An approach for the application of the Ecological Footprint as environmental indicator in the textile sector

Herva, Marta; Franco, A.; Ferreiro, Susana; Álvarez, Antonio; Roca, Enrique

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.12.077

Cited by 75 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The EF is an indicator that considers the energy and raw materials fluxes to and from any particular system, converting them into spaces of land or water necessary by nature for producing and/or assimilating these fluxes. Although EF was firstly developed to account for the consumption of natural resources depending on the lifestyle of nations and regions [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], improved methodologies allow the application of the EF to a wide variety of sectors and activities [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Pressure of nations on marine ecosystems has also been assessed by modified EF methodologies [6,[31][32][33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of port activities within the framework of the fisheries sector: Port of Vigo (NW Spain)

Lopes

Antelo

Franco‐Uría

et al. 2013

Ecological Indicators

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Sustainability of the fisheries sector is nowadays a key issue due to the significant impact that this activity may have on the environment. Besides fishing activity itself, other indirect impacts, like those originated from related activities and services also need to be addressed. For assessing the environmental burden of this sector, the indicator Ecological Footprint (EF) can be used. The application of EF to the fisheries sector is still uncommon and studies of associated activities (like ports) even more. In this work, classical EF methodology was applied in order to evaluate the environmental impact of the fisheries sector, taking as a representative sample the global activity (fishing and transportation) of the Port of Vigo (Spain), one of the biggest fishing ports in the world. A high value of total EF for both port and fishing activities was obtained.However, relative EF is much higher in the case of fishing, due to the low natural productivity associated to fish resources. Most of footprint land-components pressure was on energy-land and sea area, being resources consumption the principal category contributing to EF values in all the evaluated scenarios.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of port activities within the framework of the fisheries sector: Port of Vigo (NW Spain)

Lopes

Antelo

Franco‐Uría

et al. 2013

Ecological Indicators

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“…More often, the study purpose was to investigate potential improvements in production methods or management systems, for example, comparing different textile tailoring scenarios [46], or end of life options for plastic bottles [47]. In these studies boundaries often excluded production of the material itself.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for the Ecological Footprint of Materials in Consumer Goods at the Urban Scale

et al. 2013

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Ecological footprint analysis (EFA) can be used by cities to account for their on-going demands on global renewable resources. To date, EFA has not been fully implemented as an urban policy and planning tool in part due to limitations of local data availability. In this paper we focus on the material consumption component of the urban ecological footprint and identify the ‗component, solid waste life cycle assessment approach' as one that overcomes data limitations by using data many cities regularly collect: municipal, solid waste composition data which serves as a proxy for material consumption. The approach requires energy use and/or carbon dioxide emissions data from process LCA studies as well as agricultural and forest land data for calculation of a material's ecological footprint conversion value. We reviewed the process LCA literature for twelve materials commonly consumed in cities and determined ecological footprint conversion values for each. We found a limited number of original LCA studies but were able to generate a range of values for each material. Our set of values highlights the importance for cities to identify both the quantities consumed and per unit production impacts of a material. Some materials like textiles and aluminum have high ecological footprints but make up relatively smaller proportions of urban waste streams than products like paper and diapers. Local government use of the solid waste LCA approach helps to clearly identify the ecological loads associated with the waste they manage on behalf of their residents. This direct connection can be used to communicate to citizens about OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2013, 5 1961 stewardship, recycling and ecologically responsible consumption choices that contribute to urban sustainability.

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“…In the case of a textile facility, all accounted inputs and outputs, which are present in these processes, can be divided into three main categories: resources (water and materials), energy and waste. All inputs and outputs concerning the processes/organizations should appear in an inventory table, indicating each input/output and the amounts consumed/used [16][17][18][19][20]25].…”

Section: Ecological Footprint Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The method considers different types of land categories such as, built up land, fishing-ground, forest land, grazing land, fossil land, arable land [14]. Ecological Footprint can be used to analyze industry sectors, specifically, the textile sector [16][17][18][19]. Moreover, it allows to quantify globally the sustainability performance of this type of facility [16][17][18][19][20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecological Footprint can be used to analyze industry sectors, specifically, the textile sector [16][17][18][19]. Moreover, it allows to quantify globally the sustainability performance of this type of facility [16][17][18][19][20]. This specific characteristic differs this indicator from others already established and often used by researchers in the field (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Optimum parametric performance characterization of an irreversible gas turbine Brayton cycle

Al-Sood

Matrawy

Abdel-Rahim

2013

Int J Energy Environ Eng

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The main objective of this paper is to apply Ecological Footprint methodology as a tool to analyze the Portuguese textile industry. This analysis is related to energy and resources consumption in dyeing, printing and finishing processes. It also includes identification of mitigation measures to increase energy efficiency, promoting at the same time the reduction of CO 2 emissions and consequently the decrease in industry's Ecological Footprint. Moreover, the analysis presents the Ecological Footprint reduction potential for each mitigation option proposed for an important textile facility located in the North Region of Portugal, used as a case study in this work. The results for the case study showed that the total Ecological Footprint accounted, for the year 2016, summed up to 4890 gha. Furthermore, the energy category corresponds to more than 50% of the total Ecological Footprint estimation, and natural gas was the most required fuel for the processes. The calculation of the Ecological Footprint in the textile facilities can be used as a tool to analyze the processes' energy efficiency and to quantify the global impact of the implementation of mitigation measures in the energy field. The result is an indicator shown in a common unit, gha (global hectare) and it can be easily used to compare energy-intensive processes and industrial sectors. In addition, it can be used to analyze how each sector can impact the country's total demand for resources.

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An approach for the application of the Ecological Footprint as environmental indicator in the textile sector

Cited by 75 publications

References 11 publications

Sustainability of port activities within the framework of the fisheries sector: Port of Vigo (NW Spain)

Sustainability of port activities within the framework of the fisheries sector: Port of Vigo (NW Spain)

Accounting for the Ecological Footprint of Materials in Consumer Goods at the Urban Scale

Optimum parametric performance characterization of an irreversible gas turbine Brayton cycle

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