• Energy Research
• 2016-2025close

The circular economy aims to reduce the volume of waste generated in the world, transforming it into resources. The concept of indicator of circular economy was introduced to evaluate the improvement obtained regarding efficiency in terms of reduction, reuse and recycling of waste generated on the campus of the University of Lome (Togo). These indicators showed that 59.5% of the waste generated on the campus in 2018 could be introduced into the circular economy paradigm through composting, and 27.0% of the energy consumed could be replaced by clean energy obtained from biogas. The entire plastic fraction can be introduced into the circular economy paradigm by reusing plastic bottles and selling the rest in the port of the city. Thus, the income obtained could range from €15.5/day in 2018 to €34.5/day in 2027. Concerning old tires, 1.5% of the rubber needed to pave the entire roadway of the campus could be replaced by the waste generated by the tires currently existing there. Consequently, waste management on the campus could be controlled thanks to these indicators, and this could serve as a model for the rest of the country.

The concept of family economy in the context of extreme poverty is of interest when it comes to analyzing the strategies displayed to prevent or reduce the effects of this situation of exclusion. Gender roles in the nucleus of the family institution will indicate the distribution of these tasks, so that we can understand, in the case of the role of women, the specific weight of their actions in this scenario. For this work, an investigation of our object of study was carried out for the period 1968–2019. A bibliometric analysis of 2182 articles was carried out in which the final versions of articles, books, and book chapters whose subject matter was related to the categories of family economy and poverty were included. The most productive journal was the Journal of Development Economics, while World Economies was the most cited. The authors with the most articles were Ravaillon, Sadoulet, and Lanjouw. The most productive institution was the World Bank. The country with the most publications and citations was the United States. Future research should focus on analyzing the role of women within the family economy in the context of poverty. Thus, a line of research is proposed that also includes the proposals from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which means an urgent call for action by all countries.

The efficiency of lighting installations is a major challenge concerning Governments, productive sectors and individuals. However, the importance of accurate lighting in some areas, especially those related to Health and Wellbeing is so critical that the constraints of energy efficiency and sustainability are not always a priority. This situation has become more critical with the current boom in the application of non-visual effects of light to these areas. In this study, the effects oftwo different kinds of lighting on femalevictims of gender violence are compared and analyzed in terms of positive results and impact on energy consumption and sustainability. The lighting technologies used are integrated in facilities where these women carry out different activities aimed at their integration into daily life after their traumatic experiences. The results are expected to become a tool for professionals working with these collectives and for installation designers. In spite of the well-known effects of cold light, especially for tasks involving arousal, sleepiness and other critical variables, it is demonstrated that daylight, which is obviously cheaper from productive and environmental perspectives, is better for this application.

The optimization of water management in industrial processes is paramount in diminishing or mitigating, as far as possible, the negative externalities generated by its current use within the linear economy model. This research presents methods for the optimization of wastewater from paper mills which are associated with the new sustainability and circular economy model. In this way, the concept of circular economy was applied to the wastewater treatment from a paper mill, with the objective of recovering the resources contained in this type of effluent. The wastewater treatment plant is based on a biological reactor of activated sludge, and treats a flow of 4868 m3·day−1. This study proposes the development and evaluation of indicators of circular economy applied to wastewater from a paper mill, as well as the assessment of the removal performance of color, total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand on the fifth day (BOD5), and chemical oxygen demand (COD), which are higher than 96% in all cases. Per 1 m3 of wastewater from a paper mill, a volume of 0.9 m3 of potentially reusable water and a recovered sludge mass of 0.7 kg are generated; the latter is reused as a mineral filler during the process itself. In light of this, a multivariable statistical analysis was applied to determine the relationship of the operation variables and indicators of circular economy. In this way, wastewater from the paper mill can be regarded as a technological nutrient, which is partially reintroduced into the production process, enabling the recovery of the water and mineral fillers that it contains.

Traditional economic system has brought important negative implications regarding environmental development, as well as an unequal distribution of wealth, which has led to ecological disasters and population imbalances. Considering the existence of unequal opportunities and access to resources in a global economy, it would be relevant to study the interrelations between the concepts of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Global and multifactorial issues require the review of fieldworks and their connections. From this perspective, the present research aims to analyze the relationships between the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in order to understand the advances of current scientific production and future lines of research. In this way, there is a considerable increase of interest in this line of research, highlighting García-Sánchez as the most productive author, Business, Management and Accounting as the most studied topic, and Sustainability Switzerland as the most productive journal. The country with the most publications and citations is the United States, and the most productive institution is Universidad de Salamanca. Future lines of research should focus on the social dimension and its possibilities in the field of Circular Economy. Finally, a line of research is proposed that also includes the proposals from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.