Människor vistas idag gärna i naturen för att må bra och friluftsliv tar allt större del i folks vardag. Friluftsliv och funktionskläder har tillsammans med diskussionen kring hållbarhet bidragit till en utveckling av hållbara och miljövänliga material i friluftsbranschen. Samtidigt sker det en växande oro gällande miljöpåverkan inom textilbranschen och den textila värdekedjan. Textilföretag i friluftsbranschen blir granskade i termer av deras textil sourcing och användningen av kemiska substanser. Problemet är hur friluftsvarumärken, återförsäljare och slutkonsumenter i den textila värdekedjan ska samverka för att kedjan och friluftsplagg ska bli mer miljövänliga och fria ifrån farliga kemikalier. Studien vill belysa ett samhällsansvar och behovet av att ställa krav mellan leden i den textila värdekedjan. Syftet är att undersöka om varumärken, återförsäljare och konsumenter kan samverka i den textila värdekedjan kring valet av miljövänliga alternativ för friluftsplagg. För att uppfylla syftet har två forskningsfrågor undersökts och analyserats genom metodtriangulering samt en insamling av sekundär teori har gjorts. Första forskningsfrågan är hur de tre leden i den textila värdekedjan förhåller sig kring miljövänliga och mindre miljövänliga friluftsplagg. Följt av fråga två kan de tre leden samverka för att justera nivån på de krav som ställs på friluftsplagg för att minska miljöpåverkan. Den primära teorin utgörs av det empiriska materialet som består av en enkätundersökning riktad till konsumenter samt mailintervjuer till fem friluftsvarumärken och två av deras återförsäljare. Studien visar att det finns en stor miljömedvetenhet hos samtliga led. Majoriteten av friluftsutövarna, varumärkena och återförsäljarna är villiga att sänka funktionskraven hos ytterplagg om det i slutändan innebär att produkten blir mer miljövänlig. För att justera kraven bör varumärkena undersöka vilka friluftsutövare som konsumerar vad samt hur produkterna används. Detta genom att återförsäljarna interagerar med konsumenterna och vidarebefordrar viktig kunskap och information till varumärkena. Studien kan dra slutsatsen att friluftsvarumärkena och deras återförsäljare har störst möjlighet till att påverka konsumtionen genom att erbjuda och “lära” konsumenten att handla rätt produkter.

Dans une période bouleversée par les guerres aux désastreuses conséquences, ainsi que par des hivers rigoureux et des maladies touchant aussi bien les hommes que le bétail, les communautés d’habitants donnent à bail des fermes d’approvisionnement afin de fournir à leur population des denrées de première nécessité. Elles veillent aussi à faire respecter des prix et des conditions de vente réglementés ainsi que des critères de qualité et des mesures sanitaires précises. De cette manière, les communautés vont réussir à maintenir un certain équilibre économique et conjuguer leurs intérêts avec ceux des fermiers et des habitants. Pour autant, c’est surtout l’idée de solidarité qui prévaut dans la volonté d’établir ces fermes et non pas celle de rentabilité, celles-ci n’étant pas uniquement instaurées dans le but d’augmenter le budget communal. Les services d’approvisionnement apparaissent en effet comme de véritables services publics : le contrat les instituant est conclu « pour le bien public », par les pouvoirs publics, avec le concours de personnes privées et l’ensemble des règles qui les régit relèvent du fonctionnement de services publics et donc d’un véritable droit administratif. / In a period disrupted by war, with disastrous consequences, harsh winters and diseases affecting men as well as livestock, communities and land owners engaged in leasing land to tenants to provide the population with staples at prices and conditions of sale that were regulated according to government quality controls and specific health measures. In doing this, successful communities maintained economic balance and combined the interests of both land owners and farm tenants and residents; moreover, this idea of solidarity prevailed in the will to implement this new system of farming and not that of crude profitability, meaning that farms were not only introduced to increase the municipal budget nor managed with individual land owners’ interests in mind. With a set of rules, put in place by the government, support from individual land owners, and a contract, ‘for the public good’, this structured approach notes the establishment of Supply Services is a public service and becoming a truly administrative law.

