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Fashion products made from repurposed materials (e.g., backpacks made from pineapple leaves) have become more prevalent nowadays, and their environmental sustainability is one of the core advantages. Yet, it is currently unclear how consumers respond to products made from repurposed materials. We conducted three experiments to examine the effects of three material features, namely function, sustainability, and distinguishability, on consumer preferences for fashion products made from repurposed materials. The results indicate that, when the function of repurposed materials is as good as that of conventional materials, consumers prefer a product made from repurposed materials over the same product made from conventional materials. Also, consumers in general prefer repurposed materials to be less visually distinguishable. Finally, when the sustainability of the repurposed products is emphasized, consumers appear more likely to choose products made from repurposed materials, even when these products have an inferior function. In conclusion, to promote fashion products made from repurposed materials, marketers may emphasize the function and sustainability of repurposed materials, and producers may manufacture repurposed materials that visually resemble conventional materials.

This work models a last-mile network design problem for an e-retailer with a capacitated two-echelon distribution structure - typical in e-retail last-mile distribution, catering to a market with a stochastic and dynamic daily customer demand requesting delivery within time-windows. Considering the distribution evnironment, this work formulates last-mile network design problem for this e-retailer as a dynamic-stochastic two capacitated location routing problem with time-windows. In doing so, this work splits the last-mile network design problem into its constituent strategic, tactical, and operational decisions. Here, the strategic decisions undertake long-term planning to develop a distribution structure with appropriate distribution facilities and a suitable delivery fleet to service the expected customer demand in the planning horizon. The tactical decisions pertain to medium-term day-to-day planning of last-mile delivery operations to establish efficient goods flow in this distribution structure to service the daily stochastic customer demand. And finally, operational decisions involve immediate short-term planning to fine-tune this last-mile delivery to service the requests arriving dynamically through the day. Note, the last-mile network design problem formulated as a location routing problem constitutes three subproblems encompassing facility location problem, customer allocation problem, and vehicle routing problem, each of which are NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. To this end, this work develops an adaptive large neighborhood search meta-heuristic algorithm that searches through the neighborhood by destroying and consequently repairing the solution thereby reconfiguring large portions of the solution with specific operators that are chosen adaptively in each iteration of the algorithm, hence the name adaptive large neighborhood search. Further, considering the stochastic and dynamic nature of the delivery environment, this work develops a Monte-Carlo framework simulating each day in the planning horizon, with each day divided into 1-hr timeslots, and with each time-slot accepting customer requests for service by the end of the day. In particular, the framework assumes the e-retailer will delay route commitments until the last-feasible time-slot to accumulate customer requests and consequently assign them to an uncommitted delivery route. Note, a delivery route is committed once the e-retailer starts loading packages assigned to this delivery route onto the delivery vehicle assigned for this delivery route. At the end of every time-slot then, this framework assumes the e-retailer integrates the new customer requests by inserting these customer nodes into such uncommitted delivery routes in a manner that results in the least increase in distribution cost keeping the customer-distribution facility allocation fixed. Thus, the framework iterates through the time-slots with the e-retailer processing route commitments, accumulating customer requests, and subsequently integrating them into the delivery operations for the day. E-commerce has the potential to make urban goods flow economically viable, environmentally efficient, and socially equitable. However, as e-retailers compete with increasingly consumer-focused services, urban freight witnesses a significant increase in associated distribution costs and negative externalities particularly affecting those living close to logistics clusters. Hence, to remain competitive, e-retailers deploy alternate last-mile distribution strategies. These alternate strategies, such as those that include use of electric delivery trucks for last-mile operations, a fleet of crowdsourced drivers for last-mile delivery, consolidation facilities coupled with light-duty delivery vehicles for a multi-echelon distribution, or collection points for customer pickup, can restore sustainable urban goods flow. Thus, in this study, the authors investigate the opportunities and challenges associated with such alternate last-mile distribution strategies for an e-retailer offering expedited service with rush delivery within strict timeframes. To this end, the authors formulate a last-mile network design (LMND) problem as a dynamic-stochastic two-echelon capacitated location routing problem with time-windows (DS-2E-C-LRP-TW) addressed with an adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) metaheuristic.

Article Abstract To better allocate funds in the new EU research framework programme Horizon Europe, an assessment of current and past efforts is crucial. In this paper we develop and apply a multi-method qualitative and computational approach to provide a catalogue of climate crisis mitigation technologies on the EU level between 2014 and 2020. Using the approach, we observed no public EU-level funding for multiple technologies prioritised by the EU, such as low-carbon production and use of cement and chemicals, electric battery, and a number of industrial decarbonisation processes. We observed a rising trend in the funding of solar power and onshore wind, the adjacent to them power-to-X technology, as well as recycling. At the same time, the shares of funding into fuel cell, biofuel, demand-side energy management, microgrids, and waste management show a decline trend. With note of the exploratory character of the present paper, we propose that the EU Horizon 2020 funding of clean technologies only partially reflected the expectations of key institutionalised EU actors due to the existence of many non-funded prioritised technologies.

