Engineering research and development work is undergoing a reorientation from focusing on specific parts of different systems to a broader perspective of systems level, albeit at a slower pace. This reorientation should be further developed and enhanced with the aim of organizing and structuring our technical systems in meeting sustainability requirements in face of global ecological threats that have far-reaching social and economic implications, which can no longer be captured using conventional approach of research. Until a list of universally acceptable, clear, and measurable indicators of sustainable development is developed, the work with sustainability metrics should continue to evolve as a relative measure of ecological, economic, and social performance of human activities in general, and technical systems in particular. This work can be done by comparing the relative performance of alternative technologies of providing the same well-defined function or service; or by characterizing technologies that enjoy different levels of societal priorities using relevant performance indicators. In both cases, concepts and methods of industrial ecology play a vital role. This thesis is about the development and application of a systematic approach for the assessment of the performance of technical systems from the perspective of systems analysis, sustainability, sustainability assessment, and industrial ecology. The systematic approach developed and characterized in this thesis advocates for a simultaneous assessment of the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of performance of technologies in avoiding sub-optimization and problem shifting between dimensions. It gives a holistic picture by taking a life cycle perspective of all important aspects. The systematic assessment of technical systems provides an even-handed assessment resulting in a cumulative knowledge. A modular structure of the approach makes it flexible enough in terms of comparing a number of alternatives at the same time, and carrying out the assessment of the three dimensions independently. It should give way to transparent system where the level of quality of input data can be comprehended. The assessment approach should focus on a selected number of key input data, tested calculation procedures, and comprehensible result presentation. The challenge in developing and applying this approach is the complexity of method integration and information processing. The different parts to be included in the same platform come in with additional uncertainties hampering result interpretations. The hitherto tendency of promoting disciplinary lines will continue to challenge further developments of such interdisciplinary approaches. The thesis draws on the experience from ORWARE, a Swedish technology assessment tool applied in the assessment of waste management systems and energy systems; and from the EcoEffect tool used in the assessment of building properties; all assessed as components of a larger system. The thesis underlines the importance of sustainability considerations beginning from the research and development phase of technical systems. The core message of this thesis is that technical systems should be researched as indivisible parts of a complex whole that includes society and the natural environment. Results from such researches can then be transformed into design codes and specifications for use in the research and development, planning and structuring, and implementation and management of technical systems. / QC 20100505

Within the greater movement of sustainable development, industrial practices have been identified as a key area in which much improvement is both necessary and possible. The development and operation of industrial parks have become a focus of these efforts. The basic premise of this thesis is that a sustainable industrial park should function in an economically competitive manner that provides for human needs through market mechanisms while doing so in alliance with the local community, in congruence with the local ecosystem and within the carrying capacity of the planet. From a municipal planning and economic development perspective, this thesis focuses upon the development of a municipal strategy to effectuate sustainable industrial development and operations. Utilizing a blended theoretical approach incorporating general systems theory and planning theories, the proposed industrial park surrounding the Hamilton International Airport, in the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has been analyzed to develop a viable sustainability vision for the park, identify barriers to implementing and achieving that vision, and formulate a municipal strategy to promote and enable the pursuit and realization of that vision. It was found that there is an important role for the municipality to assume and numerous opportunities for concrete municipal action throughout the planning, development and operational stages of the industrial park. Upon reflection of the research process, the findings were extrapolated to garner wider applicability and relevance to other municipalities provincially, nationally, and internationally, as well as to the professional and academic community involved in industrial sustainability.

Design of products permits to yield goods and services to produce satisfaction on customers, which is measured as value. However, it is at this stage in which most of the environmental impact, from a lifecycle perspective, is added to the product. Eco-design aims at increasing value of products while reducing the burdens on the environment by means conscious design towards efficient use of resources. That efficiency, referred to as eco-efficiency, can be increased in a number of manners within environmental engineering. Traditionally, different fields have tackled materials, energy flows and products from different angles or approaches. In this thesis we describe Functional Sales (FS) and Industrial Ecology (IE) as examples of these. Within this latter, we put emphasis on Industrial Symbiosis (IS) and Eco-effectiveness. We consider these approaches are suitable to work in the framework of eco-design to increase ecoefficiency. By adding services to material products, and managing material and energy flows with a more ecological consciousness, we expect to increase value of products while reducing the impact on the environment. To analyse this potential improvement, we developed a method involving a new eco-efficiency index (VERI), that recursively intends to ease decisions on possible eco-efficient alternatives. This index and its method are applied to a case study on management of olive oil supply in region of Murcia, Spain. Here, we propose three scenarios that will involve the implementation of FS and IE to compare the outcomes in value and environmental performance against an idealised current supply chain. The results obtained, although not accurate, suggest that FS and EI should be more taken into account in eco-design and, this latter, to also consider holistic viewpoints to find more eco-efficient alternatives for a product development.