Proton Lighting AB tillverkar professionell belysning för skola, industri, butiker och offentliga miljöer. Proton Lighting har en årlig tillverkning av 400 000 armaturer i sin fabrik i Värnamo. En ökad global konkurrens medför ökad prispress, samtidigt som Proton Lighting önskar vara flexibla mot sina kunder och erbjuda konkurrenskraftiga leveranstider. För att öka sin konkurrenskraft på marknaden undersöker Proton Lighting möjligheterna till en effektivisering av monteringsprocessen. Monteringen av armaturer utförs idag av montörer självständigt vid enskilda monteringsbänkar. Armaturerna monteras och färdigställs till största del i en sekvens, av en och samma montör. Samarbete och interaktion mellan montörer är minimalt med nuvarande arbetssätt och kompentensvariationer är påtagliga. Montörerna ansvarar också för utförandet av stödjande aktiviteter kopplade till monteringen. Materialförsörjningen utförs idag till stor del av montörerna själva, allt från beställning av material, hämta plockartiklar till retur av material. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka möjligheterna till en förändrad monteringsprincip med tillhörande materialförsörjning som effektiviserar monteringsprocessen genom att minimera andelen stödjande aktiviteter kopplade till monteringen. En fallstudie genomfördes på Proton Lighting i syfte att belysa problembilden samt skapa en nulägesbeskrivning av verksamheten. Insamlad data har analyserats tillsammans med studiens teoretiska ramverk kring monteringssystem, materialhantering och produktivitet. Analysen visar att montörerna ägnar stor del av sin arbetstid åt stödjande aktiviteter kopplade till monteringen vilket skapar effektivitetsförluster. Resultatet för studien visar på att med förändrad monteringsprincip med tillhörande materialförsörjning är det möjligt att skapa en effektiviserad monteringsprocess. Utifrån studiens resultat presenteras åtgärdsförslag som adresserar Proton Lightings problembild, främst syftar de till att öka andelen tid som montörerna ägnar åt montering och färdigställande av armaturer. / Proton Lighting is a producer of professional luminaires used in public areas, schools, industry etc. 400 000 luminaires are produced every year at Proton Lightings factory in Värnamo, Sweden. An increased presence by global competitors has induced pressure on prices in the market, while Proton Lighting still wants to offer its costumer a wide variety in products and short lead time delivery. To stay competitive in the luminaire market, Proton Lighting is looking to make their assembly process more cost effective. Today’s assembly of luminaires is performed individually by operators at individual workstations. Each luminaire is assembled in one sequence by a single operator. There is a low presence of co-operation and interaction between operators with the present work procedure, and differences in performance and competence is evident. Operators is also responsible for supportive activities related to the assembling process. Material supply is largely handled by the operators themselves, from ordering material, gather material to returning old material. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of changing the current way of assembling luminaires and supplying material. This will be done to minimize the number of supporting activities connected to the assembling of luminaires, which will result in a more cost-effective assembly. A case study was performed at Proton Lighting to shed light at the existing problems with today’s assembly process. Gathered data was analysed together with the available literature regarding assembly work, material supply and productivity. The analysis showed that the operators spent a lot of time performing supportive activities connected to the assembly work which creates losses in effectiveness. The result of the study shows that with changes to way of assembling luminaires and changing the way of supplying material an increase in effectiveness is generated. The study presents suggestions that addresses Proton Lightings problems related to existing assembly process. The suggestions focus on increasing the time that operators spend assembling luminaire.

The current logistics chains must be designed to copy with short life cycles of products, high stock velocity, low degree of predictability etc. The conditions for accuracy, reliability and flexibility of deliveries at the markets have been changing, and that is why it is inevitable to seek new alternative methods that would lead to higher efficiency levels, remaining competitiveness and, at the same time, fulfil the needs and wishes of customers. In this paper I focuse on cross-docking which is a newer distribution method. In the first part of the paper, I try to determine the principles of this operation in distribution, identify individual types of cross-docking and in detail describe the assumptions and conditions under which the method should be implemented to reach the requested results. The paper then continues with an analysis of the current position of cross-docking and there are given several examples of demand driven supply chains that have been using this distribution method at a certain point. These examples are followed with a discussion on current options and problems of implementing cross-docking in the case of retailers and manufacturers.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / Water supply and sanitation remain a huge problem in townships and rural areas of South Africa, in effect affecting the water supply, hygiene and health of marginalized communities. Following democracy in 1994, South Africa’s new government embarked on a program of eradicating backlogs in water supply and sanitation that had become endemic under apartheid in townships and rural areas. In addition, South Africa’s constitution categorically states that every citizen has a right to a minimum of basic water supply and sanitation. Internationally, access to basic water supply and sanitation are fundamental human rights. Thus the South African government aims is to ensure that all South Africans have access to basic water and sanitation services. This study investigated the quantity and quality of water and how these effect sanitation and hygiene of communities using Walmer Township in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality as a case study. The study used a multi-pronged methodological approach including structured interviews with a sample of households, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observations and secondary information. Although the Walmer Community felt that they had access to sufficient quantity of water for their daily use and that the quality of the water was fine, the reality was that most households use less than the daily minimum amount of water per person as required in the constitution because of the distance where they have to fetch the water, which is too far to collect more water than they absolutely need. There is need for municipality to provide more stand pipes in order to reduce the distance that most households have to walk to fetch water. 