Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how rising technologies from Industry 4.0 can be integrated with circular economy (CE) practices to establish a business model that reuses and recycles wasted material such as scrap metal or e-waste. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative research method was deployed in three stages. Stage 1 was a literature review of concepts, successful factors and barriers related to the transition towards a CE along with sustainable supply chain management, smart production systems and additive manufacturing (AM). Stage 2 comprised a conceptual framework to integrate and evaluate the synergistic potential among these concepts. Finally, stage 3 validated the proposed model by collecting rich qualitative data based on semi-structured interviews with managers, researchers and professors of operations management to gather insightful and relevant information. Findings The outcome of the study is the recommendation of a circular model to reuse scrap electronic devices, integrating web technologies, reverse logistics and AM to support CE practices. Results suggest a positive influence from improving business sustainability by reinserting waste into the supply chain to manufacture products on demand. Research limitations/implications The impact of reusing wasted materials to manufacture new products is relevant to minimising resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. Furthermore, it avoids hazardous materials ending up in landfills or in the oceans, seriously threatening life in ecosystems. In addition, reuse of wasted material enables the development of local business networks that generate jobs and improve economic performance. Practical implications First, the impact of reusing materials to manufacture new products minimises resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. The circular model also encourages keeping hazardous materials that seriously threaten life in ecosystems out of landfills and oceans. For this study, it was found that most urban waste is plastic and cast iron, leaving room for improvement in increasing recycling of scrap metal and similar materials. Second, the circular business model promotes a culture of reusing and recycling and motivates the development of collection and processing techniques for urban waste through the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies and Industry 4.0. In this way, the involved stakeholders are focused on the technical parts of recycling and can be better dedicated to research, development and innovation because many of the processes will be automated. Social implications The purpose of this study was to explore how Industry 4.0 technologies are integrated with CE practices. This allows for the proposal of a circular business model for recycling waste and delivering new products, significantly reducing resource consumption and optimising natural resources. In a first stage, the circular business model can be used to recycle electronic scrap, with the proposed integration of web technologies, reverse logistics and AM as a technological platform to support the model. These have several environmental, sociotechnical and economic implications for society. Originality/value The sociotechnical aspects are directly impacted by the circular smart production system (CSPS) management model, since it creates a new culture of reuse and recycling techniques for urban waste using 3D printing technologies, as well as Industry 4.0 concepts to increase production on demand and automate manufacturing processes. The tendency of the CSPS model is to contribute to deployment CE in the manufacture of new products or parts with AM approaches, generating a new path of supply and demand for society.

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Sustainability concerns have increasingly gained importance among organizations and their stakeholders around the world. In this context, eco-efficiency has become a consistent tool towards the transition to sustainable development and the efforts of ecoefficiency indicators have been used for comparative studies and decision-making tasks, providing better financial, environmental, and social performance. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on the theme of sustainable development from the perspective of eco-efficiency, with the adaptation of the Knowledge Development Process intervention instrument -constructivist (ProKnow-C). The paper identifies and structures the state-of-the-art between Eco-Efficiency and Sustainable Development with a view to: (i) selecting a Bibliographic Portfolio (BP) that is aligned with the perception of the researchers on the theme; (ii) performing a bibliometric analysis of the selected BP; (iii) performing a thematic synthesis; (iv) finding the integration of eco-efficiency and sustainable development with other approaches; (v) proposing an innovative framework to achieve sustainable development through ecoefficiency indicators; and (vi) finding paths for further research. This research makes multiple new contributions, providing both academics and practitioners a better panorama to achieve sustainable development through eco-efficiency by expanding the literature review, highlighting the synergies and barriers between eco-efficiency and sustainable development and by comparing and analysing them, showing its relevant features. In addition, we synthesized the contributions of the BP according to the BASF indicators, sustainable dimensions and four measurement levels: industry, organization, project and process to better describe the current academic scenario on the subject.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by Heads of Government in 2015 represent a major multilateral effort to shift the world towards more sustainable and resilient pathways, also taking into account the needs of developing countries. The SDG Agenda calls for a global partnership-at all levels-between all countries and stakeholders who need to work together to achieve the goals and targets, including a broad spectrum of actors such as multinational businesses, local governments, regional and international bodies, and civil society organizations. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the literature and develop a novel framework in order to tackle the barriers and challenges to operationalize and monitor the implementation of the SDGs. To achieve this, this paper reports on a state-of-the-art review of the SDGs, with a particular emphasis on their applications and linkages with sustainability science and aspects of knowledge management. This paper also reviews the rationale and aims of the Sustainable Development Goals, outlines some of the problems and barriers related to their implementation, and presents some areas which deserve future attention. Ultimately, this paper seeks to uncover the various gaps and suggests some means via which some of challenges seen in the accomplishment of the 17 SDGs may be faced.

