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The manuscript presents the management of waste from marine vessels and cargo handling companies in a selected European Union port. The main objective of the paper is to analyse and evaluate the existing waste management model in the port of Szczecin in the context of circular economy. The expert research carried out is aimed, inter alia , at identifying which of the solutions currently in use need to be improved from an environmental perspective. These measures could serve as a basis for the development of green logistics chains for waste generated in connection with the organisation of shipping. What is of particular importance in this regard is the information flow, which preferably should be an integral part of an international IT system enabling tracking of waste streams from their place origin to final disposal. In light of the above, it is particularly important to look for solutions which will support the creation and adoption of models providing sufficient control over the entirety of green waste management activities, in line with the circular economy concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial symbiosis is realised when companies work collectively and collaboratively to establish ‘waste-to-resource’ exchanges with one another. In previous work, we presented the architecture of a collaboration platform that allows companies to simulate and analyse the economic viability of establishing such waste-to-resource exchanges in the By-product Exchange Network (BEN) model. In this paper, we describe how we enhance the platform with a database engine for waste-to-resource matching. The database engine aims to fill the gap in information and knowledge of what valuable resources can be recovered from wastes or by-products, and what wastes or by-products can be used as substitute raw materials, and what technology or processes are required to make the waste-to-resource conversion happen. The database engine is built on a graph database that models and stores data for waste-to-resource matching, and comprises a query processor for determining the matches from the stored data. The database engine is implemented as a web application and demonstrated through use cases based on paper and food wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Circular Economy (CE) has gained attention as a strategy for achieving sustainable development through cleaner production and reducing waste and pollution. At the same time, digital technologies are recognized as crucial sustainability drivers by enabling efficiency, collaboration, and innovation. This research paper explores the factors that support Green Entrepreneurship (GE) and digitalization in the context of CE and Waste Management (WM) in Indian manufacturing "Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises" (MSMEs). Further, the study prioritizes, establishes a contextual relationship, and clusters the GE factors that enable digitalization in the CE and WM of Indian manufacturing MSMEs. To meet research goals, the study uses a mixed-methods approach that includes a literature review, qualitative interviews with MSME managers, and theoretical support (stakeholder theory, resource-based view, dynamic capability theory, met expectation theory, and upper echelons theory) to find the enablers. Further, two-phase "Multi-Criteria Decision Making" (MCDM) tools are utilized. Initially, the quantitative "Best-Worst Method" (BWM) was used for ranking, and then "Total Interpretive Structural Modeling" (TISM) was used to establish a mutual relationship among the enablers. The strength of relationships among the enablers was established based on "dependence power" (DEP) and "driving power" (DRP). The findings through BWM analysis show that among the main category, technology-based enablers, and among sub-categories, top management and organizational coordination are the high-priority enablers/sub-enablers to optimize sustainable action. The findings also suggest that technology infrastructure for cleaner and sustainable manufacturing, knowledge of green entrepreneurs, training, the dynamic capacities of digitalization towards a CE, subsidies, and finance are driving enablers. The research contributes to understanding the enabling factors of GE and digitalization and their interdependencies for CE and sustainable development. [Display omitted] • Green Entrepreneurship and Digitalization drive Sustainable Waste Management and Circular Economy. • Top management and organizational coordination are crucial for sustainable action. • Infrastructure and knowledge drive digitalization in the Circular Economy. • Digitalization and green entrepreneurship complement the circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid population growth and urbanisation have accelerated waste generation, and effective waste management has become a major challenge worldwide. With advances in technology and management methods, waste management strategies have begun embracing digitalisation, leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, cloud/edge computing, machine learning, 5G communication, and blockchain technologies. Amongst them, the blockchain technology has the structural features of achieving information security and integrity without central guarantees. Blockchain also meets the data record/storage needs of waste management and the design of new mechanisms for effective waste management. These benefits make blockchain an attractive technology in the field of waste management, with researchers and practitioners alike investigating its broad applications to support sustainable waste management. However, this emerging technology has not yet been widely accepted by potential users. To further champion the application of blockchain technology, this review paper provides a systematic overview of the various pathways in which the technology has been applied in the waste management industry and further discusses its related challenges and opportunities via considering the promising prospect of combining blockchain technology with IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and life cycle assessment (LCA). This review also provides insights for interpreting some emerging applications of blockchain in the field of waste management and clarifying the research paths in the context of blockchain, digitalised waste management, and circular economy. [Display omitted] • Impacts of blockchain technology on waste management