80% of Walmer residents still use the bucket system, which is the issue that the community is more aggrieved about. One of the reasons the bucket system persists is the unplanned development of the Township and the type of dwellings (mostly shacks) that people still use. Also, the Township has grown and mushroomed organically as a result of the constant influx of people looking for better economic opportunities from rural areas or other urban areas. This makes it very difficult for the municipality to plan for and provide services and infrastructure as the Municipality is always playing catch-up. Worse still, the average number of people that use each bucket toilet (over 80) makes it extremely difficult to maintain the toilets clean and in functional and usable state at all times. Another problem is that the buckets, in particular those managed by the municipality, are not collected as scheduled resulting in spill-over of the toilets. Most of all, there are currently no clear arrangements around management and maintenance of the bucket toilets. Therefore the impact that the bucket system has on the residents’ health and hygiene, and the general Township environment is dire. The uncontrolled and continuing influx of people into Walmer Township has led to very high population density, with the average number of people per household up to ten. Most people of working age in these households are unemployed, which means that most households in the Township depend on social grants for survival. The high unemployment rate and dependency on social grants by most households in Walmer Township means that the community cannot afford to pay for services and therefore depend on amenities provided by the Municipality. The majority of the population of Walmer Township depends on basic services provided by the Municipality. These are provided as public amenities available to all Walmer residents, which makes them largely ‘open access’. This has resulted in poor management and poor maintenance of these amenities. The unhygienic state of most of the bucket toilets and the poor state of water stand taps is as a result of this current management arrangement. It would improve management of these public amenities if a system of locating stand taps and bucket toilets to specific households that could limit access and use to these defined groups of households was introduced. These households would then be responsible for maintaining and managing use of the specific and allocated amenities. The current management arrangements for these public amenities point to the fact that there is currently lack of participatory planning and management between the Municipality and the community. The Municipality takes top-down decisions resulting in disjuncture between the Municipality and the Community in terms of real community needs, provision of these needs, and how they should be serviced and managed.

ABSTRACT The theoretical argument that emerges from my empirical study argues that food provisioning systems in Johannesburg, as a potential lens to further investigation of food supply systems in the developing south cannot be classified within a traditional-modern dichotomy. This dissertation proposes a new conceptual device – a food provisioning continuum – which should inform research on African food supply systems in the future. The process of locating this rich case within a broader theoretical paradigm to validate it and to provide it discursive space, however, is not objective or without friction. I argue that it is possible to choose to locate rich empirical material in different conceptual frameworks, related not only to its applicability, but also to how the research may be valued and seen to extend knowledge. The expectation of the research community and the epistemological demand of new research, for a Masters dissertation is that the scholarly work will build on and extend existing knowledge. It is assumed that thorough research will challenge the boundaries of knowledge and that the candidate, after having undergone this academic rite of passage, will graduate from being a student to being a colleague within a research community. However, the process of creating new theory and advancing existing theory is not quite an objective or frictionless process as it first appears. Research in the south is validated more highly if it is located within, or builds upon international/northern theory even by research forums in the south like the NRF. The pressure for researchers from the south to locate their research in conceptual frameworks from the north – in order to be validated – appears to be one of the rules of the game. While this is validation as part of an academic exercise may be necessary, the practise entrenches spatial or geographical hierarchies within academia and academic discourse. The epistemological process of forging new theoretical frontiers is thus a constructed, unnatural space fraught with less critical valuing systems than are expected to be present within academia, no less within the discipline of geography.