Designing effective policy interventions to motivate mitigation actions requires more realistic assumptions about human decision-making based on empirical evidence from the behavioural sciences. We therefore need to consider behavioural rather than only economic costs and benefits in policy intervention designs. Plastic pollution is a purely anthropogenic problem and cannot be solved without large-scale human action. Motivating mitigation actions requires more realistic assumptions about human decision-making based on empirical evidence from the behavioural sciences enabling the design of more effective interventions.

Decarbonization of the shipping sector is inevitable and can be made by transitioning into low- or zero-carbon marine fuels. This paper reviews 22 potential pathways, including conventional Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) marine fuel as a reference case, “blue” alternative fuel produced from natural gas, and “green” fuels produced from biomass and solar energy. Carbon capture technology (CCS) is installed for fossil fuels (HFO and liquefied natural gas (LNG)). The pathways are compared in terms of quantifiable parameters including (i) fuel mass, (ii) fuel volume, (iii) life cycle (Well-To-Wake—WTW) energy intensity, (iv) WTW cost, (v) WTW greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and (vi) non-GHG emissions, estimated from the literature and ASPEN HYSYS modelling. From an energy perspective, renewable electricity with battery technology is the most efficient route, albeit still impractical for long-distance shipping due to the low energy density of today’s batteries. The next best is fossil fuels with CCS (assuming 90% removal efficiency), which also happens to be the lowest cost solution, although the long-term storage and utilization of CO₂ are still unresolved. Biofuels offer a good compromise in terms of cost, availability, and technology readiness level (TRL); however, the non-GHG emissions are not eliminated. Hydrogen and ammonia are among the worst in terms of overall energy and cost needed and may also need NOx clean-up measures. Methanol from LNG needs CCS for decarbonization, while methanol from biomass does not, and also seems to be a good candidate in terms of energy, financial cost, and TRL. The present analysis consistently compares the various options and is useful for stakeholders involved in shipping decarbonization.

OVERVIEW: Recent research and practice have shown that business model innovation can be one way to create and capture new value and drive production and consumption toward sustainability. However, business model tools typically do not create a space to consider how sustainability concerns may be integrated into the innovation process. To address this gap, this article describes a tool that can help companies identify new opportunities to create and capture value through sustainability by analyzing value captured and uncaptured for key stakeholders across the product life cycle. The Sustainable Value Analysis Tool is shown to help companies recognize value uncaptured and turn it into opportunities; it facilitates sustainability-focused business model innovation by identifying value uncaptured—and hence, opportunities for innovation—associated with environmental and social sustainability in production, use, and disposal.

This investigation studies advanced practitioners of maintenance management and seeks to uncover the related impacts and contributions of best practice maintenance toward sustainable manufacturing operations. This exploratory research conducted a novel empirical analysis focused on maintenance functions in nine manufacturing companies from diverse sectors. The analysis uncovered insights related to the economic, environmental, and social benefits of deeper involvement of maintenance function in plant operations and decision-making. We observed links of maintenance function with product competitiveness and with energy management activities that were unexpected. We confirmed benefits from keeping machinery in good working conditions and restoring promptly good working conditions when an issue happens. The depth of maintenance contribution on each area identified in this study will depend on the operational and business context of the manufacturing company; thus, companies need to reflect on these based on their specific processes, business needs and goals. Ultimately, this work can inspire managers in manufacturing companies to organise maintenance functions strategically toward fostering long-term competitive, responsible and sustainable performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to progress operations management theory and practice by organising contributions to knowledge production, in industrial sustainability, from disparate researcher communities. It addresses the principal question “What scholarly dialogues can be explicated in the emerging research field of industrial sustainability?” and sub-questions: what are the descriptive characteristics of the evidence base? and what thematic lines of scientific inquiry underpin the body of knowledge? Design/methodology/approach: Using an evidenced-based approach, a systematic review (SR) of 574 articles from 62 peer-reviewed scientific journals associated with industrial sustainability is conducted. Findings: This paper distinguishes three prevailing dialogues in the field of industrial sustainability, and uses Kuhn’s theory of paradigms to propose its pre-paradigmatic scientific status. The three dialogues: “productivity and innovation”, “corporate citizenship” and “economic resilience” are conjectured to privilege efficiency strategies as a mode of incremental reductionism. Industrial sustainability espouses the grand vision of a generative, restorative and net positive economy, and calls for a future research trajectory to address institutional and systemic issues regarding scaling-up and transition, through transformative strategies. Research limitations/implications: The review is limited by the nature of the inquiries addressed in the literatures by specific researcher communities between 1992 and 2014. Originality/value: This study performs the first SR in the field of industrial sustainability, synthesises prevailing scholarly dialogues and provides an evaluation of the scientific status of the field.