This paper describes the analysis of raw wood flows in Slovakia. Material flow analysis was used to reveal and quantify relations between the resources and the primary uses of wood. In particular, two approaches to wood flow modelling were utilised -wood balance and wood resource balance. Wood balance was introduced to illustrate a global view of the resources and primary uses of roundwood in Slovakia without analysing internal flows or individual roundwood assortments, respectively. The wood resource balance, as a more detailed analysis, takes into account the uses of wood as a material and also the by-products and waste generated by the production that could be used as inputs for further uses in wood processing or energy sectors. The latter balance was compiled using available official statistics supplemented by a questionnaire to estimate missing data for waste streams. With a total consumption of 11.964 mil. m 3 roundwood equivalents, the value of the overall cascade factor was 1.11. Over 84% of all resources were used for industrial purposes, and nearly 16% were used for energy generation.
Eco-innovation presents a tool that helps companies to transform environmental constraints into opportunities and advantages such as cost reduction, better reputation, and benefit for new markets. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the perception of eco-innovation and green brands in the context of sustainability in Slovakia and their mutual relation. The applied research focused on the perception of eco-innovation and green brands. The survey was realized by the Kano model that provides customers’ opinions regarding the requirements of the monitored object. In our case, the research object is ecological innovation evaluated in terms of selected parameters. To generalize the relationships among examined parameters, cluster analysis was applied to identify clusters of examined parameters of ecological innovations. The aim of the contribution is to present the output of the cluster analysis in a form of a dendrogram showing a graphical grouping of related objects in three clusters that include examined parameters according to their perception by customers.
Forest certification is a voluntary verification tool that has been gaining importance within the global sustainability issues as an independent verification tool for sustainable forest management and wood processing industry and as an influencer in private and public purchasing policies and a component of emerging wood harvesting and trade legality schemes. This study focuses on the chain-of-custody (CoC) component of forest certification. A survey of CoC certified companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia was carried out to explore the understanding of the concept and role of forest and CoC certification as an environmental, economic, and social tool. It aimed to determine expectations following from the implementation of CoC certification by companies and to identify difficulties in existing certified wood product supply chains and costs related to purchase and sales of certified forest products, respectively. Results indicate that respondents demonstrated a high level of understanding of the CoC concept and that they link forest certification mainly to the issues of legality, tracing the origin source of supply and promotion of sustainable utilisation of wood. The main expected benefits are linked to the improvement of an external company image followed by penetration of new markets and increase of sales volume. CoC is not considered a tool to improve internal company performance and efficiency. The key problems connected to certified supply chains relate to the sufficient quantity of certified forest products, low margins and overpriced certified material inputs. Respondents reported none or minimum price premiums for their certified products over non-certified alternatives. Several differences related to the understanding of the sustainable forest management concept and the level of price premium paid for certified inputs were identified between the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified companies as well as between the different forest products sectors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.