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This study explores how Korea’s ELV recycling policy can be improved to meet the targeted ELV recycling rate by reviewing the characteristics of the recycling policies adopted in Korea and abroad and conducting an economic analysis of each step of the ELV recycling process, namely, dismantling (including waste gas treatment), shredding, and ASR recycling. The costs and revenues of each ELV treatment process was computed using the data from operators in Korea to estimate their economic feasibility. The findings indicated that, in the case of Korea, dismantling accounted for the largest portion of the ELV recycling process, pointing to the need for policies providing financial support to ELV dismantlers to enhance the overall ELV recycling rate. At the post-dismantling stage, it was found that greater attention to the ELV shredding stage and diversifying the treatment methods for recycled automotive shredder residue (ASR) can be valid measures to reduce Korea’s current reliance on dismantling. However, institutional or financial support will be essential to assist with the initial investment costs for developing ASR treatment technologies and constructing new facilities.

In light of the growing attention to the need for establishing a lifecycle-oriented circular economy and to promote resource circulation to maximize the utilization of limited resources, this paper presents a case study on setting-up new national-level indicators and targets in accordance to the shift in the national waste management paradigm from waste treatment to resource circulation, which is being initiated in multiple countries around the world. Specifically, using the case of Korea, which recently implemented its new Framework Act for Resource Circulation, this study illustrates the process for setting new indicators and projecting Korea’s waste management based on the indicators developed in this study. The five main indicators suggested are the final disposal rate, actual recycling rate, waste to energy recovery rate, resource circulation rate, and resource productivity, and their precise definitions and calculation methods and the necessary revision in national statistical data collection for obtaining the required data for the indicators are discussed. For the effective delivery of the policies in the long term, the annual targets for the indicators and overall strategies for promoting resource circulation are proposed based on the predictions for future population growth and waste generation. With continuous effort from 2018 to 2027, it is expected that Korea will be able to reduce its final disposal rate from 8.7% to 3.0% and increase its actual recycling rate from 76.4% to 82.0%, waste to energy recovery rate from 6.95% to 12.66%, resource circulation rate to 14.0% to 16.4%, and resource productivity to 630 USD/ton to 1900 USD/ton.

The increase in end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) has highlighted the need for more advanced ELV dismantling and recycling processes. To understand the flow of ELVs after disposal, this study conducted a material flow analysis of ELVs by dividing the ELV recycling process into the stages of discarding, collection, treatment, resource recovery, and sales/export. According to our analysis, the recycling rate of ELVs in South Korea was 88.7%. Losses in liquid waste, airbags, waste refrigerants occurred due to their destruction or releasement into the atmosphere during the recycling process, and losses in the heat energy produced by formal sectors occurred at the final stage of ELV recycling. Valuable scrap metal, reusable parts, and ferrous and nonferrous metals were relatively well-recycled, pointing to the need to promote the recycling of less valuable materials, such as plastic, glass, rubber, and sheet foam. Metals recovered through shredding and automotive shredder residue (ASR) recycling are sold to steel mills and refineries, and the heat energy recovered through ASR recycling is supplied to nearby industrial facilities. Additional material flow analysis of ELVs will help identify the obstacles hindering the improvement of Korea

Since an invention of synthetic fibers (textiles), our life quality has been improved. However, the cumulative production and disposal of them have perceived as significant since they are not biodegradable and hard to be upcycled/recycled. From washing textiles, microplastics are released into the environment, which are regarded as emerging contaminants. As a means for source reduction of microplastics, this study proposed a rapid disposal platform for waste textiles (WTs), converting them into value-added products. To this end, catalytic pyrolysis of WT was studied. To offer more environmentally sound process, CO

