Socioeconomic metabolism (SEM) is the exchange of materials and energy between society and the environment involving the social, economic and environmental sectors. In this paper, a boundary was defined between the economic (consumption) and environmental (waste recovery) limits in a city of 300,000 inhabitants in relation to the circulation (generation, reuse and disposal) of end-of-life tires (ELTs). The objective was to elaborate a theoretical structural model to evaluate the socioeconomic metabolism of waste (SEMw) by means of technical constructs (direct material flows (DMF), reverse material flows (RMF), socioeconomic environment (SEF) and sociodemographic factors (SDF)). Structural Equation Modeling (SEMm) was performed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (SmartPLS) software. The results obtained from the hypotheses show the causal relationships between the technical and social constructs and suggest guidelines for supporting the planning and management of urban solid waste in the collection and final disposal of ELTs. The processed information also contributes to the analysis of the city’s socioeconomic scenarios in relation to the disposal of ELTs. One of the hypotheses tested (RMF have a direct effect on SEMw) shows the importance of managing ELTs through the correct final disposal of waste and recycling. SEMw was evaluated from the perception of the local society and it is concluded that it is possible to plan public policies to avoid the formation of waste inventory in the city.

The adoption of a global index (GI) for performance evaluation has been increasingly recognized as a useful strategy for decision-making as it simplifies the interpretation and monitoring of the results. Because the GI is often built by adopting a combination of different procedures for normalization, weighting, and aggregation of indicators, it is challenging to select the optimal combination of procedures, since the countless combinations lead to different results. This paper proposes a method for the development of a robust and original GI for the evaluation of table grape production units (TGPUs). Various combinations of procedures were used to develop eighteen GIs for each TGPU. These are located in the lower-middle San Francisco valley in the northeast of Brazil, where their robustness was assessed by identifying outlier GIs and via a graphical analysis. Plausible GIs were reliably identified and a cluster analysis was conducted to categorize the TGPUs into groups considering each performance objective. The identification of the outlier GIs and the use of the plausible GIs in cluster formation constitute a new scientific approach to the topic, which can be extended to other applications and contribute to the sustainable development of several industries.

Recently, the supply chain in the pharmaceutical sector, which is important economically to the healthcare industry worldwide, has received special attention owing to different factors involved in the distribution of drugs. Furthermore, it has an important role in global sustainability as organizations base their efficient decisions on the results from performance analysis of economic indicators. Thus, the sustainability of operations decisions must be analyzed to achieve better decision efficiency. This study integrates analytical methods of operational activities evaluation for a drug distribution center in a pharmaceutical logistic organization to analyze the sustainability of its operations. Furthermore, a proposed framework incorporates time variability management (TVM) decisions into a trade-off analysis of triple bottom-line (TBL) sustainability dimensions and operations managers’ decisions. The framework is a real-time data-gathering decision system that evaluates processes using stochastic simulation and process efficacity based on control-chart analysis and analyzes the trade-off performance. Managers’ decisions on time variability is modeled using an Analytical Hierarchy Process. The results of the trade-off analysis of sustainability and TVM indicate that economic dimensions have a higher impact on an organization than social and environmental dimensions. Managers assume that social and environmental impacts are less important to organizations’ performance. Environmental and social dimensions have different impacts on time variability decisions, where managers assume that operations’ time reduction has more impact on the social dimension, while operations’ time increase has a higher environmental impact. Thus, the framework is an effective tool for analyzing the sustainability of operations decisions, which is associated with variability analysis.

In order to improve the process management of table grape packaging, its performance should be evaluated. However, the literature on performance evaluation indicators is scarce. To address this research gap, we propose a method for the development of performance evaluation indicators for table grape packaging units, which are characterized by labor-intensive and highly seasonal production processes in the agro-economic sector. The stages include the following: contextualizing table grape packaging units, selecting the performance objectives, selecting techniques to be used in the development of the indicators, and applying the method to the packaging units of table grapes. The techniques adopted in the development of the indicators aimed at the cost, quality, flexibility, reliability, and speed performance objectives were data envelopment analysis, principal component analysis, quantification of the batch, compliance with the program within the established deadline, and measurement of the execution time of the batch, respectively. The results obtained in the case study demonstrate that the correlations between the performance indicators do not indicate the need to disregard any of them. Furthermore, the standard deviation values for each indicator are similar. Thus, both results of correlations and standard deviation confirm the importance of the indicators chosen for the performance evaluation of table grape packaging.