Comprehensive and reliable information on anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions is required to track progress towards keeping warming well below 2°C as agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. Here we provide a dataset on anthropogenic GHG emissions 1970-2019 with a broad country and sector coverage. We build the dataset from recent releases from the “Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research” (EDGAR) for CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industry (FFI), CH4 emissions, N2O emissions, and fluorinated gases and use a well-established fast-track method to extend this dataset from 2018 to 2019. We complement this with information on net CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) from three available bookkeeping models.

We examine unequal outcomes in the implementation of India's national rural electrification program in Uttar Pradesh. We ask two questions: (1) to what extent did Dalits, the lowest group in India's caste hierarchy, receive less attention when the state electrified rural communities? (2) Was BSP, the state's Dalit party, able to reduce this inequality? Using data from a hundred thousand villages, we provide robust evidence for unequal outcomes. Villages inhabited solely by Dalits were 20 percentage points less likely to be covered by the program than villages without any Dalits. Moreover, a regression discontinuity analysis shows that the electoral success of BSP failed to reduce such differences. These results highlight the magnitude and persistence of caste inequality in the implementation of democratic public policy, despite political representation.

Indicators of economic sustainability obtained for the 8 systems of LTS studied. Monoc. = monoculture; sub-trop. = subtropical; IMTA = integrated multi trophic aquaculture; “-“ = no data.

The purpose of this study, Controversial Facilities in Japan, 1955 – 1995, is to understand the factors which lead decision-makers and authorities in Japan to select localities as host communities for often-unwanted and controversial facilities such as nuclear power plants, dams, and airports. Such projects regularly cause Not In My Back Yard, or NIMBY, responses from local residents around the world. <br /><br /> The dataset contains observations on approximately 500 Japanese cities, towns, and villages covering the period from 1955 through 1995. Data was collected through archival research, interviews with anti-facility activists and officials, and surveys of relevant government offices throughout Japan.<br /><br /> Variables assessed include the number of siting attempts and successes in the locality, the town’s location in Japan by prefecture and by political district code alongside batte ries of information on demographic, socioeconomic, and political factors. Demographic information includes sex ratios in the locality over time along with percentage of elderly in the population. Socioeconomic status was examined through measures of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector workforces over time along with variables on the coastal, mid-range, and deep sea fishing cooperatives (where applicable). Political variables include district magnitude, presence or absence of a prime minister from locally elected representatives, number of long-term Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) representatives, and the number of members of the town council and their political party. Additional political variables include the numbers and percentage of representatives from all major political parties in the national legislature, political party of the mayor, and measures of over-time support from the area for the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party. The dataset contains publicly-available information on compensation provided to communities along with information on eminent domain use. Subject: STANDARD DEPOSIT TERMS 1.0 Type: DATAPASS:TERMS:STANDARD:1.0 Notes: This study was deposited under the of the Data-PASS standard deposit terms. A copy of the usage agreement is included in the file section of this study.;

Batteries have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from on-road transportation. However, environmental and social impacts of producing lithium-ion batteries, particularly cathode materials, and concerns over material criticality are frequently highlighted as barriers to widespread electric vehicle adoption. Circular economy strategies, like reuse and recycling, can reduce impacts and secure regional supplies. To understand the potential for circularity, we undertake a dynamic global material flow analysis of pack-level materials that includes scenario analysis for changing battery cathode chemistries and electric vehicle demand. Results are produced regionwise and through the year 2040 to estimate the potential global and regional circularity of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, iron, aluminum, copper, and graphite, although the analysis is focused on the cathode materials. Under idealized conditions, retired batteries could supply 60% of cobalt, 53% of lithium, 57% of manganese, and 53% of nickel globally in 2040. If the current mix of cathode chemistries evolves to a market dominated by NMC 811, a low cobalt chemistry, there is potential for 85% global circularity of cobalt in 2040. If the market steers away from cathodes containing cobalt, to an LFP-dominated market, cobalt, manganese, and nickel become less relevant and reach circularity before 2040. For each market to benefit from the recovery of secondary materials, recycling and manufacturing infrastructure must be developed in each region. This data was collected through various sources, including from EV Volumes, International Energy Agency, Argonne National Lab, and published articles. A model was created with R to process the data.  R is required to open the models.