Под апсайклингом обычно подразумевается преобразование материалов отходов в нечто полезное или ценное, и это полезная концепция, которая может быть применена не только к промышленному дизайну в сфере обращения с отходами, но также к рециклингу отходов и рециркуляции ресурсов. Предлагаемое исследование выдвигает на первый план апсайклинг отходов как ключевую концепцию повышения ценности отходов путем переопределения понятия “рециклинг материалов отходов и выброшенных продуктов таким образом, чтобы повысить их ценность”. Четыре стратегии апсайклинга связаны с анализом потоков материалов, проведенным для отходов электронных и электротехнического оборудования, в частности, холодильников и компьютеров, для изучения технологий, доступных для внедрения, и выработки рекомендаций по стимулированию апсайклинга. Объем отработанных холодильников, собранных организационным сектором, составляет 121642 т/год, а неформальным сектором 63823 т/год. Текущий уровень рециклинга отходов холодильников был оценен в 88,53%. В общей сложности, 7585 т/год отработанных компьютеров было собрано организованным сектором и 3807 т/год неформальным сектором после удаления. Между тем, текущий уровень рециклинга отработанных компьютеров оценивался в 77,43%. По мнению авторов, в случае холодильников можно внедрить 28 технологий апсайклинга, а в случае компьютеров 15 технологий. Уточняя более широкую концепцию апсайклинга и рассматривая стадии материального потока, авторы предложили подход, который включает универсально применимые направления для включения апсайклинга в планы утилизации и рециклинга ресурсов.

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the energy recovery and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potentials from solid waste. Based on the current and proposed solid waste management scenarios of Daejeon Metropolitan City in Korea, this study evaluates the energy recovery and GHG reduction potentials of landfill gas recovery, steam heat recovery by incineration, biogas or solid fuel production from organic waste, and solid refuse fuel from solid waste. The results indicate that the energy recovery potential per one ton of waste was largest for solid recovered fuel (SRF) production from municipal solid waste at 2.94 GJ/ton, followed by steam heat generation (2.34 GJ/ton), solid fuel production from sewage sludge (0.77 GJ/ton), biogas production from food waste (0.443 GJ/ton), and landfill gas recovery (0.177 GJ/ton). The energy recovery potentials of all solid waste materials are expected to increase from 252,130 GJ/year in 2012 to 525,540 GJ/ton in 2021. In 2012, GHG reduction by waste-to-energy was 16,061 ton CO2 eq./year; it is predicted to be 33,477 ton CO2 eq./year in 2021.

Massive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have been criticized as the cause of global warming, and the waste sector, serving as the end-of-life treatment of products, is inevitably one of the contributors to the anthropogenic GHG emissions. As landfill area is becoming scarce in Hong Kong, the government proposed the Integrated Waste Management Facilities (IWMF) plan which includes building incinerators for solid waste treatment. However, as incinerating solid waste can increase GHG emissions, controlling GHG emissions from the waste sector in Hong Kong is a thorny problem. This study evaluates GHG emissions from the waste sector in Hong Kong using a calculation tool under the 2006 IPCC inventory guidelines to estimate the projected GHGs emission according to the waste development plan of Hong Kong. The analysis results show that after implementing IWMF, GHG emissions from landfills decrease, while total GHG emissions from the entire waste sector increase, mainly due to the combustion of petroleum products in incinerators. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the increased emission can be offset when solid waste disposal is reduced by 40%. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to improve the recycling and reuse rate of waste in Hong Kong.

As waste treatment facilities become old, their operation and maintenance costs could increase, which translates to higher treatment costs and environmental burden. This study applies the concept of eco-efficiency to evaluate waste treatment facilities considering the various conditions of waste treatment operations based on the case of Korea. In Korea, waste treatment methods were largely divided into five categories, and facilities for each treatment method were chosen based on their size, location, and waste properties for data collection. The method for evaluating the facilities' eco-efficiencies were developed using the concepts of environmental and economic performances. The results of the eco-efficiency evaluation showed that landfills were most environmentally efficient, followed by the organic waste biogasification facilities, food waste recycling facilities, incineration facilities, and, lastly, combustible waste-to-fuel facilities. The results of the eco-efficiency evaluation were further reviewed in terms of three factors which assess the status of existing facilities as well as to identify the environmental and economic indicators which significantly affect the eco-efficiency of waste treatment facilities by treatment method and propose strategic policies for promoting better waste treatment operations.

