framed by retailers. These frameworks are used to analyse eighteen initiatives designed to reduce consumer emissions from eight of the largest UK retail businesses, identified from publicly available data. The results of the eighteen initiatives analysed show that the vast majority were not well planned nor were they strategically coherent. Secondly, most of these specific initiatives relied solely on providing information to consumers and thus deployed a rather narrow range of consumer behaviour change mechanisms. The research concludes that leaders of retail businesses and policy makers could use the FSSD to ensure processes, actions and measurements are comprehensive and integrated, in order to increase the materiality and impact of their initiatives to reduce consumer emissions in use. Furthermore, retailers could benefit from exploring different models of behaviour change from the ISM framework in order to access a wider set of tools for transformative system change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel multicriteria (MCDM) framework using AHP and q-ROLPBM operator is presented. • We incorporate stakeholders' degree of pessimistic and optimistic rate for all criteria. • Environmental and economic are the most crucial dimensions followed by social and technical ones. • e-fuel and e-biofuel are found to be the two top ranked production pathways. • Findings are valuable for policy/investment development for sustainable fuel production. It is widely believed that alternative low carbon fuels (ALCF) can be instrumental in achieving the transportation sector's decarbonization goal. Unlike conventional fossil-based fuels, ALCF can be produced through a combination of different chemical processes and feedstocks. The inherent complexity of the problem justifies the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to support decision-making in the presence of multiple criteria and data uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a novel stakeholder participation-based MCDM framework integrating experts' perspectives on ALCF production pathways using the analytics hierarchy process (AHP) and the q-rung orthopair linguistic partition Bonferroni mean (q-ROLPBM) operator. The key merit of our approach lies in treating criteria of different dimensions as heterogeneous indicators while considering the mutual influence between criteria within the same dimension. The proposed framework is applied to evaluate four ALCF production pathways against 13 criteria categorised under economic, environmental, technical, and social dimensions for the case of the United Kingdom (UK). Our analysis revealed the environmental and the economic dimensions to be the most important, followed by the social and technical evaluation dimensions. The e-fuel followed by the e-biofuel are found to be the two top-ranked production pathways that utilise the electrochemical reduction process and its combination with anaerobic digestion. These findings, along with our recommendations, provide decision-makers with guidelines on ALCF production pathway selection and formulate effective policies for investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The shortage of low cost and affordable housing in the UK has led to many investigations into new building masonry materials. Fired clay masonry bricks are conventionally used for mainstream masonry wall construction but suffer from the rising price of energy plus other related environmental problems such as high energy usage and carbon dioxide emission. The use of stabilised unfired clay bricks for masonry construction may solve these problems. This paper reports on the engineering properties of unfired clay bricks produced during the first industrial trial of unfired clay material development carried out at Hanson Brick Company, in Stewartby, Bedfordshire, under the Knowledge Exploitation Fund (KEF) Collaborative Industrial Research Project (CIRP) programme. The mixes were formulated using a locally available industrial by-product (Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag — GGBS) which is activated with an alkaline (lime or Portland cement) combined with clay soil. Portland cement was not used in the formulation of the unfired stabilised masonry bricks, except as a control, which is a significant scientific breakthrough for the building industry. Another breakthrough is the fact that only about 1.5% lime was used for GGBS activation. This level of lime is not sufficient for most road construction applications where less strength values are needed and where 3–8% lime is required for effective soil stabilisation. Hence, the final pricing of the unfired clay bricks is expected to be relatively low. The laboratory results demonstrate that the compressive strength, moisture content, rate of water absorption, percentage of void, density and durability assessment (repeated 24-hour freezing/thawing cycles) were all within the acceptable engineering standards for clay masonry units. The paper also discusses on the environmental performance of the unfired clay in comparison to the bricks, used in mainstream construction of today. The bricks produced using this technology can be used for low-medium cost housing and energy efficient masonry wall construction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Energy and environmental sustainability in urban rail transport have attracted substantial attention in the last decade. In the UK, about 29% of the current train fleets are run solely on diesel fuel, and the UK Government has pledged to remove all diesel-only trains by 2040. One option to achieve this ambitious goal is replacing diesel trains with hybrid trains. However, little