Within the greater movement of sustainable development, industrial practices have been identified as a key area in which much improvement is both necessary and possible. The development and operation of industrial parks have become a focus of these efforts. The basic premise of this thesis is that a sustainable industrial park should function in an economically competitive manner that provides for human needs through market mechanisms while doing so in alliance with the local community, in congruence with the local ecosystem and within the carrying capacity of the planet. From a municipal planning and economic development perspective, this thesis focuses upon the development of a municipal strategy to effectuate sustainable industrial development and operations. Utilizing a blended theoretical approach incorporating general systems theory and planning theories, the proposed industrial park surrounding the Hamilton International Airport, in the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has been analyzed to develop a viable sustainability vision for the park, identify barriers to implementing and achieving that vision, and formulate a municipal strategy to promote and enable the pursuit and realization of that vision. It was found that there is an important role for the municipality to assume and numerous opportunities for concrete municipal action throughout the planning, development and operational stages of the industrial park. Upon reflection of the research process, the findings were extrapolated to garner wider applicability and relevance to other municipalities provincially, nationally, and internationally, as well as to the professional and academic community involved in industrial sustainability.

Contaminated sites in low prioritized regions demand remediation technologies that are cost- and energy-effective and locally adapted. Parameters such as the time frame during which bioremediation degradation needs to occur may not be as restraining as in urban environments. This licentiate project aims to explore opportunities and constraints for appropriate soil remediation based on organic by-products in tropical developing countries and sparsely populated areas in industrial countries. Ecological Engineering and the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development were explored as planning tools to steer bioremediation methods towards sustainability. The use of the five concepts of Ecological Engineering within the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development can steer bioremediation in low prioritized regions towards sustainability. Pilot-scale and laboratory experiments were undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of such bioremediation methods. Experiments carried out at the experiment station in Chontales, Nicaragua showed some promising results, but also revealed problems associated with the clay rich soils, which are typical for tropical regions. Treatment of diesel contaminated ultisol with 6 mL whey kg-1 dw in a pilot-scale experiment considerably increased the degradation rate of diesel constituents, but no effects on the degradation rates were observed after treatment with compost tea or pyroligneous acid.The soil columns study suggests that despite a favorable particle size distribution for microbial transport, the sandy loam retained a greater fraction of the microorganisms present in the ACT in the top 10 cm than the clay loam, presumably because the lower bulk density and higher SOM in the clay loam aided transport and growth of microorganisms.

Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The objective of this study is to develop a tool to enable manufacturing enterprises to develop a sustainability strategy suited to their specific business. In the study, the business reality that faces enterprises is discussed from a systems perspective. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are explored. Specific attention is paid to building mental models of what these concepts entail and the application thereof in individual manufacturing enterprises. Specific strategies and concepts, such as the Five Capitals Model, the Natural Step and Industrial Ecology, are highlighted. These tools and strategies are then consolidated into a ―Sustainable Roadmap‖, a tool to facilitate the development of a sustainability strategy. The ―Sustainability Roadmap‖ is tested by applying it to a case study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: maatskappye sal help om ‗n onderneming spesifieke volhoubaarheids strategie te ontwikkel. In die studie word die besigheids realiteit van vervaardigingsmaatskappye bespreek van sistemiese perspektief. Die konsepte van volhoubaarheid en volhoubare ontwikkeling word verken. Spesifieke aandag word gegee aan die bou van modelle van wat hierdie konsepte behels. Spesifieke strategieë en modelle soos die ―Five Capitals Model‖, ―Natural Step‖ en ‖Industrial Ecology‖ word uitgelig. Hierdie konsepte en strategieë word dan saamgevat op ‗n sistematiese manier in ‗n ―Volhoubaarheids Padkaart‖, ‗n padkaart wat maatskappye kan volg om ‗n volhoubaarheids strategie te ontwikkel. Die ―Volhoubaarheids Padkaart‖ word getoets deur dit toe te pas op ‗n gevallestudie.