The aim of this study was to estimate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from whole life cycle stages of a sewer pipeline system and suggest the strategies to mitigate GHG emissions from the system. The process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) with a city-scale inventory database of a sewer pipeline system was conducted. The GHG emissions (direct, indirect, and embodied) generated from a sewer pipeline system in Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC), South Korea, were estimated for a case study. The potential improvement actions which can mitigate GHG emissions were evaluated through a scenario analysis based on a sensitivity analysis. The amount of GHG emissions varied with the size (150, 300, 450, 700, and 900 mm) and materials (polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), concrete, and cast iron) of the pipeline. Pipes with smaller diameter emitted less GHG, and the concrete pipe generated lower amount of GHG than pipes made from other materials. The case study demonstrated that the operation (OP) stage (3.67 × 104 t CO2eq year−1, 64.9%) is the most significant for total GHG emissions (5.65 × 104 t CO2eq year−1) because a huge amount of CH4 (3.51 × 104 t CO2eq year−1) can be generated at the stage due to biofilm reaction in the inner surface of pipeline. Mitigation of CH4 emissions by reducing hydraulic retention time (HRT), optimizing surface area-to-volume (A/V) ratio of pipes, and lowering biofilm reaction during the OP stage could be effective ways to reduce total GHG emissions from the sewer pipeline system. For the rehabilitation of sewer pipeline system in DMC, the use of small diameter pipe, combination of pipe materials, and periodic maintenance activities are suggested as suitable strategies that could mitigate GHG emissions. This study demonstrated the usability and appropriateness of the process-based LCA providing effective GHG mitigation strategies at a city-scale sewer pipeline system. The results obtained from this study could be applied to the development of comprehensive models which can precisely estimate all GHG emissions generated from sewer pipeline and other urban environmental systems.

Solid refuse fuel (SRF) produced from waste materials is a promising fuel that can be utilized for energy recovery in industries. This study considered both characterization and weighting modeling as life cycle assessment (LCA) results. This study aimed to analyze the flows of materials and energy and to evaluate the environmental impact of SRF plants using LCA and compared them with an incineration plant. Based on the results of material and energy flow analysis, SRF products had various energy potentials depending on the treatment method of municipal solid waste (MSW) and replaced the current fossil fuels by SRF combustion. Global impacts were mainly influenced by energy consumption, especially drying methods in the production of SRF, and affected the results of the weighting analysis. The SRF plant with a bio-drying option was evaluated as the best effective practice in the weighting analysis. The LCA results in this study indicated 0.021–9.88 points according to drying methods for SRF production and 1.38 points for incineration. In the sensitivity analysis, the environmental impact of SRF production was found to be significantly affected by the drying methods for MSW and the utilization of fossil energy. Thus, improvement of the drying options could significantly reduce the environmental impact.

This paper focuses on the evaluation of potential environmental impacts of food waste management practices by material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) during different life cycle stages toward the environmentally sustainable options for Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC) in Korea. The MFA and LCA studies were conducted to examine different recycling facilities of food waste. The results of the LCA study indicate that, among the different recycling methodologies currently in practice in DMC, Scenario 4 (wet and dry feed site) conduced to higher global warming potential (GWP) and higher acidification potential (AP), whereas Scenarios 2 (wet feed site 1) and 3 (wet feed site 2) resulted in the lowest impact. This is mainly due to the emission caused during the treatment stage. For eutrophication potential (EP), Scenario 1 (composting site) contributed to higher environmental impacts due to the emission of ammonia generated during the treatment process, while in case of photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), the collection stage for all recycling facilities led to higher impacts to the environment due to the combustion of fossil fuels. This study indicates that the proper disposal of the final residues, such as solid sludge and screened materials, could aid in reducing environmental burdens.

Since an invention of synthetic fibers (textiles), our life quality has been improved. However, the cumulative production and disposal of them have perceived as significant since they are not biodegradable and hard to be upcycled/recycled. From washing textiles, microplastics are released into the environment, which are regarded as emerging contaminants. As a means for source reduction of microplastics, this study proposed a rapid disposal platform for waste textiles (WTs), converting them into value-added products. To this end, catalytic pyrolysis of WT was studied. To offer more environmentally sound process, CO2 was used as a raw material for WT pyrolysis. Thermal cracking of WT led to the production of syngas and CH4 under the CO2 environment. CO2 resulted in additional CO production via gas phase reaction with volatile compounds evolved from pyrolysis of WT. To expedite the reaction kinetics for syngas formation, catalytic pyrolysis was done over Co-based catalyst. Comparing to non-catalytic pyrolysis, CO2-assisted catalytic pyrolysis had 3- and 8-times higher production of H2 and CO, respectively. This process also suppressed catalyst deactivation, converting more than 80 wt% of WT into syngas and CH4. The more generation of CO from the use of CO2 as a raw material offers an effective means to minimize the formations of harmful chemical species, such as benzene derivatives and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