have been substantial. • Recent development from blockchain's functional perspectives was surveyed. • There is a long way towards blockchain-based sustainable waste management. • Relevant challenges and opportunities in blockchain applications were discussed. • Outlooks in digitalised waste management and circular economy were clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract European countries are attempting to promote sustainable development by transitioning from a linear to a circular economy, where waste is to be prevented and recycling activities are promoted. This paper studies the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies for the packaging waste in two later European adopter countries of waste management policies: Portugal and Spain. The main goal is to evaluate whether EPR policies in both countries have achieved their basic two goals: 1) reduction of waste, and 2) increase recycling activities. Two case-studies were built based on interviews made to main waste management stakeholders. The analysis shows that the implementation of the EPR policies have had a positive impact throughout the years in both countries. Regarding the waste reduction goal, the systems have still not been completely able to detach packaging waste production from economic growth, but they have been able to promote material usage reduction directly through the Green dot fee model adopted. Regarding the increasing of recycling activities, both countries have been able to increase such rates throughout the years, in the direction of the EU targets. Highlights • EPR policies implemented in Spain and Portugal are evaluated. • EPR policies have contributed to packaging waste reduction and increase recycling activities. • EPR policies are having a positive impact throughout the years in both countries. • Some challenges still need to be faced: eco-design promotion and packaging life-cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of small entrepreneurial companies and their partnerships with large corporations to advance the circular economy (CE). The authors provide insights from a U.S.-based empirical study that involved 12 companies and examined the emerging drivers, current challenges and future opportunities for advancing waste repurposing and product reuse. Many large companies fail to incorporate CE principles into their business strategy due to lack of mandates, costs, logistical hurdles and inertia. This presents an opportunity for entrepreneurial companies with innovative business models to fill the gap and provide critical links for corporations in reverse supply chains while creating new business opportunities with social benefits. The study found that despite the lack of federal regulations in the U.S. a growing number of corporations are partnering with entrepreneurs to reduce waste and advance product reuse. Key drivers for such trends include sustainability commitments and zero waste goals by companies and municipalities, European Union and U.S. state mandates, reputation and the growing focus on local sourcing. Technology, knowledge, and strategic partnerships between entrepreneurs and corporations play a critical role in reducing financial costs, time, energy, environmental impacts and resources, thus helping establish viable business models. The authors propose a new framework for corporate-entrepreneur collaborations to advance a CE. The study contributes to the research on the relationship between entrepreneurial innovation and the development of CE principles within corporate supply chains, a field that is still in its infant stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This VSI focuses on what cross-cutting insights might be gained from research to increase the energy/materials circularity and the contribution of eco-innovation, cleaner consumption, and waste management to produce a logical body of knowledge that may lead to increased resilience and a sustainable Planet. The articles' collection shows development trends of sustainable, cleaner production under the Special Issue: A Resilient and Sustainable World. Some selected d papers have been presented and emerged from the 10th and 11th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production (IWACP), held in hybrid mode in Italy (Ferrata and Florence). The contribution of the articles in this Special Issue could be divided into efforts toward sustainable and cleaner production, aiming (i) Eco-innovation for cleaner production and circular economy, (ii) Proper monitoring and identification of cleaner production, circular economy, and eco-innovation, (iii) cleaner production, circular economy and eco-innovation targeting social wellbeing and cleaner environment, (iv) cleaner production, circular economy and eco-innovation targeting emission reduction, and (v) cleaner production, circular economy and eco-innovation targeting improved and optimized production processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion of bioplastics' wastes may represent a valuable disposal strategy for these important substitutes for plastics, in order to reduce their leakage into the environment and to produce bioenergy in the form of biomethane, contributing positively to the sustainability of the entire bioplastics' life chain. Only lab-scale data about bioplastics' anaerobic degradability and biomethane production have been produced until now, using approaches far from full-scale conditions. This paper presents a novel approach in studying the potential of bioplastics to produce biomethane because a pioneering methodology was adopted, allowing acquisition of full-scale data that can be useful to further attest environmental and economic sustainability in recovering bioplastics' wastes. A simple and replicable experimental approach was proposed to studying bioplastic degradability during anaerobic digestion, which consisted of placing the bioplastics into a full-scale digester within perforated steel boxes. Three different bioplastics items (one starch-based and two polylactic-acid based) were co-digested with organic wastes in a real anaerobic digestion plant using the real process parameters (thermophilic temperature for 30 days of hydraulic retention time followed by 30 days of mesophilic maturation). The experiments were replicated at laboratory-scale to evaluate the potential for biomethane recovery from bioplastics degradation. Laboratory-scale data did not differ from the data coming from the full-scale experiment, i.e., bioplastic