Natural resources are a significant foundation for human development. Unfortunately, they are on the verge of exhaustion. Emerging industries and consistent exploitations consumed most of our natural reserves during the past few years. Efficient management of these resources is not only crucial to limit their further overuse but also to pursue sustainable development and carbon neutrality. Transition to renewable sources of energy like wind and solar energy requires the construction of infrastructure that depends on copper, rare earth, and other mineral resources.
Unavoidably, the process of resource utilization and the waste disposal part of the supply chain negatively impacts the environment. Under those circumstances, a comprehensive assessment of the resource supply chain life cycle management is critical. It can provide insight into material flow and environmental impact on each part of the supply chain and accurately evaluate resource efficiency. Currently, resources management focuses on specific parts like mining, producing, and recycling instead of the supply chain as a whole. Hence, more research on resource efficiency and environmental impact from the supply chain life cycle perspective is necessary.
This Research Topic mainly focuses on four issues associated with resource efficiency and environmental impact assessment. First, the material flow of the supply chain life cycle of resources such as rare earth elements and platinum-group metals is still unclear, requiring more detailed research on clarifying the whole process of life cycle resource flow to comprehensively evaluate the efficiency of resource management. Second, partial resource industrial processes are still harmful to the environment. For example, mining, extraction, and smelting of resource utilization always generate enormous air, water, and soil pollution. Assessing the environmental impact of these processes is needed to optimize the resource production supply chain. Additionally, the resource supply chain generates many wastes like tailing. Most of them go to landfills directly without further treatment. Promoting a circular economy by resource recycling will be an effective way to manage them. However, it requires more detailed research. Finally, to satisfy the potential resource demand under sustainable development and carbon neutrality, predicting future trends; and designing and implementing suitable policies are necessary to achieve better resource management.
The current Research Topic aims to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in resource efficiency and environmental impact assessment. This Research Topic mainly focuses on the environmental impact and material flow of different resource industrial processes from the whole life cycle perspective. A suitable proposition of resource supply chain management will be encouraged.
Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Resource material flow analysis of the whole supply chain
• Resource life cycle assessment on environmental impact
• Industrial resource waste management and treatment
• Resource recycling potential assessment through circular economy
• Resource constraint prediction under carbon neutrality
• Suitable resource management to achieve sustainable development
The desired submissions include: Original Research, Review, Policy & Practice Review, Mini-Review, Perspectives, and Policy Brief.
Natural resources are a significant foundation for human development. Unfortunately, they are on the verge of exhaustion. Emerging industries and consistent exploitations consumed most of our natural reserves during the past few years. Efficient management of these resources is not only crucial to limit their further overuse but also to pursue sustainable development and carbon neutrality. Transition to renewable sources of energy like wind and solar energy requires the construction of infrastructure that depends on copper, rare earth, and other mineral resources.
Unavoidably, the process of resource utilization and the waste disposal part of the supply chain negatively impacts the environment. Under those circumstances, a comprehensive assessment of the resource supply chain life cycle management is critical. It can provide insight into material flow and environmental impact on each part of the supply chain and accurately evaluate resource efficiency. Currently, resources management focuses on specific parts like mining, producing, and recycling instead of the supply chain as a whole. Hence, more research on resource efficiency and environmental impact from the supply chain life cycle perspective is necessary.
This Research Topic mainly focuses on four issues associated with resource efficiency and environmental impact assessment. First, the material flow of the supply chain life cycle of resources such as rare earth elements and platinum-group metals is still unclear, requiring more detailed research on clarifying the whole process of life cycle resource flow to comprehensively evaluate the efficiency of resource management. Second, partial resource industrial processes are still harmful to the environment. For example, mining, extraction, and smelting of resource utilization always generate enormous air, water, and soil pollution. Assessing the environmental impact of these processes is needed to optimize the resource production supply chain. Additionally, the resource supply chain generates many wastes like tailing. Most of them go to landfills directly without further treatment. Promoting a circular economy by resource recycling will be an effective way to manage them. However, it requires more detailed research. Finally, to satisfy the potential resource demand under sustainable development and carbon neutrality, predicting future trends; and designing and implementing suitable policies are necessary to achieve better resource management.
The current Research Topic aims to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in resource efficiency and environmental impact assessment. This Research Topic mainly focuses on the environmental impact and material flow of different resource industrial processes from the whole life cycle perspective. A suitable proposition of resource supply chain management will be encouraged.
Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Resource material flow analysis of the whole supply chain
• Resource life cycle assessment on environmental impact
• Industrial resource waste management and treatment
• Resource recycling potential assessment through circular economy
• Resource constraint prediction under carbon neutrality
• Suitable resource management to achieve sustainable development
The desired submissions include: Original Research, Review, Policy & Practice Review, Mini-Review, Perspectives, and Policy Brief.