This unique book provides comprehensive and holistic information on the circular economy of plastics - products and their design for circularity, markets and producer responsibility, recovery of wastes and resource responsibility, and plastics manufacturing with circular feedstocks. The central part of the book is on circularity and circular feedstocks, embedded in a framework of chapters on the relevant properties of plastic as a material, its ecosystems and mass streams across Europe on ...

The book gives a systematic and detailed description of a new integrated product and process development approach for sheet metal manufacturing. Special attention is given to manufacturing that unites multidisciplinary competences of product design, material science, and production engineering, as well as mathematical optimization and computer based information technology. The case study of integral sheet metal structures is used by the authors to introduce the results related to the recen...

Soak up carbon into beautiful, healthy buildings that heal the climate"Green buildings" that slash energy use and carbon emissions are all the rage, but they aren't enough. The hidden culprit is embodied carbon — the carbon emitted when materials are mined, manufactured, and transported — comprising some 10% of global emissions. With the built environment doubling by 2030, buildings are a carbon juggernaut threatening to overwhelm the climate.It doesn't hav...

The power sector and transportation tend to dominate conversations about climate change, but there’s an under-the-radar source of climate pollution that must be addressed: industry. Globally, industrial activity is responsible for one-third of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Though industry is a major emitter, it is essential for producing the tools we need to fight climate change—like wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles—and for meeting our everyday needs. How can ind...

This eBook+ version includes the following enhancements:Collapsible boxes in the text providing further details, such as definitions, drivers and impacts, to demonstrate how the topics in the book have been incorporated into real-world examplesA comprehensive pop-up glossary encourages exploration of key concepts for students, helping to broaden their knowledge and understandingA series of ‘How-To’ pages with expandable insights encoura...

Over-pumping of aquifers is a worldwide problem, mainly caused by agricultural water use. Among its consequences are the falling dry of streams and wetlands, soil subsidence, die-off of phreatophytic vegetation, saline water intrusion, increased pumping cost and loss of storage needed for drought relief.Stopping or reversing the trend requires management interventions. The North China Plain serves as an example. A management system is set up for a typical county. It contains three ...

Technology today is undergoing a rapid, unprecedented, and accelerating period of transformation. The implications of climate change, underpinned by geopolitics, for scientists and engineers are profound, as they and their societies attempt to harness these new technologies to address critical global environmental challenges, often without a full understanding of the long-term consequences. This textbook is designed to fill the gaps at a time of rapid changes in technology and the global e...

This specially curated collection features five reviews of current and key research on vertical farming in horticulture.The first chapter describes and evaluates technologies and methods for growing edible plants indoors and presents a survey of selected commercial vertical farms currently operating that employ them.The second chapter explores the benefits of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs). The chapter assesses resource consumption, costs ...

The landscape of electronic waste, e-waste, management is changing dramatically. Besides a rapidly increasing world population, globalization is driving the demand for products, resulting in rising prices for many materials. Absolute scarcity looms for some special resources such as indium. Used electronic products and recyclable materials are increasingly crisscrossing the globe. This is creating both - opportunities and challenges for e-waste management.This focuses on the curren...

This book illustrates key sustainability issues in global textile and fashion value chains, by examining individual types of fibers either at a single step in or along the entire value chain. It approaches sustainability-related issues in the textile and fashion value chain from an interdisciplinary and holistic viewpoint, with each contribution linking questions on the textile and fashion value chain to various drivers, indicators and concepts of sustainability. Each chapter represents a ...

Textile products are produced, distributed, sold and used worldwide. A quantitative assessment of sustainability in the textile manufacturing chain is therefore extremely important. The Handbook of sustainable textile production is a compilation of technical, economical, and environmental data from the various processes in this chain. This authoritative reference work provides a detailed study of the sustainable development of textiles.The book opens with an introduction to the topic. Chap...

This report addresses the role of forest products in replacing fossil-based and GHG-intensive products. The overarching objective is to provide recommendations to strengthen the contribution of substitution by forest products to sustainable development. To that end, this report firstly provides an overview of the understanding of the bioeconomy and the role of forest products across the world. Secondly, we present examples of conventional and innovative forest products and describe their r...