L’organisation du système agroalimentaire du Nicaragua est fortement influencée par le Mouvement Coopératif Paysans (MCP) hérité de la révolution sandiniste. Dans un contexte de réaffirmation du rôle des agricultures familiales et paysannes dans les trajectoires de développement, cette thèse en économie politique propose une réflexion prospective sur des leviers potentiels d’accompagnement de stratégies d’écodéveloppement. Fruit d’une recherche qualitative de terrain, l’analyse des entretiens menés auprès de paysans et paysannes dans trois zones rurales du Nicaragua permet de dresser un panorama motivationnel de l’organisation en coopérative. Cette recherche aboutit en premier lieu à l’identification et à la qualification de dynamiques de type « SYAL-Coopérative » (Système Agroalimentaire Localisé de base Coopérative). Rapprochant agroécologie et écologie industrielle radicale, elle permet en second lieu de questionner le rôle de l’idéal-type de l’écosystème dans la structuration des systèmes agroalimentaires ainsi que dans la définition des trajectoires d’écodéveloppement. / The Nicaraguan agrifood system organization is strongly influenced by the Peasant Cooperative Movement (MCP) inherited from the Sandinist Revolution. In a context in which the role of family farming and peasant agriculture in development trajectories tend to be reaffirmed, this thesis in political economics offers a prospective reflexion on potential levers to support Ecodevelopment strategies. As the fruit of a qualitative field research, the analysis of the interviews carried out with peasants in three rural areas of Nicaragua enables us to draw a motivational panorama of cooperative organization. This research results firstly in the identification and qualification of Cooperative-LAFS (Cooperative based Localized Agri-Food Systems) dynamics. Secondly, it enables, while bringing together agroecology and radical industrial ecology, to question the part of the ideal-type ecosystem in structuring agrifood systems, as well as in defining and accompanying Ecodevelopment trajectories.

Submitted by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-02-14T18:20:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PINTO_JUNIOR_Marcos_2016.pdf: 74569511 bytes, checksum: 32a68b14280a0775bacb90a6092e5223 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-02-14T18:20:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PINTO_JUNIOR_Marcos_2016.pdf: 74569511 bytes, checksum: 32a68b14280a0775bacb90a6092e5223 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-02-14T18:20:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PINTO_JUNIOR_Marcos_2016.pdf: 74569511 bytes, checksum: 32a68b14280a0775bacb90a6092e5223 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-14T18:20:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PINTO_JUNIOR_Marcos_2016.pdf: 74569511 bytes, checksum: 32a68b14280a0775bacb90a6092e5223 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-22 / Não recebi financiamento / This research is an exploratory study presenting the Design for Environment - DfE as one of the environmental management practices in Industrial Ecology in the product development cycle. The DfE should examine the entire life cycle of a product, such as its development, manufacture, use and disposal proposing changes to the project in order to minimize its environmental impact. This product design technique makes it possible to achieve the usual goals in their design, such as performance, reliability and cost of manufacturing. These together with environmental goals, for example to reduce environmental damage, reduced use of resources, increasing energy efficiency and material recycling. Thus, there is need for replacement almost obligatory for some product types. However, the rapid replacement of these products, as well as its disposal can create serious environmental problems, by volume, the material in its composition that take a long time to decompose, such as plastic, glass and metal, but especially because of the heavy metals that can compose, are highly damaging to human health. Not being enough, there are still suitable locations for disposal of many products into disuse. The growth of the contingent of consumers who prefer to buy goods and services that respect the nature is one of the factors that drives the treatment of environmental problems, in addition to the rapid popularization of products and obsolescence of some models. Aspects of reduction of natural resources can be developed into a company that include one Lean Manufacturing environment that aims at a reduction of waste, seeking to improve productivity and quality. This relationship contribute to sustainable development suggesting the existence of an enabling environment for the realization of efforts aimed at reducing or eliminating waste. Through a case study it became clear that DfE practices is related to some Lean tools, as part of its purpose. Also some tools that the company uses environmental exert influence, may be applied in product design to minimize the environmental impact. This work presents the practices observed by a Literature Review Systematic comparison with the case study and the DfE practices that relate to Lean. / Esta pesquisa é um estudo exploratório apresentando o Design for Environment - DfE como sendo uma das práticas de gestão ambiental em Ecologia Industrial no ciclo de desenvolvimento do produto. O DfE deve examinar todo