degradation was not affected by the reactor volume. Bioplastics showed an average degradation of 27 ± 5% on a weight basis and a different degradation mechanism for the two types studied was found through Fourier Transform-InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Starch-based bioplastics showed a quick consumption of the starch component, followed by a slow degradation of the polyester fraction. Polylactic acid bioplastics were degraded without chemical changes to their composition. In both laboratory-scale and full-scale experiments, temperature was a key parameter affecting bioplastics' degradation, i.e., thermophilic temperatures were needed to obtain a significant degradation. Biomethane potential determination of the bioplastics (135 ± 23 NLCH 4 kg Volatile Solids−1 as average at the end of the thermophilic digestion) proved that anaerobic digestion of bioplastics may be a sustainable approach, reducing bioplastic leakage and producing bioenergy (biogas), respecting Circular Economy principles. Anaerobic digestion may represent a valorisation treatment for bioplastics' wastes contributing positively to the sustainability of the entire bioplastics' life chain. [Display omitted] • First assessment of bioplastics' anaerobic degradation using a full-scale approach. • Starch-based and polylactic acid-based bioplastics degrade differently during AD. • Bioplastics' anaerobic degradation may enhance biomethane production from AD plant. • AD of bioplastics can avoid their leakage into natural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has seen a new wave of ambitious policies in order to address the mounting ecological damage caused by high levels of consumerism and the depletion of resources to manufacture short life-cycle products. In this paper ‘Zero Waste’ and ‘Sustainable Materials Management’ are examined as prominent labels of an evolving waste policy discourse towards waste prevention and reduction and material cycles. Using discourse analysis key documents are comparatively assessed, presenting the origins of these two concepts and how they entered the waste policy domain. The different framing tactics and governance models are then presented. The findings demonstrate that the different discourse paradigms around the concept of ‘waste’ and ‘materials’, influences what policy initiatives, measurement tools and outcomes are pursued. Although Zero Waste and Sustainable Materials Management are gaining popularity as indicators of shifting waste policy towards Sustainable Production and Consumption Policy, particularly with increasing discussion and application of Circular Economy governance models in Europe and China, a distinction still exists between the conceptualisation and implementation within and across the two concepts. It is in this transition towards a Circular Economy that it is valuable to review the role of policy labels, keywords and framing context in waste policy and the ability of enhanced waste management to assist in the development of more sustainable and environmentally acceptable economic and social behaviour models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mismanaged plastic waste is a major environmental concern, especially in countries of the Global South. Municipal solid waste management can not only alleviate environmental problems but also create jobs and promote local economic growth. However, providing appropriate waste management services is costly. The question is to what extent waste management policies that have proven to be successful in other geographies can help solve the challenge in developing countries. Specifically, the economics and financial flows along the value chain need to be known. In this paper, we shed light on these questions by presenting a novel, model-based method to elicit and assess the cost structure of the recycling sector in developing countries. We exemplify our method with plastics waste management in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana—an area particularly challenged by plastic waste. For this purpose, we surveyed over 80 participants of the waste management value chain and combined the data with insights from expert interviews and workshops. Based on this data, we built a bottom-up model with 67 parameters, reflecting all cost positions in the waste management value chain. We found that street waste pickers are the poorest and most vulnerable, earning only a fraction of the already low minimum wage. Middlemen and aggregators, while often being criticized for their earnings, also provide social-security-like services to waste pickers. In addition, formal and informal recyclers differ not only in earnings and size but also in recyclate quality where the informal sector provides higher quality. [Display omitted] • Analysis of formal & informal plastic waste management value chain in Accra, Ghana. • New bottom-up method for estimating & modelling true cost of waste management. • Waste pickers abstain from necessary safety equipment to achieve positive returns. • Formal recycling structures allow for scaling but reduce recyclate quality. • Substantial investments are needed to scale up recycling capacity and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of circular economy (CE), a recent popular global business trend, considerably minimizes waste and environmental pollution. However, studies exploring CE practices in the context of leather industry have been scant. To deal with this issue, this paper proposes a decision support framework for evaluating the challenges to CE practices in the context of leather industry. Best worst method, a generic decision support tool, is employed in the assessment process. The study findings reveal that "lack of financial support from authorities" is assigned the highest weight in the final ranking results. This indicates that the lack of financial facility poses a major challenge to the successful implementation of CE practices. The findings can assist industrial managers and authorities in taking the required actions to implement CE practices in the leather industry for the sustainable development of the leather sector. • A decision framework for exploring the challenges to CE practices is proposed. • The best worst method (BWM) is used to evaluate the challenges to CE. • The leather industry in an emerging economy context is tested using BWM. • Several managerial implications in an emerging economy context is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]