Toward an infinitely reusable, recyclable, and renewable industrial ecosystem

Tonn, Bruce; Frymier, Paul D.; Stiefel, Dorian; Skinner, Leah Soro; Suraweera, Nethika S.; Tuck, Rachel

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.008

Cited by 32 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The industrial ecology is now dominated by the IR 3 concept: all materials used in the manufacture of goods are either infinitely reusable, recyclable, or derived from infinitely renewable (IR 3 ) resources [28]. Advances in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and materials engineering have resulted in an industrial ecosystem substantially composed of the following materials:…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recyclable and reusable steel (vehicles); Recyclable and reusable glass (structural glass, containers, windows); Recyclable and reusable aluminum (vehicles, bridges); Reusable carbon Fabricate Anything Blocks (much like Legos TM ), which can be robotically assembled into many types of products and then dis-assembled for re-use (furniture, roads, beams) [28]; Recyclable plastics, a stock of which was built up over several decades from the refinement of remaining petroleum stocks and is now replenished from bio-sources (myriad of products) [28]; Renewable transgenic silk (e.g., spider silk produced by genetically modified silk worms; cloth, clothes) [29]; Renewable fibers (e.g., from hemp; rope, clothing, covers); Reusable nano yarns (clothing, fibers) [30]; Recyclable and reusable graphene (electronics) [31]; and Renewable wood (furniture, housing).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Willow pond: A decentralized low-carbon future scenario

Tonn

Stiefel

2014

Futures

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willow pond: A decentralized low-carbon future scenario

Tonn

Stiefel

2014

Futures

Self Cite

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“…Pallets are therefore typically designed to guarantee many cycles over a lifespan of several years. According to the circular economy paradigm, the reuse of packaging and RTIs is justified to reduce waste, raw materials exploitation, associated costs, and environmental impacts [3,4]. Nevertheless, the use of RTIs is far more complex than more traditional disposable package management due to the increase of reverse logistics [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Impacts of Reusable Transport Items: A Case Study of Pallet Pooling in a Retailer Supply Chain

et al. 2019

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Manufacturing, storage, and transportation processes are typically facilitated by pallets, containers, and other reusable transport items (RTIs) designed to guarantee many cycles along a lifespan of several years. As a consequence, both supply and reverse transportation of RTIs need to be managed to avoid stockout along the supply chain and the unsustainable production of new tools from virgin materials. This paper focuses on the business of pallet management by analyzing the transport operations of a pallet pooling network serving a large-scale nationwide retailer. The pooler is responsible for supplying, collecting, and refurbishing pallets. The combination of the pooler's management strategies with different retailer network configurations results in different pooling scenarios, which are assessed and compared in this paper through a what-if analysis. The logistical and environmental impacts generated by the pallet distribution activities are quantified per each scenario through a tailored software incorporating Geographic Information System (GIS) and routing functionalities. Findings from this analysis suggest how to reduce vehicle distance traveled (vehicles-km) by 65% and pollutant emissions by 60% by combining network infrastructures and pooling management strategies-identifying an empirical best practice for managers of pallet businesses.Sustainability 2019, 11, 3147 2 of 13 handling, storage, and collection of reusable items [6]. In such networks, the trade-off between the emissions released by transportation and the reduction in the use of virgin materials has to be identified in order to achieve environmental sustainability targets [7][8][9]. This aim requires a deep understanding of the observed network, highlighting the crucial role of the data collection process in order to enhance the accuracy of the obtained result [10].Scholars have already pointed out how alternative pallet management strategies across the CLNs can generate different environmental impacts associated with the whole pallet life cycle, as well as different logistical costs [11]. Among the most diffused strategies, this paper focuses on two, both based on pallet re-circulation. The first is the buy-sell program, in which an equal number of pallets received by a node of the supply chain is shipped back to the previous node through a back-haul trip. The entire pallet supply and collection process is hence assigned to the carriers or the truck fleet owners, who are implicitly responsible for balancing the overall pallet population throughout the supply chain. An improved version of this program consists of consolidating pallets and arranging full-loaded back-trips.A second strategy, namely the pooling program, involves a new actor, the pooler, who is responsible for supplying ready-to-use pallets to vendors, manufacturers, and other logistic nodes; collecting pallets from customers or downstream; refurbishing damaged pallets; and holding inventory within its facilities until new pallet orders are placed. While the pooling program typic...

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“…Tonn et al (2014) thoroughly discuss various approaches to energy savings. Jovanovic et al (2014) examine a topic closely related to dry ice blasting, that is production and distribution systems for compressed air with special focus on its application and reliability in large-scale facilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%