has been done to evaluate the operational performance of replacing diesel trains with hybrid trains on the same track. This paper develops a novel Hybrid Train Simulator which can analyse the driving performance and energy flow among multiple energy sources (diesel, hydrogen and battery). Several practical case studies are presented based on typical mainline railways in the UK. Operation performance using diesel trains and hybrid trains is compared. This paper also proposes automatic smart switching control between multiple power sources according to the altitude of the route for hybrid trains. The case studies indicate that hybrid trains increase the journey time due to their low power capacity but improve energy efficiency significantly. Besides, implementing auto-switching on hybrid trains can reduce energy consumption by 6% compared with benchmark hybrid trains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities have become important drivers in promoting strategies for sustainable development. The primary objective of this article is to analyze the differences between public transportation in Newcastle upon Tyne, the city considered the most sustainable in the United Kingdom, and Florianópolis, a city with great potential for sustainable policies located in southern Brazil. This comparison may provide models, ideas and actions for the development of Florianópolis as a model of sustainability in South America. Therefore, a comparative analysis is provided: to observe changes, build models, and verify similarities and differences, while seeking to discover which behaviors govern political and social phenomena in the area of urban sustainability. This paper provides a comparative description of social and economic indicators: gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, inflation, employment, as well as the historical population evolution of the two cities. This work contrasts the sustainable transport model used by Newcastle and the reality of the transport needs of Florianópolis. This article is the first in a series to analyze the indicators for sustainable cities, focusing mainly on the reality of the South American city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic management literature has recognized the role of social and environmental activities in supporting a firm's economic well-being. Although some research has explored the role of social and environmental practices during uncertain periods, studies are still scarce. This paper contributes to this issue by studying corporate social responsibility (CSR) representation during environmental jolts. Through a multi-level analysis, we investigate the conceptualization of CSR in the context of Brexit. From a macro-level perspective, we explore CSR representation in the public discourse by looking at the output of economic journalists. Additionally, based on a micro-level analysis, we examine the CSR disclosure policies of firms and evaluate them in the context of an uncertain environment. Based on a sample of more than 1500 press release data from major UK-based business publications and more than 1000 shareholder letters from companies listed on three major European indices, the DAX 30, CAC 40, and FTSE 100, the text analysis techniques of topic modeling and 'bags of words' are used. The findings show that an unprecedented exogenous shock such as Brexit increases CSR representation in the public discourse and corporate communication strategies, suggesting the greater importance of CSR disclosure during uncertain periods. In addition evidence is shown that organizations target and adapt shareholder communication on CSR in accordance with market uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous research suggests that, despite a desire to introduce environmental concerns into New Product Design, many companies in the northwest of England have not done so. In order to understand more about why companies do or do not take on sustainability methodologies, an entirely new and rigorous approach was taken. This paper therefore presents the results of a questionnaire investigating the up-take of Eco/Sustainable Design in manufacturing companies in Sweden – a country that might be considered more environmentally progressive than the UK – and discusses them alongside the results of an identical questionnaire in the UK. The results are presented in the context of risk and risk aversion/management – in particular the risk associated with taking on board Design for Sustainability as a design method or a company strategy. It is found that there is no clear “winner” in sustainability between UK and Swedish engineering companies; there is encouraging news in both countries, with a desire to practice sustainability, but some that is not so good with the number of companies that actually implement relevant methodologies. It is apparent that there are still hindrances and perceived risks preventing companies taking sustainability fully on board, despite the recognition that sustainability is a “good thing”; the importance of the implementation of sustainability has not yet been fully grasped by industry and by those with the responsibility required to effect any changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Managing for sustainability is considered to be critical to the development of corporate sustainability, and is fundamentally about strategic organisational development and change. This paper presents the key findings from four case studies undertaken to investigate how the leaders in corporate sustainability in the UK precast concrete industry were managing for sustainability. It was found that by adopting a compliance approach, characterised