In the existing paradigm for waste management, landfills are the final disposal site for waste with no control over the waste being sent to the sites. However, the expanding number of landfills that are at the end of their lifespans and the increasing amount of waste disposed of to landfills have presented a growing need for a shift in this paradigm, which can be achieved by the active promotion of landfill mining and resource recovery. In this study, we analyze the landfill resource recovery potentials to understand the effects on landfill lifespan extension, reduction in landfill disposal rate, energy saving, and reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Simulations based on material flow analysis were conducted on existing landfills, which were categorized into four different types based on their remaining capacities and availability of nearby incineration or SRF facilities. The resource recovery potentials, GHG reduction effect, and energy saving effect were higher for Type 2-1 and Type 2-2 landfills with higher ratios of combustible waste. The landfill lifespan extension effect was the highest for Type 2-2 landfill which receives a relatively smaller amount of waste than the other landfills. The reduction in landfill disposal rate was highest for Type 3, which does not have an incinerator or SRF facilities nearby. On the other hand, the overall effects, including the effect on reducing the landfill disposal rate, are the lowest for Type 1 because the chosen landfill only covers a significantly small proportion of the total waste generated in the city compared to the other landfills. The findings of this study suggest that appropriate landfill mining and reclamation operations are integral to prolonging the lifespans of existing landfills and present insights for building future landfill management strategies.

This paper presents the estimation of actual recyclable amounts and the evaluation of waste oil recycling processes at recycling facilities using material flow analysis (MFA). The estimation of actual recycling rates through the processes of waste lubricating oils is a very important subject not only in the point of view oil recycling efficiency by energy conversion processes but also in the perspective of the recycling technology level. In this study, the recycling processes and recycling rates of waste lubricating oil recycling facilities were evaluated by using a MFA approach, a total of 10 site visits and a total of 30 site questionnaires in Korea. The MFA methodology based on mass balance approach applied to identify the inputs and outputs of waste oils during the recycling processes at waste oil recycling facilities. It is necessary to determine the composition and flows of the input materials to be recycled and foreign substances in a waste recycling facility. A complete understanding of the waste flows in the processes along with the site visit and data surveys for the recycling facilities was required to develop a material flow for the processes and determine the process yield by different treatment methods (chemical distillation, vacuum distillation and high temperature pyrolysis). The results show that on average the process yields for chemical distillation, vacuum distillation, and high temperature pyrolysis were 89.9 ± 7.7%, 77.9 ± 16.1%, and 57.9 ± 9.3%, respectively. During the chemical distillation method, water in waste oils was a major fraction (> 50%), while the vacuum distillation method resulted oil large amounts of oil sludge produced during the recycling process. The process yields for different treatment methods depended upon several factors including the quality of incoming waste oils, the type and operating conditions of recycling processes that are applied to. Based on the material flow analysis in this study, the actual recycled amount of waste oil was estimated to be approximately 260,809 ton in 2011.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the most widely used methods of decision support. However, few studies have examined whether stakeholders prefer midpoint or endpoint approaches. In this regard, the present study examines the attitudes toward urban solid waste management, environmental issues, and scenario evaluations by using midpoint and endpoint interpretations of LCA results. This study introduces three types of social groups that typically respond to environmental conflicts: the individualist, hierarchist, and egalitarian groups. Although residents are likely to recognize global impacts as the most important issue, their view is likely to change depending on system and avoided emissions. Consistent with the Seoul Metropolitan Area’s new policy designed to increase the incineration ratio, almost half of all respondents preferred the scenario. Noteworthy is that the respondents’ preference for midpoint and endpoint decision-making tools is not consistent with that in previous studies. Most of the respondents indicated that the midpoint approach would be better in evaluating environmental systems.

This study suggested environmental and economic evaluations by developing a scenario according to the various treatment options of food waste in Korea. In particular, the study evaluated the possibility about the combined treatment of food waste and human excrement after using food waste disposers (FWDs). The scenario including only composting (133 kg CO2 equiv./ton-household organic waste) or only FWDs (125 kg CO2 equiv./ton-household organic waste) was superior to the other scenarios in the environmental aspect and the scenario including only composting (101 USD/ton-household organic waste) was superior to the other scenarios in the economic aspect. However, the study discovered that 52% of greenhouse gas emission was reduced when sewage pretreatment was conducted in houses after using FWDs and also when biogas was collected on site and utilized in the private power station. Furthermore, the energy saving effect due to recovery of biogas has found to be larger in the environment aspect than in the economic aspect.