Purpose This paper aims to deal with the skills for sustainable development in engineering courses. The main objective is to identify which competences should be developed in these courses to contribute to the resolution of conflicts related to sustainability, as well as the means used by universities for their development. Design/methodology/approach The research is divided into two strands: a theoretical and an empirical one. Concerning the theoretical part, the webibliomining method was adopted, to select the articles that were relevant to the theme, and 22 works were selected. Regarding the empirical study, structured questionnaires were applied to 30 specialists in the field, aiming at validating the competencies found in the literature. Findings In the literature, eight main competencies required to the engineering professional, related to sustainability, were found. The empirical study showed that some competences are considered more relevant than others by the interviewees. Practical implications The competencies verified in the present study and the relative relevance between them found in the empirical study can contribute to the engineering courses that wish to develop the sustainable behavior of the engineers in their professional or daily life. Originality/value The originality of the work consists in presenting to engineering students and teachers as well as professionals of the market and the government the competencies that can contribute to the formation of an engineer capable of bringing adequate solutions to the conflicts of sustainability in the twenty-first century. This paper also presents learning teaching methodologies indicated for this purpose. No other works were found with these results.

Cleaner production is a fast-growing area with numerous important developments seen over the years, which have led to substantial improvements, both in technological, process and organization terms. Yet there is a paucity of literature organizing the body of knowledge on the benefits and difficulties seen in this field. Thus, following a systematic literature review protocol, this paper provides a ten-year state-of-the-art analysis on the benefits and difficulties faced in the implementation of cleaner production strategies, and outlines some means via which they may be addressed. Main results point out that companies and governments have been able to successfully reap both tangible and intangible benefits after Cleaner Production implementation as its appeal to attract customers and reap reputation gain increases, for example. However, the results also show a series of difficulties that remain and hinders the widespread advancement of this methodology.

The potential for energy efficiency and for the deployment of renewable energy at universities is substantial, and they represent promising ways to meet an institution's energy needs on the one hand, without a large climate burden on the other. However, in order to achieve successful investment and results, it is imperative to understand the level of current commitment to energy actions. Therefore, this paper investigates the level of engagement in energy efficiency measures of a sample of 50 higher education institutions from round the world, and identifies which types of renewable energy are being used to date. Results show that in more than half of the universities only a small portion of energy consumption comes from renewable sources (1% to 20%) and solar/photovoltaics is the most used source (70%). Investment in energy efficiency is more common in the sample, with 54% of the universities reporting higher levels of engagement, mainly in buildings (78%) and equipment/machineries (56%). Departing from the assumption that sustainable energy use is a pre-condition for campuses to pursue sustainability, the paper identifies current deficiencies and discusses improvements in this key area, with experiences which may be replicable elsewhere.

An assessment of the integration between corporate social responsibility practices and management systems in Brazil: aiming at sustainability in enterprises Research Highlights:• There is a need to evaluate the integration between CSR (corporate social responsibility) practices and management systems.• We employed experts' opinions to map how stakeholders' needs have been identified and translated to organizational practices in a way that ensures continuous improvements.• We combined survey the method with multidimensional scaling and factor scores for data analysis.• According to the experts' perception, CSR practices are largely superficially implemented.• Practices associated with planning of CSR activities are the most lightly implemented.• Some recommendations on how to improve the use of CSR in an integrated management system are made.