To reach the sustainable development goals of agenda 2030, mankind must continuously work towards developing sustainable industrial processes. The concept of Total Quality Management, Lean/Green manufacturing has been frequently applied separately, but studies indicate that the combination of the concepts can yield synergically benefits from an economic and environmental perspective. The process industry has a continuous flow of residuals which is a potential opportunity to gain a competitive edge through eliminating waste and embracing a circular economy system. The lack of exploring operational methods to achieve better results in relation to waste management and utilization of waste have inspired this thesis. This study has established a chain of events that enable other researchers and managers to find, define, explain and solve problems connected to waste management systems. The results indicate that it is possible to find opportunities within the organization to reuse already procured resources but also that the utility of storage vessels is connected to the overall efficiency of the waste management system. Interestingly, the results also indicate that there is an industrial culture related to the case that hampers the increase of efficiency which can be explained by the cornerstones of Total Quality Management and Lean manufacturing. Lean waste i.e., unused creativity thrives and hampers new ways to decrease cost and lower environmental impact when employees are not encouraged to communicate or innovate. Monetary gains and environmental savings is achievable by measuring, including and involving personal combined with a dedicated management. / <p>En väl genomförd och beskriven studie där studenterna lyckas ge bidrag av både praktisk naturoch teoretisk.</p>

Introduction: The unsustainable recycling patterns of various companies in Sweden lead to a waste of possible resources. These resources can create value through re-production in circular processes. The issue that this study address is the recycling behavior among workplaces. There is a gap in the research of understanding influences to recycling behaviors among industrial companies, which is the target in this study. Theory &amp; Purpose: This thesis employs behavioral theories on recycling activity through a framework developed by the authors with the aim of determining factors that affect the present recycling behavior within industries. Therefore, the purpose will be to investigate recycling behavior of companies within the flooring industry in Sweden. Furthermore, its purpose is to broaden the knowledge about recycling among companies and what situational factors that affect recycling behavior. Methodology: For data gathering, the thesis followed a quantitative method through conducting an online survey. The survey was sent out to 190 companies, and this resulted in 55 respondents which is a response rate of 28.9%. The survey data were collected to evaluate the prediction of behavior by the use of statistical regression analyses in STATA. Ordinal and binary data were the primary data types collected and used. Analysis &amp; Results: A Probit regression model tested the survey data followed by calculations of the marginal effects. Marginal effect is used to conclude how much each situational factor provoked the probability of RECYCLING BEHAVIOR when the other factors are unchanged. The analysis made the support that RECYCLING BEHAVIOR is significantly related to the factors INFRASTRUCTURE, CONVENIENCE and ORGANIZATION COMMITMENT. Furthermore, there is an existence of latent factors affecting recycling behavior. This existence is because the statistical model partly explains the connection. Alternative factors should be investigated in further research since there are limited studies done on the topic. Conclusions: Considered benefits are for; the flooring industry as well as other industries and society at large. The understanding of enablers for influencing RECYCLING BEHAVIOR is one of the benefits of this study. Changes in arrangement and mobility of recycling stations, together with an increase of social norms and recycling policies, suggests being practical goals. Moreover, communicating these standpoints are important for companies to gain value. Nonetheless, protecting the environmental boundaries by decreasing the use of raw material in a growing global production market. Understanding how situational factors affect RECYCLING BEHAVIOR will help actors move towards more sustainable and circular acts. Regarding recycling among industries, this study can be used to understand how to gain more value in existing circular economy systems as well as waste management systems. Both economic value and ecological value can be determined, from putting waste material into new products instead of incinerating it. Future Research: Directions for future research include qualitative case studies, experimental testing, and models including internal factors, attitude, habits and subjective norms. Extending this thesis with other approaches will benefit to find further correlations and predictions regarding recycling behavior among companies. Further research should also include economic aspects of the material gained through recycling behavior.

Background: Despite the obvious attraction for “greener” solutions in all industries, the different sustainable measures adopted by governments, business associations, andbusinesses themselves, the remaining high number of landfilled solid wastes from allindustries per year, especially the construction industry, suggests that a waste managementtowards valorisation is not systematically the first chosen option for the firms collecting the wastes. Purpose: To increase awareness, develop knowledge and show how collaboration within abusiness ecosystem and adapted corporate strategy allows the development of sustainablewaste management. Methodology: A comparative case study on the waste valorisation and innovation creationprocess, approached throughout a semi-structured qualitative data collection of fivepractitioners within a similar business ecosystem. Findings: The findings indicate that mutli-strategy level collaboration within and betweenbusiness ecosystems is a nursery for the development of innovation in the context of waste valorisation.

In the world today, thousands of humans in developing countries live in metropolises anddepend on garbage for their livelihoods. In Cairo, waste has been taken care of by aChristian minority group called the ‘Zabaleen’.This Bachelor thesis was conducted in Cairo and financed by a Minor Field Studyscholarship in August-October 2012. It focuses on Egyptian citizens’ attitudes towards asustainable recycling system and their attitudes towards the traditional garbage collector‘Zabaleen’. I used focus groups as the main source for collecting data and the technique ofshowing photographs to create a dialog among the participants. The focus groups have led to dynamic and useful discussions that this study is based upon. In conclusion, onecommon attitude that was met in the study indicates the frustration of how dirty the streetsof Cairo are. People all said they wanted a clean Egypt but they felt that no one from thegovernment wanted to put their finger on the solution to this problem.

