Conceptual sustainable production principles in practice: Do they reflect what companies do?
2017 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 141, p. 693-701Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
A common understanding of sustainable production principles and the identification of sustainable manufacturing practices among practitioners are key starting points in studying how manufacturers are making their operations more sustainable. However, there is a lack of insight in the literature connecting conceptual sustainable production principles, and the practices reflecting these principles. Using semi-structured interviews founded on the sustainable production principles posed by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, this paper presents an outlook of how companies in different industries carry out manufacturing practices related to the sustainability production principles. Results showed that the majority of sustainable manufacturing practices remain strongly centered on the environmental dimension of sustainability, with the greatest number of practices emanating from principles concerning energy and material conservation, and waste management. Similarly, reactive sustainable manufacturing practices prevailed over proactive sustainable manufacturing practices, as most of the practices aimed to comply with regulatory and market pressures. Quality and environmental management systems were acknowledged as important tools for putting sustainable production principles into practice; while Swedish environmental and social regulations were found to drive sustainable manufacturing practices. This study connects sustainable production principles with sustainable manufacturing practices and opens the way for further studies on a global or sector-specific scale.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2017. Vol. 141, p. 693-701
Keywords [en]
Manufacturing companies, Sustainable manufacturing practices, Sustainable production principles, Environmental management, Environmental management systems, Environmental regulations, Manufacture, Waste management, Manufacturing practices, Market pressure, Semi structured interviews, Social regulations, Sustainable manufacturing, Sustainable production, Swedishs, Sustainable development
National Category
Other Engineering and Technologies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-33952DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.079ISI: 000389090300063Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84994220079OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-33952DiVA, id: diva2:1049418
2016-11-242016-11-242020-10-30Bibliographically approved