o ciclo de vida de um produto, como seu desenvolvimento, fabricação, uso e disposição final propondo alterações no projeto, de forma a minimizar seu impacto ambiental. Esta técnica de projeto de produto possibilita atingir os objetivos usuais em sua concepção, como desempenho, confiabilidade e custo de manufatura. Estes em conjunto com os objetivos ambientais, por exemplo a redução em danos ambientais, redução do uso de recursos naturais, incremento da eficiência energética e reciclagem de materiais. Desta forma, há necessidade de substituição quase obrigatória para alguns tipos de produto. Todavia, a rápida substituição desses produtos, assim como o seu descarte pode gerar sérios problemas ambientais, pelo volume, pelos materiais em sua composição que demoram muito tempo para se decompor, tais como: o plástico, o vidro e o metal, mas, especialmente, por causa dos metais pesados que pode o compor, são altamente prejudiciais à saúde humana. Não sendo suficiente, ainda faltam locais apropriados para a disposição final de muitos produtos em desuso. O crescimento do contingente de consumidores que preferem comprar produtos e serviços que respeitem a natureza é um dos fatores que impulsiona o tratamento dos problemas ambientais, além da rápida popularização de produtos e obsolescência de alguns modelos. Os aspectos de redução de recursos naturais podem ser desenvolvidos em uma empresa que contemplem um ambiente de Lean Manufacturing que objetiva uma redução de desperdícios, buscando a melhoria da produtividade e da qualidade. Essa relação contribuir para o desenvolvimento sustentável sugerindo a existência de um ambiente propício para a realização de esforços voltados para a redução ou eliminação de desperdícios. Por meio de um estudo de caso foi possível evidenciar que práticas de DfE tem relação com algumas ferramentas de Lean, sendo parte de seu propósito. Também algumas ferramentas que a empresa utiliza exercem influência ambientais, podendo ser aplicadas na concepção do produto para minimização do impacto ambiental. Assim, este trabalho apresenta as práticas observadas por meio de uma Revisão Bibliográfica Sistemática comparando com o caso estudado e as práticas de DfE que se relacionam com o Lean.

Estudos relacionados ao consumo de recursos e à emissão de resíduos na escala territorial local se originaram nas pioneiras pesquisas associadas ao conceito de metabolismo urbano. Nos últimos 15 anos, observa-se um crescimento do número de estudos aplicados a cidades, municípios ou regiões metropolitanas. A Análise dos Fluxos de Materiais - AFM (Material Flow Analysis) vem se consolidando como a abordagem metodológica predominante para esse tipo de investigação, a qual objetiva prover informações sobre fluxos de materiais e de energia, usualmente em unidades de massa, entrando e deixando uma sociedade. No entanto, todos os casos estudados na literatura prévia correspondem a capitais nacionais ou a municípios com centralidade econômica e de gestão do território na região as quais pertencem. Adicionalmente, não há estudos desenvolvidos no Brasil. Em face dessas lacunas, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais associados ao metabolismo de um município brasileiro de pequeno porte (MBPP). Para tanto se adotou como estudo de caso o município de Feliz-RS. Como objetivos intermediários da pesquisa estabeleceram-se: a) Identificação dos métodos existentes para caracterização de fluxos de materiais na escala local e análise das possibilidades de aplicação no contexto dos MBPP; b) Desenvolvimento de um detalhamento metodológico da AFM, para a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais de MBPP; c) Análise das limitações e oportunidades para uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental de municípios. Como resultados, avalia-se que o detalhamento metodológico desenvolvido é funcional e replicável para municípios brasileiros com o mesmo perfil, além de fornecer informações bastante detalhadas acerca dos fluxos ocorrentes no município adotado como caso. Assim, é possível realizar análises com diferentes níveis de desagregação. Quanto aos fluxos de materiais de Feliz, encontrou-se que o consumo doméstico de materiais per capita (DMC/ per capita) do município é alto, se comparado àqueles já caracterizados na literatura. Essa constatação corrobora com a proposição de que municípios com produção primária e secundária tendem a demandar, proporcionalmente, mais recursos do que aqueles que são consumidores finais. Quanto ao uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental, verifica-se um alto potencial, com vantagens, em relação a outros métodos correntemente adotados. Entretanto, essas oportunidades ainda são pouco exploradas no contexto internacional e ignoradas no Brasil, ao se analisar a literatura existente. / Studies related to resources consumption and wastes emissions in a local territorial scale were originated from pioneering researches related to the urban metabolism concept. Over the past 15 years, there was a growth in the number of such studies applied to cities, municipalities and metropolitan areas. At the same time, Material Flow Analysis - MFA was consolidated as the predominant methodological approach for this type of research. However, it must be pointed out that all studied cases have been related to national capitals or counties, with economics centrality and land management in their own area. Besides, no studies of this nature were