Waste is a global composite of organic and inorganic derivatives from human activities. Municipal solid waste consists primarily of plastics from households and e-wastes, creating opportunities for waste management businesses. The purpose of this study was to explore leadership strategies for reducing operational costs in waste management businesses in Liberia. In this multiple case study, 6 business leaders from 6 waste management businesses in Liberia were recruited as participants. The conceptual framework guiding the study was the transformational leadership theory. Each business leader responded to open-ended questions in a semistructured interview. Data were analyzed by iteratively searching recurrent codes to elicit themes. Themes that emerged included education and training for customers and staff, as well as efficiency and effectiveness for value creation from waste. Based on the findings of this study, waste management business leaders might contribute to social change by employing marginalized population segments in local communities. The marginalized segments in communities could be empowered to communicate waste management messages about recycling, supplementing their skills and messages using waste management technological innovations. The results from this study might provide insight into how waste management leaders might use innovative solutions to reuse, recycle, and re-engineer wastes. The results from this study might help waste management business leaders envision opportunities for improvement on waste-to-energy products and services in the lives of customers and employees.

The migration of radionuclides and volatile chemicals through a thick sequence of unsaturated basalts and sedimentary interbeds has been documented in the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The three mechanisms by which this migration may have occurred are seasonal infiltration from the ground surface within the SDA; flood events in 1962, 1969, and 1982; and the lateral movement of water from the spreading areas located nearby. It is currently thought that the contaminants migrated through the unsaturated sediments and basalt flows during the three flood events. Transducers were used to monitor water level changes in seven wells: Two completed in a perched zone associated with an interbed at 110 feet (34 meters), and five completed in a perched zone associated with an interbed at 240 feet (73 meters). The data suggest that one of the wells completed in the perched zone associated with the interbed at 110 feet receives recharge from seasonal infiltration at the ground surface. This recharge occurs primarily from February to May. Snowmelt is the major source of water for infiltration. One water sample was taken from this well, one water sample was taken from snowmelt at the surface within the SDA, and one water sample was taken from the Big Lost River, which is the source of water diverted into the spreading areas. The three water samples were analyzed for major ions, minor ions, and trace constituents. The water sample from the well was more similar chemically to the water sample from the snowmelt than to the water sample from the Big Lost River. The chemical data support the conclusion that the snowmelt is the source of recharge to the perched zone associated with the interbed at 110 feet. The transducer data from the five wells completed in the perched zone associated with the interbed at 240 feet indicate that one well is dry, and one well has standing water that showed virtually no change in water level. Two of the remaining wells showed seasonal recharge, probably from precipitation. These two wells, and the remaining well, showed rapid water-level rises, and declines, shortly after 157 acre-feet (194,000 m3 ) of water were diverted into the spreading areas. The perched water body associated with the interbed at 240 feet probably receives recharge from both precipitation and from water diverted into the spreading areas.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(エネルギー科学) / 甲第19904号 / エネ博第336号 / 新制||エネ||67(附属図書館) / 32981 / 京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー社会・環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 手塚 哲央, 教授 石原 慶一, 教授 杉万 俊夫 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Energy Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Marine debris is an ever growing environmental and human health concern. Beach litter is a major contributor to the issue of marine debris, especially in the Global South where lack of awareness and successful policy are factors in the continuous accumulation of debris on beaches and in coastal communities. Under the community-based, participatory action framework, this study will explore beach users’ and other key stakeholders in the local government and non-governmental organization sectors’ knowledge of waste in their environment and potential solutions to the issue of plastic marine pollution. It will also examine the waste composition on a local beach in São Sebastião, Brazil by collecting, quantifying and characterizing the waste to determine the major polluters. The study will explore ways of improving awareness and environmental education of beach users, as well as investigating ways to reduce littering of waste on beaches. Results from this research will help to provide suggestions for local decision makers to improve policy that addresses marine debris and beach littering. / Graduate / 2022-04-15

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Here in, comprehensive management model of municipal solid waste collection and transportation, “MIGRU,” is proposed, based on the Lean Six Sigma, VSM, and Servqual methods. This model considers and includes three important management systems for an efficient collection value chain: quality management, route management, and HR and community management. The proposed model was implemented and validated in the municipality of Lima, Peru, and the results showed that municipal costs were reduced up to 40%, solid waste was reduced in the streets, and routes and processes were updated and improved in addition to an improvement in the participation and environmental education of citizens. Thus, correct management of the proposed model’s three general approaches to a very positive municipal impact at economic and environmental levels, without the investment of excessive amounts of money observed in first-world countries.

The purpose of the study is to contribute to an increased understanding of the application of Lean service management in the production and monitoring phase of the construction process within real estate companies. The research questions investigate how Lean service management can improve customer satisfaction and efficiency, what obstacles can arise during implementation, and how Lean can develop in the future. Real estate companies must offer high-quality services while streamlining their operations to increase profitability as the industry has become increasingly service-focused. This study uses a qualitative, deductive method with a comparative research design to analyze how Lean service management is applied in real estate companies. Collected data consists of a literature review and semi-structured interviews with three respondents from different companies. The results show that Lean service management can streamline the production and monitoring phase of the construction process by identifying and eliminating waste of resources. The study emphasizes the importance of measuring improvements and using digital tools to create a holistic project approach. Implementing Lean requires management commitment, Lean training, and the involvement of the entire organization. With proper application, Lean service management can create win-win situations where the company, its employees, and the customer benefit. Future development of Lean service management in the production and monitoring phase of the construction process may include increased digitization and the use of AI models to streamline more processes. The study also concludes that a more efficient construction process is necessary to meet future environmental requirements and create sustainable solutions.