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The implementation of Cleaner Production (CP) is a strategy for achieving a corporate's sustainable development and therefore is an important instrument for improving environmental performance. Due to the rapid economic development and urbanization in China, the stone processing industry is developing fast, resulting in several environmental problems. The stone processing sector has begun to implement the CP technologies and practices to tackle with environmental problems caused by the production process. However, the evaluation methodologies of the effectiveness of CP implementation in this sector have rarely been examined in the literature. This paper proposed a CP evaluation system that enables decision-makers to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of CP in the stone processing industry. A three-level framework was structured with 6 first-grade indicators and 24 sub-indicators according to the context and characteristics of the stone processing production. And the evaluation criteria were closely related to the laws, rules, regulations and discharge standards in China as well as the current CP technology level. Using analytical hierarchy process and fuzzy membership degree analysis, the weights of each indicators were determined, and evaluation results were achieved. Moreover, the evaluation methodology was verified to be reasonable and practical in the case study of a stone processing firm in Shandong Province. The entire and detailed assessment results demonstrate that the evaluation methodology is helpful in providing guidelines for the implementation of CP strategy in the industry of stone processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pursuing a responsible and sustainable development, the United Nations urged to decouple economic growth from environmental impacts. Several European Union (EU) policies have been implemented towards such goal. Although multiple authors have evaluated the decoupling of the economic growth from the resource use or environmental concerns, the environmental assessment mostly focused on pressures rather than impacts, and used single indicators assumed to be a proxy of the overall effects on the environment. Furthermore, no studies were found using a process-based life cycle approach to quantify the environmental impacts of consumption. To solve such research gap, this paper assesses the decoupling in the EU focusing on potential environmental impacts, complementing a production-based approach with two options for accounting for the impacts of consumption. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the decoupling of the economic growth (in terms of Gross Domestic Product) from the environmental impacts due to EU-28 consumption, assessed by means of life cycle assessment (LCA). The decoupling is then assessed in impact terms rather than limited to pressures by using the Environmental Footprint (EF2017) indicators, which allows assessing 16 different impacts. The Consumption Footprint indicator quantified the environmental impacts of EU apparent consumption, including the territorial impacts (Domestic Footprint) and the embodied impacts in both imports and exports (Trade Footprint). The inventory of pressures for the trade component is compiled either with a bottom-up approach (process-based LCA of representative traded goods) or a top-down approach (input-output-based LCA). Methodological aspects influencing the decoupling assessment and the resulting outputs are presented and discussed. According to the results, the environmental impacts of EU-28 consumption showed decoupling during the last decades (2005–2014), between relative to absolute decoupling depending on the inventory modeling approach taken. Some countries showed higher decoupling levels than others displaying a heterogeneous map of EU-28 decoupling, which was led by acidification, particulate matter, land use and eutrophication impacts. Notwithstanding current limitations, the assessment of decoupling using consumption-based environmental indicators is very promising for supporting policy-making towards addressing the actual impacts driven by the EU production and consumption system. • Comprehensive assessment of the decoupling of environmental impacts of EU-28 consumption from GDP. • A life cycle perspective is taken for the environmental impact modeling. • Decoupling assessment need further refinements to be used for policy support. • Top-down and bottom-up approaches indicated from relative to absolute decoupling. • Decoupling of environmental impacts from human development index is also evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Some commentators on biofuel cultivation in developing countries suggest biofuel development may cause exploitation and marginalisation. Others suggest that on occasion biofuels can be a suitable option to advance local development. It is critical to broadly understand local conditions and sustainable biofuels implementation before determining development options specific to different biophysical, environmental, societal and power settings. In particular, there is a need to reflect on less exploitive, more equitable opportunities that uphold community integrity. This paper examines biofuel project implementation opportunities and impediments in a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa: Zimbabwe. Interviews were conducted in Zimbabwe with villagers, investors and other local stakeholders affected by a biofuel sugarcane case study project. The project was identified as having significant influences (positive and negative) on Zimbabwean rural populations. The article argues that through local education and capacity building, biofuel initiatives can uphold environmental and societal worthiness if developed in conjunction with effective sustainability design and implementation approaches. However, project sustainability, specific to localities, needs to be temporally verified for indirect impacts and socio-economic and environmental equality, with particular focus on gender issues and under-privileged groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper addresses three aspects of ‘growth’: the discourse, the policy, and the impacts. The growth discourse claims that the central factor for social, economic, political and environmental progress is economic growth – it is assumed to create wealth, and provide the necessary means for social and environmental purposes. On the basis of the growth discourse, different growth policies can be derived, based on different economic and political ideologies. In order to reveal the implications of de facto degrowth, two thought experiments are conducted, for physical and economic end-to-growth strategies. The latter is capable of meeting environmental objectives, but implies significant social tensions and hardships and calls for transition strategies consisting of carefully designed steps. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]