Springer Science and Business Media LLC

The debate about the water resources shortages and finding appropriate solutions to close the water gap in many regions is still not finished. The Mediterranean region is among the most arid regions in the world and hosts more than the half of the world’s water-poor population. The situation is more severe in the southern shore of the Mediterranean, in particular, the Maghreb countries. In this region, water resources are very limited and polluted and most countries rely on groundwater yet overexploited. On the other hand, several factors, including rapid economic growth, expanding populations and changing climate, are driving up demand for water. This pushes forward the Maghreb countries to more and more rely on non-conventional and costly water resources such as wastewater treatment and desalination. Obviously, this bears a heavy burden on the economic growth within these countries. In this paper, rationalizing the virtual water trade and enhancing desalination using renewable energy are presented as two promising options to bridging the Maghreb’s water gap.

In emerging economies, recycling provides an opportunity for cities to increase the lifespan of sanitary landfills, to reduce the costs of solid waste management, to decrease environmental problems from waste treatment by reincorporating waste into the productive cycle and to protect and develop the livelihoods of citizens who work as informal waste pickers. However, few studies have analysed the possibilities of and strategies for integrating the formal and informal sectors in solid waste management for the benefit of both. This integration is the key, especially in developing countries, to understanding how the recycling population can develop a business despite their social and economic limitations. The aim of this study was to perform a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis of three recycling associations in Bogotá with the aim of examining and understanding the recycling situation from the perspective of members of the informal sector in their transition to becoming authorised waste providers. This issue has rarely been studied in the context of developing countries. The data used in the analysis are derived from multiple sources, including a literature review, Bogota’s recycling database, focus group meetings, governmental reports, national laws and regulations and interviews with key stakeholders. The results of this study show that as the primary stakeholders, the formal and informal waste management sectors can identify the internal and external conditions of recycling in Bogotá. Several strategies were designed based on the SWOT analysis. The participation of recycling associations is important in the design and application of waste policy, the consolidation of recycling through an effective business model, promotional programmes for social inclusion and the development of new transformation processes and technologies to valorise recycling materials. In conclusion, recycling associations can become authorised waste providers through a profitable business that increases recycling rates to create a productive process from waste during the generation of new materials and to decrease environmental problems while improving the welfare and living conditions of recyclers. These findings are important for Bogotá to advance and promote recycling as a key strategy for integrated sustainable waste management in the city.

The bioenergy industry is a proven option to replace fossil fuels in the heat supply and partly in the transport sector and generation of electricity. The study aims to investigate the empirical model of whether bioenergy use and institutional quality increase forest destruction in the European Union 28 countries covering the period 1990–2018, using the pooled ordinary least squares (pooled OLS), fixed effect, random effect, and least square dummy variable corrected. The findings indicate that bioenergy use within an institutional framework significantly contributes to a reduction in forest degradation regardless of the development status of countries in the region. This shows that efficient institutions and governments can significantly contribute to reducing forest degradation in the region especially in developed countries. Thus, policy-makers should stimulate the sustainability criteria of bioenergy application end-uses, intensify the quality of institutions, and ensure bioenergy use under effective governance.

A multi-objective goal programming model was developed for water distribution from multiple sources to multiple users. The model was applied in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the period of 2015–2050. In Riyadh, water sources are groundwater (GW), desalinated water (DW) and treated wastewater (TWW), while the users are domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors. The model was applied to: (1) satisfy water demands and quality; (2) maximize TWW reuse and GW conservation; and (3) minimize overproduction of DW and overall cost. In 2015, the required allocations of GW, DW and TWW are 3286, 662 and 609 MCM, respectively, which are projected to be 4345, 1554 and 1305 MCM in 2050, respectively. GW source is likely to satisfy the predicted withdrawal of GW till 2035, while probabilities of non-satisfaction of full demands of GW in 2040, 2045 and 2050 were 0.04, 0.23 and 0.51, respectively. Supply of DW and reuse of TWW are needed to be increased to satisfy the predicted quantities during 2015–2050.

With the widespread implementation of environmental regulations worldwide, their impact on corporate productivity has received increasing attention. Current studies primarily examined the impact of environmental regulations on corporate productivity from the mediating effect of innovation and failed to consider the mediating effect of import behaviour. We scrutinised the relationship between the stringency of environmental regulations and the quality of imported products, and its effects on corporate productivity, in the case of China’s manufacturing corporations. Moreover, we analysed the heterogeneity of these effects from the perspective of ownership and location. The findings show that the increasing stringency of environmental regulations prompts corporations to improve the quality of imported products rather than to transfer polluting industries; thus, it does not pose a threat to the environment of neighbouring countries. Besides, the increasing stringency of environmental regulations also leads to learning effects and improvements in imported product quality, thereby increasing corporate productivity. Finally, the effects of the interaction between environmental regulations and import behaviour on corporate productivity are heterogeneous, as they depend on the type of ownership and corporate location. Therefore, the focus on import behaviour improves the current understanding and contributes a heuristic investigation to the current debate on the relationship between environmental regulations, import behaviour, and corporate productivity.

Livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) was employed to identify the differential vulnerability of two villages to climate change effects, which are located at different altitudes (Chushul at 4000–5000 m and Shey at 3000–4000 m above sea level). Primary data were collected from 165 households on indicators of health, food, water, demographic profile, livelihood strategies, social networks, and their perception of climate variability and natural disasters. A composite index was employed to aggregate the data. The vulnerability of different components or indicators of the village were compared to estimate the differential vulnerability. The vulnerability of indicators ranges from (0) as the least vulnerable and (1) as the most vulnerable. The results suggest that both high-altitude village (HAV) and low-altitude village (LAV) were highly vulnerable in terms of climate variability and natural disasters. The vulnerability of livelihood strategies and food for HAV was higher than that of LAV; however, both villages were vulnerable to water shortages. Comparatively, HAV was more vulnerable to water shortages than LAV. It was found that both villages are the least vulnerable in terms of social networks and health facilities. Overall, the livelihood vulnerability index for HAV was 0.668, which was higher than that of LAV, with a vulnerability index of 0.443. The pragmatic LVI approach can be used to estimate the vulnerability of any region by altering the indicators and selecting those indicators suitable for the study region. Furthermore, the livelihood vulnerability index results may have an inference for government institutions and stakeholders to carry out developmental works and adaptation strategies in both the villages.

Because of its strong chelating capacity, application of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to soils may change the amount and distribution of heavy metals among their various chemical forms. Therefore, a greenhouse experiment was conducted using two cultivars of Brassica species (Brassica juncea and Brassica carinata) as hyper accumulator test crops on natural and artificially Cd and Ni contaminated soils. Both natural and metal amended soils were treated with disodium salt of EDTA at 0 and 1 g kg−1 soil. After harvest of crops, soil samples were fractionated into water soluble plus exchangeable (WE), carbonate (CARB), organic matter (OM), Mn oxide (MnOX), amorphous Fe oxide (AFeOX), crystalline Fe oxide (CFeOX) and residual (RES) fractions. In metal amended soils, Cd and Ni were found predominantly in the AFeOX fraction in the absence of EDTA application and in the WE fraction in EDTA treated soil. Application of EDTA resulted in the redistribution of Cd among different forms and increased significantly Cd in the WE fraction with a concomitant significant decrease in the OM fraction. In natural soils, more than 40% of the total Cd was present in the RES fraction while in contaminated soil it was only 5%. Nickel in the WE fraction increased significantly while it considerably decreased in the CARB, OM, MnOX, AFeOX and CFeOX fractions with EDTA addition. This indicated that applied EDTA is capable to move Cd and Ni from the less soluble or more stable forms (CARB, OM, MnOX, AFeOX and CFeOX) to the most soluble form (WE). N natural soils, Ni in the RES fraction was found upto 49%, whereas only 10% of the total Ni was observed in contaminated soil, irrespective of EDTA treatment. In general, the amount of Cd recovered after harvest of both the Brassica cultivars did not differ significantly in any fraction except the WE fraction. The amount of Ni recovered in the AFeOX fraction was significantly higher after harvest of B. juncea as compared to B. carinata.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in the an country’s economic growth. Several developed nations have adopted environment friendly practices in their enterprises recently and due to rise in CO2 emission and increase in temperature immediate environment friendly practices are needed to be implemented globally. SMEs in developing countries are still in struggle for green practices adoption. SMEs in developing country like Pakistan need to implement green practices for a number of reasons. In order to fill the existing research gap, this research study aims to explore the key drivers motivating SMEs (especially food industry) to adopt green practices, further our research study is aiming at identify the major barriers hinder green practices implementation. Based on the extensive review of existing literature and experts’ opinions and by utilizing Delphi method, a total 13 key drivers that motivate green practices implementation and 25 major barriers hindering adoption of green practices were identified. By the experts’ recommendations, all the key drivers and major barriers influencing green practices adoption were ranked. Findings of our study showed that among the key drivers “Financial assistance/support from government” was the highest ranked key driver motivating SMEs to adopt green/environment-friendly practices followed by “Organizational commitment”, “Promotion of green practices” and “Proper training about green practices”. Results of our study further revealed that “Limited financial resources” was the highest ranked barrier hindering SMEs green practices adoption among 25 barriers followed by “Lack of HR capabilities”, “Loose organizational structure” and “Lack of resources”, respectively. Based on our research study findings, we propose a number of green/environment-friendly practices that overcome the barriers currently SMEs sector is facing. Our this study findings are anticipated to benefit authorities and enterprises to focus on the implementation of green/environment-friendly practices and formulate the necessary solutions to overwhelmed barriers hindering SMEs growth and adoption of green practices.