This paper presents the actual recycling rates and recycling processes of waste plastic recycling facilities using material flow analysis. Determination of actual recycling rates through the processes of waste plastics is a very important subject not only from the point of plastic recycling efficiency energy conversion but also from the perspective of the recycling technology level. In this study, the recycling processes and recycling rates of waste plastic recycling facilities were evaluated by the MFA analysis based on 14 site visits and 25 questionnaires. The MFA methodology based on mass balance approach applied to identify the inputs and outputs of recyclable plastic materials in the recycling processes at recycling facilities. It is necessary to determine the composition and flows of the input materials to be recycled in a recycling facility. A complete understanding of the waste flows in the processes along with the site visit and data surveys for the recycling facilities was required to develop a material flow for the processes and determine the actual recycling rate. The results show that the average actual recycling rates for the recycling facilities by the site visit and the questionnaire was found to be approximately 87.5 ± 7.1% and 84.3 ± 14.5%, respectively. The recycling rates depended upon several factors including the quality of incoming waste plastics, the type and operating conditions of recycling processes, and the type of final products. According to the national statistics, the recycling rate of waste plastics was about 53.7%, while the actual recycling rate at national level was estimated to be approximately 45.1% by considering the recycling performance evaluated as well as the type of recycling process applied. The results of MFA for the recycling processes served as a tool to evaluate the performance of recycling efficiency with regard to the composition of the products during recycling. They may also support the development of the strategy of improvement of recycling processes to maximize resource recovery out of the waste plastic materials.

Few studies have examined differing interpretations of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) results between midpoints and endpoints for the same systems. This paper focuses on the LCIA of municipal solid waste (MSW) systems by taking both the midpoint and endpoint approaches and uses LIME (Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method based on Endpoint Modeling, version 2006). With respect to global and site-dependent factors, environmental impact categories were divided into global, regional, and local scales. Results are shown as net emissions consisting of system emissions and avoided emissions. This study is divided into five segments. The first segment develops the LCIA framework and four MSW scenarios based on the current MSW composition and systems of Seoul, considering adaptable results from the hierarchy MSW systems. In addition, two systems are considered: main MSW systems and optional systems. Several “what if” scenarios are discussed, including various compositions and classifications of MSW. In the second segment, life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis is applied to define various inputs and outputs to and from MSW systems, including air (23 categories), water (28 categories) and land (waste) emissions, resource consumption, land use, recovered material, compost, landfill gas, biogas, and heat energy. The third segment, taking the midpoint approach, investigates the nine environmental impacts of the system and avoided emissions. In the fourth segment, this study, taking the endpoint approach, evaluates the damages, dividing the four safeguard subjects affected by 11 environmental impact categories of the system and avoided emissions. In these third and fourth segments, LCIA is applied to analyze various end-of-life scenarios for same MSW materials. The final segment defines the differences from the results in accordance with the two previous life cycle assessment methodologies (the LCIA and interpretations with respect to midpoints and endpoints). With the respect to midpoints, Scenario 1 (S1) using 100% landfills (L) is the worst performer in terms of global (global warming and resource consumption), regional (acidification, human toxicity, and ecotoxicity), and local (waste: landfill volume) impacts. In terms of all impacts except global warming and waste, Scenario 2 (S2) using 64.2% L and 35.8% material recycling (MR) was found to be the most effective system. With respect to global-scale endpoints, S1 was the worst performer in terms of human health and social assets, whereas the other scenarios with MR were poor and bad performers in terms of biodiversity and primary production. With respect to regional- and local-scale endpoints, S1 was the worst performer in terms of human health, biodiversity, and primary production, whereas Scenario 4 (S4) using 4.2% L (only incombustibles), 35.8% MR, 28.5% biological treatment (BT), and 31.5% incineration (I) was the worst performer in terms of social assets. S4 was the best performer in terms of global-scale endpoints, whereas S2 and Scenario 3 (S3, using 35.7% L, 35.8% MR, and 28.5% BT) were the best on regional- and local-scale endpoints, respectively. With respect to the monetization analysis, which considered net emissions and integrated all endpoints, S3 was found to be “the most effective system,” indicating US $31.6 savings per ton-waste. The results of this study illustrate the differences in the LCIA outcomes and interpretations with respect to the midpoint and endpoint approaches. In addition, it would be possible to interpret the effect of each indicator on safeguard subjects by integrating separate midpoints. The LCIA results of each endpoint for the scenarios were generally consistent with those of each midpoint. However, the results changed dramatically when the main contributor was a new category not included in midpoint categories. The key advantage with respect to grouping impact categories in the midpoint and endpoint approaches can be described as “the simplification of midpoints and the segmentation of endpoints.” This research raises many questions that warrant further research. This method does not provide an uncertainty evaluation of input data at the inventory level; it addresses only the main contributor for each impact category to four endpoints. In addition, it would be beneficial to investigate the suitability of midpoints and endpoints for different stakeholders with a low or high level of environmental expertise by comparing previous studies.