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, 2016 / The water-energy nexus considers the relationship between water and energy resources. Increases in environmental degradation and social pressures in recent years have necessitated the development of manufacturing processes that are conservative with respect to both these resources, while maintaining financial viability. This can be achieved by process integration (PI); a holistic approach to design which emphasises the unity of processes. Within the realm of PI, water network synthesis (WNS) explores avenues for reuse, recycle and regeneration of effluent in order to minimise freshwater consumption and wastewater production. When regeneration is required, membrane-based treatment processes may be employed. These processes are energy intensive and result in a trade-off between water and energy minimisation, thus creating an avenue for optimisation. Previous work in WNS employed a black box approach to represent regenerators in water minimisation problems. However, this misrepresents the cost of regeneration and underestimates the energy requirements of a system. The aim of the research presented in this dissertation is to develop an integrated water regeneration network synthesis model to simultaneously minimise water and energy in a water network. A novel MINLP model for the design of an electrodialysis (ED) unit that is capable of treating a binary mixture of simple salts was developed from first principles. This ED model was embedded into a water network superstructure optimisation model, where the objective was to minimise freshwater and energy consumption, wastewater productions, and associated costs. The model was applied to a pulp and paper case study, considering several scenarios. Global optimisation of the integrated water network and ED design model, with variable contaminant removal ratios, was found to yield the best results. A total of 38% savings in freshwater, 68% reduction in wastewater production and 55% overall cost reduction were observed when compared with the original design. This model also led to a 80% reduction in regeneration (energy) cost. / GS2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science school of Geosciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Hydrogeology. Johannesburg, June 2017. / The Masama Sandstone Aquifer is located in a semi-arid region of south-eastern Botswana where there are no perennial rivers. Groundwater is the main source of water supply for the communities. Historically many water drilling programs have been carried out in this area and the hydrogeological system has been conceptualized. An integrated approach coupling environmental isotopes, radioisotopes and multivariate statistical analysis of the hydrochemical variables was employed to study the origin, age, recharge conditions, rock-water interaction and the hydrological link between the aquifer and geological structures. The major ions in this area are Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and HCO-3. Groundwater in the Masama area fall in the transition from a Na-HCO-3 –type through Ca-Na-HCO-3 to Ca-Mg-HCO-3 -type waters from the western to the eastern part of the area. The water types are as a result of cation exchange, carbonate dissolution and rock-weathering processes. The δ18O and δ2H values vary spatially depending on the source of moisture, rainfall season, geology, topography and groundwater circulation depth. Deep circulating groundwaters are isotopically depleted whilst shallow circulating groundwaters are isotopically enriched with respect to winter rain. Low tritium values < 0.8TU and 14C values < 80pmc testifies for recharge. Recent rainfall amount in the area is not sufficient enough to make a profound replenishment in the aquifer. Tritium, 14C and Chloride Mass Balance helped in identifying recharge location and hydrologic connections between structures and the sandstone aquifer elucidating that recharge zones are in the NE and NW of the study area. High recharge rates occur in the north-eastern part and the Makhujwane fault act as a conduit for groundwater recharge. This study provides a better understanding of the aquifer and the information contained herein can be incorporated into future works for sustainable use of the groundwater resource. / XL2017

No description available.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Hydrogeology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, School of Geosciences, 2017. / Hartbeespoort Dam, the source of irrigation and potable water for the local community of Hartbeespoort area is a vulnerable water resource. The aim of this research was to evaluate the interaction between dam water and groundwater as well as characterise the hydrochemical data from metals and tritium. The former was done through the application of environmental isotopes and the implementation of a long term water balance, while the latter used hydrochemical data to define the spatial distribution of metals and tritium. The results indicated that the dam water is separated from the groundwater in winter. Two sources of mixing were recognized to have occurred downstream of the dam in 2015 but not in the Hartbeespoort dam area. These were identified as artificial through the runoff of agricultural water that was abstracted from the dam and through the pumping of water near the fault. Higher than normal tritium concentration indicated that contamination comes through the Crocodile River after the fault connecting the river to Pelindaba, the nuclear power generation plant south of Hartbeespoort Dam in the Broederstroom area. The Crocodile River showed that the contamination of water by lead, 22.11ppb in summer and 3.8 ppb in winter, and cadmium,2.2 ppb in winter. The Magalies River feeds the dam with copper. All metals accumulate at the dam wall and settles in the sediment, diluting the downstream water. Boreholes near the dam and spring along the fault are vulnerable to contamination. The water balance estimation resulted 18 345 472m3, with a 3.9% error, gain of water to the dam from the groundwater greater than the amount exiting the dam to through groundwater. The groundwater entering the dam is estimated to be 32 517 704m3. The groundwater exiting the dam is estimated at 14 172 232m3. The difference in groundwater showed a decrease of 10 000 000m3 over the 15 year period from 1st October 2000 until the 30th September 2015. Consequently, these results show an increased stress placed on the groundwater presumably due to an increase in groundwater abstraction from agriculture and the expanding mining area. / GR2018