by the development of management systems and continuous performance improvement cultures, the four companies studied were engaged in the activities and developing the capabilities necessary to manage for sustainability, and had progressed naturally to the ‘efficiency’ phase of corporate sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports on the development of a model for assessing transitions to sustainable mobility. The model uses the concepts of transition theory as a framework for assessing possible pathways by which a transition to a sustainable mobility society might happen. The modelling approach combines agent-based modelling techniques with a system dynamics structure. It is original in that there are two levels of agent. There are a small number of complex agents, which have an internal structure and are therefore subsystems within society, and a larger number of simple agents. Based on the UK data, the results show that Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) come to dominate, but only in the very long run (after 2030), while biofuels and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)-electric hybrids are the main alternatives to the regime in the next 10–30 years, because a) they are already developed and b) they fit better into current infrastructures. The model shows that technological transitions are most likely. Lifestyle change transitions require sustained pressure from the environment on society and behavioural change from consumers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses a novel digital output using mathematical computation of life cycle sustainability assessment for design decisions on systemic holistic sustainability of technical systems. The computational social life cycle assessment (SLCA) combining the supply chain import data and social hotspot database for interacting countries in entire supply chain indicates that self-generation in electricity sector gives savings in community infrastructure (68%), governance (53%), human rights (50%), labour rights & decent work (24%), and health & safety (8%), SLCA categories compared to electricity import scenarios in the UK. The life cycle assessment shows the carbon-efficient energy systems for net zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in increasing order of environmental impacts: hydroelectric, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar (4–76 gCO 2 eq./kWh). The technical and life cycle costing models show that within bioenergy, biomass combined heat and power systems give greater feasibility than microbial fuel cells with a levelized cost of electricity of 0.026 and 0.07 Euro/kWh. TESARREC™ (Trademark: UK00003321198), a novel web-based open-source digital output integrates intrinsic physicochemical, design, operating and systemic characteristics to model and analyse technical systems for sustainability and benchmark/standardise GHG of renewable, biomass and carbon dioxide capture and sequestration strategies for policy directives. [Display omitted] • Advances in mathematical computing and digitalisation for LCSA have been discussed. • Physicochemical-design-operating-systemic influences on technical and LCSA models. • Novel digital platform for a sustainable world: TESARREC™ Trademark: UK00003321198. • Hydroelectric-wind-biomass-geothermal-solar systems analysed for net zero GHG. • Biomass CHP and microbial fuel cell systems technoeconomic models discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a qualitative exploration of domestic energy consumption practices in the UK social housing sector, and perceived effectiveness of varying intervention techniques in motivating energy reductions. The study was conducted using a sample of N = 20 social housing residents, who had recently taken part in a 'serious game' energy behaviour change intervention trial, thus making them uniquely positioned to provide such insight and feedback on these issues. A series of one-on-one open-ended interview sessions was conducted in residents' homes at the end of the intervention period, using an open-ended discussion framework. Thematic analysis revealed that residents were highly engaged with the topic of energy saving, but that several psychological barriers existed which prevented many residents from changing them behaviour. In line with the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Norm Activation Model, these barriers included lack of awareness of the issue, action inertia, and perceived lack of behavioural control. Some residents did make savings following the trial, and our interviews provide useful insight into their decision making and behaviour change processes, including evidence for cross-contextual spillover effects, where residents made savings in other areas. However overall, the serious gaming approach did not inspire engagement from the target population, who frequently mentioned lack of time and/or desire to use overly 'technical' solutions for energy savings. Recommendations for ongoing intervention development are discussed, including preference for tailored non-technical visualisation tools and less time intensive versions of the game, and implications for future energy policy development are considered. • A qualitative exploration of domestic energy use practices in UK social housing. • Thematic analysis revealed determinants of energy use in line with TPB and NAM. • Barriers to behaviour change found to include action inertia and lack of awareness. • Digital technology solutions as used here may not be optimal for this target group. • Future interventions for this group should rely more on social influence processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]