Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

The current mass production paradigm contributes significantly to environmental degradation. To solve these environmental problems, concepts involving the reuse and remanufacture of products and materials are being proposed. The design of upgradeable products, which could be used for longer than conventional products and encourage people to reuse artefacts, is one of the most promising approaches using these methodologies. In addition, they might provide new business opportunities in the later stages of their product life cycle. Achieving upgradeable design requires a proper plan, which must include information on the upgradeable design, including when a product should be upgraded, with regard to which function, and to what extent. The upgrade plan should also include a solution lineup for upgradeable design that satisfies these conditions. To devise such an upgrade plan, designers need to predict technological trends and user demands. This paper proposes a methodology for upgrade planning based on the prediction of user demand, and on the assumption that technological trends influence user demands. In addition, a methodology is proposed for changing upgrade plans after target products have been distributed, to meet possible fluctuations in technological trends or user demands.

This paper discusses problems associated with the development of a tax and subsidy policy to promote the use of secondary materials converted from industrial waste as a substitute for virgin materials. The main purpose of the study was to examine how a set of tax and subsidy levels modifies consumption and affects welfare. For this purpose, a static partial equilibrium model was developed, taking into account welfare effects in production and consumption under economic and ecological constraints. The results of the study indicate that a virgin materials tax combined with subsidies for waste converters could be an effective policy to promote the use of waste-based secondary materials.

Japan started the promotion and development of eco-towns in 1997, with the aim of reducing the environmental pressure through a symbiosis of industries and cities. Hyogo prefecture (located in the west of Japan) has been promoting a recycling-oriented society with the cooperation of industries, citizens and businesses.

This study analysed the possibilities of implementing a reverse logistics network for plastics recovery and its coupling with existing industries and technologies. Since many industries are operating in Hyogo, the use of their facilities and/or equipment for plastics recovery has been proposed, specially the steel and chemical industries. Reverse logistics was used to analyse the supply of input plastics in terms of quantity and quality. This means clustering small neighbouring cities for synchronised sorted collection (there is a difference between small cities, which already use sorted collection, and big cities, where no sorted collection for plastics exists), and coordinating activities between larger cities.

This study was part of a research project aimed at closing the loop in the Japanese plastics industry by introducing an integral approach with improvements to the upstream and downstream sides of the plastic supply chain life cycle.

This paper presents the results of the first part of the study, which included the use of domestic plastic packaging as plastic sources and material, feedstock and energy recovery as recovery technologies. The results of this study indicate that the application of reverse logistics, combined with the appropriate recovery technologies in Hyogo eco-town, is both environmentally and economically beneficial. However, it requires close collaboration between local governments and the industrial sector.