This paper analyzes the amount and characteristics of municipal solid waste (MSW) according to the inhabitant density of population and the business concentration in 25 districts in Seoul. Further, the heat energy recovery and avoided CO 2 emissions of four incineration plants located in residential and commercial areas in Seoul are examined. The amount of residential waste per capita tended to increase as the density of inhabitants decreased. The amount of commercial waste per capita tended to increase as the business concentration increased. The examination of the heat energy recovery characteristics indicated that the four incineration plants produced heat energy that depended on residential or commercial areas based on population and business. The most important result regarding avoided CO 2 emissions was that commercial areas with many office-type businesses had the most effective CO 2 emission savings by combusting 1 kg of waste. Assuming the full-scale operation of the four incineration plants, the amount of saved CO 2 emissions per year was 444 Gg CO 2 and 57,006 households in Seoul can be provided with heat energy equivalent to 542,711 Nm 3 of LNG.

A credible accounting of national and regional inventories for the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction has emerged as one of the most significant current discussions. This article assessed the regional GHG emissions by three categories of the waste sector in Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC), Korea, examined the potential for DMC to reduce GHG emission, and discussed the methodology modified from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Korea national guidelines. During the last five years, DMC's overall GHG emissions were 239 thousand tons CO2 eq./year from eleven public environmental infrastructure facilities, with a population of 1.52 million. Of the three categories, solid waste treatment/disposal contributes 68%, whilst wastewater treatment and others contribute 22% and 10% respectively. Among GHG unit emissions per ton of waste treatment, the biggest contributor was waste incineration of 694 kg CO2 eq./ton, followed by waste disposal of 483 kg CO2 eq./ton, biological treatment of solid waste of 209 kg CO2 eq./ton, wastewater treatment of 0.241 kg CO2 eq./m(3), and public water supplies of 0.067 kg CO2 eq./m(3). Furthermore, it is suggested that the potential in reducing GHG emissions from landfill process can be as high as 47.5% by increasing landfill gas recovery up to 50%. Therefore, it is apparent that reduction strategies for the main contributors of GHG emissions should take precedence over minor contributors and lead to the best practice for managing GHGs abatement.

Emerging concern over social implications of large-scale adoption is a motivation to require certification of the sustainable origins of biofuels. In terms of the feasibility of biofuel supply in Japan, this study examines the behavioral intentions of sustainable activities by using social criteria of international levels in the context of bioethanol feedstock production in Khon Kaen, Thailand. The models adapted from the theory of planned behavior were tested by using the structural equation model. The main results are as follows: (1) In terms of the perception of working rights and conditions, which was largely influenced by the “awareness: real conditions” and “awareness: real conditions for the participants’ personal lives”, “personal norm” indicated the highest score. (2) “Education” had the greatest impact on solutions for personal welfare and well-being with respect to sustainable activities. (3) The scores of the importance for social welfare and well-being included six categories: reasonable compensation, reasonable working hours, healthcare and safety, fair treatment of all workers, good communication, and education with the similar ranges of scores and regression weights. (4) The “attitude toward the behavior” was the most influential predictor of “behavioral intention”. Results of this investigation give an implication to design a social criteria framework in agriculture activities such as the ethanol feedstock production.