Decarbonization in waste recycling industry using digitalization to promote net-zero emissions and its implications on sustainability.

Autor: Kurniawan TA; College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China. Electronic address: tonni@xmu.edu.cn., Othman MHD; Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru, Skudai, Malaysia., Liang X; School of Electrical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China., Goh HH; School of Electrical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China., Gikas P; Technical University of Crete, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Chania, Greece., Kusworo TD; Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia., Anouzla A; Department of Process Engineering and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Mohammedia, Morocco., Chew KW; School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Nanyang Technological University, 637459, Singapore.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of environmental management [J Environ Manage] 2023 Jul 15; Vol. 338, pp. 117765. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Mar 23.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117765
Abstrakt: Digitalization and sustainability have been considered as critical elements in tackling a growing problem of solid waste in the framework of circular economy (CE). Although digitalization can enhance time-efficiency and/or cost-efficiency, their end-results do not always lead to sustainability. So far, the literatures still lack of a holistic view in understanding the development trends and key roles of digitalization in waste recycling industry to benefit stakeholders and to protect the environment. To bridge this knowledge gap, this work systematically investigates how leveraging digitalization in waste recycling industry could address these research questions: (1) What are the key problems of solid waste recycling? (2) How the trends of digitalization in waste management could benefit a CE? (3) How digitalization could strengthen waste recycling industry in a post-pandemic era? While digitalization boosts material flows in a CE, it is evident that utilizing digital solutions to strengthen waste recycling business could reinforce a resource-efficient, low-carbon, and a CE. In the Industry 4.0 era, digitalization can add 15% (about USD 15.7 trillion) to global economy by 2030. As digitalization grows, making the waste sector shift to a CE could save between 30% and 35% of municipalities' waste management budget. With digitalization, a cost reduction of 3.6% and a revenue increase of 4.1% are projected annually. This would contribute to USD 493 billion in an increasing revenue yearly in the next decade. As digitalization enables tasks to be completed shortly with less manpower, this could save USD 421 billion annually for the next decade. With respect to environmental impacts, digitalization in the waste sector could reduce global CO 2 emissions by 15% by 2030 through technological solutions. Overall, this work suggests that digitalization in the waste sector contributes net-zero emission to a digital economy, while transitioning to a sustainable world as its social impacts.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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