found as being developed in Brazil. Thus, the main goal of the research presented in this paper was to characterize material flows associated with the metabolism of a small Brazilian municipality and for this purpose the municipality of Feliz was adopted as a case study. Three intermediate objectives were established: a) To identify existing methods for material flows characterization on the local scale and to analyse the possibilities of applying them in the context of small Brazilian municipalities; b) to develop a MFA methodological detailing for the characterization of material flows of small Brazilian municipalities; c) to analyse constraints and opportunities for the use of MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability. As results, it is considered that the methodological detailing developed raises the possibility of replicating the procedures applied in Feliz to other Brazilian municipalities, being this research a first and referential step in this direction. Besides, it provides very detailed information on flows occurring in the municipality adopted as the case study. Thus, it is possible ti further develop of analyses considering different levels of disaggregation. Concerning the material flows associated with the metabolism of Feliz, it was found that the studied municipality presents a DMC per capita comparable or superior to that of larger municipalities already analyzed by previous researches. This finding corroborates the hypothesis that municipalities with primary and secondary production tend to demand proportionately more resources than those who are the final consumers. Regarding the use of the MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability, it was verified that it presents a high potential, with advantages over other methods currently adopted. However, when analyzing the existing literature it was noticed that these opportunities are still little explored in the international context and ignored in Brazil.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2017-02-22T21:30:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Luiz Fernando Rodrigues Pinto.pdf: 1161647 bytes, checksum: 3d06b04d5495e820cae1a590d3e7d7ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-22T21:30:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luiz Fernando Rodrigues Pinto.pdf: 1161647 bytes, checksum: 3d06b04d5495e820cae1a590d3e7d7ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-30 / The automotive industry is known to develop methodologies and practices that, subsequent, they are adopted by companies of other sectors. The growing concern about environmental preservation has encouraged vehicle manufactures to extend environmental practices to their suppliers, among them the Environmental Management System. Such mobilization suggests that companies would be in the right way to achieve high level of Industrial Ecology. This research objective is to analyze Industrial Ecology in the Brazilian automotive sector, through the compliance with the Environmental Management System requirements. Specifically aims: to identify types of Industrial Ecology and its variables; to assess the use of Industrial Ecology resources and compliance for each Environmental Management System requirement and; to verify the relation of Environmental Management System with the evolutive levels of Industrial Ecology. The method adopted to reach this objective was a survey in companies of Brazilian automotive sector. The results have shown signs that companies are at initial level in the evolutive scale of Industrial Ecology. The main contribution of this research consists in developing a relation model of constructs, Environmental Management System and types of Industrial Ecology that can measure the contributions and relations of the respective constructs for companies inside and outside the automotive sector. / A indústria automotiva é conhecida por desenvolver metodologias que, posteriormente, são adotadas por empresas de outros setores. A crescente preocupação com a preservação do meio ambiente tem estimulado as grandes montadoras a disseminar, para seus fornecedores, a importância da adoção de práticas ambientais, entre elas o Sistema de Gestão Ambiental. Tal mobilização sugere que as empresas estejam no caminho certo para alcançar um elevado nível de Ecologia Industrial. O objetivo dessa pesquisa é analisar a Ecologia Industrial no setor automotivo brasileiro, por meio do atendimento aos requisitos do Sistema de Gestão Ambiental. Em específico visa: identificar os tipos de Ecologia Industrial e suas variáveis; avaliar a utilização de recursos da Ecologia Industrial e o atendimento a cada requisito de Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e; verificar a relação entre Sistema de Gestão Ambiental com os níveis evolutivos de Ecologia Industrial. A metodologia de pesquisa adotada para alcançar esse objetivo foi a survey em empresas do setor automotivo brasileiro, com certificação ISO 14001. Os resultados apontaram indícios de que as empresas estão posicionadas no estágio inicial da escala evolutiva da Ecologia Industrial. A principal contribuição dessa pesquisa reside na elaboração do modelo das relações dos constructos, Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e tipos de Ecologia Industrial que podem medir as contribuições e as relações dos respectivos constructos, para empresas certificadas ISO 14001 do setor automotivo ou mesmo fora dele.