Understanding the genesis of green supply chain management: lessons from leading Brazilian companies

This work discusses the internal structuring processes of leading companies when adopting green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. A multiple case study approach was adopted as the research methodology, with four large Brazilian companies that are leaders in their market segments. The introduction of green products is a key step towards initiating concern for the environment among suppliers and customers. This study's results show the importance of having green teams, a dedicated functional area, and/or green jobs that support the discussion of environmental management among a business and beyond. The practical results of this study offer new insights into the behavior of companies that are adopting GSCM practices, thereby generating new evidence for the extension of GSCM theory. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of removal of a non-native tree species Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. on the regenerating plant communities in a tropical semideciduous forest under restoration in Brazil

Exotic species are used to trigger facilitation in restoration plantings, but this positive effect may not be permanent and these species may have negative effects later on. Since such species can provide a marketable product (firewood), their harvest may represent an advantageous strategy to achieve both ecological and economic benefits. In this study, we looked at the effect of removal of a non-native tree species (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia) on the understory of a semideciduous forest undergoing restoration. We assessed two 14-year-old plantation systems (modified taungya agroforestry system; and mixed plantation using commercial timber and firewood tree species) established at two sites with contrasting soil properties in São Paulo state, Brazil. The experimental design included randomized blocks with split plots. The natural regeneration of woody species (height ≥0.2 m) was compared between managed (all M. caesalpiniifolia trees removed) and unmanaged plots during the first year after the intervention. The removal of M. caesalpiniifolia increased species diversity but decreased stand basal area. Nevertheless, the basal area loss was recovered after 1 year. The management treatment affected tree species regeneration differently between species groups. The results of this study suggest that removal of M. caesalpiniifolia benefited the understory and possibly accelerated the succession process. Further monitoring studies are needed to evaluate the longer term effects on stand structure and composition. The lack of negative effects of tree removal on the natural regeneration indicates that such interventions can be recommended, especially considering the expectations of economic revenues from tree harvesting in restoration plantings.

Planejamento para a implantação da ISO 9001 em uma empresa do setor industrial

The fierce competitiveness of the current market and the sophistication of customer requirements made the commitment to quality a need within organizations. The search for quality has been carried out by the adoption of quality management systems, a formal organization that should be present throughout the organization, from the initial identification of market needs to the satisfaction of customer requirements. The methodology most commonly used for this purpose is based on the requirements of ISO 9001, latest version of 2008. Considering this scenario, was developed a case study in a small company of the industrial sector with the development of a plan for the implementation of ISO 9001. The proposed methodology involved the construction of a theoretical framework on the subject and the development of a case study with a qualitative approach. Initially, was applied a questionnaire to the representative of the organization about the company's operating procedures, activity logs held, current documentation, planning and resource management for the construction of an assessment about the adequacy of the company needs to ISO 9001. Were obtained as results the characterization of production processes and organizational structure of the company and examples of policy and objectives of quality, performance indicators, document control, system for visualization of non-compliances, among others. Finally, the benefits of adopting a quality management system based on ISO 9001 requirements for the company and its environmental issues such as increased process efficiency, less waste and greater profitability, were pointed out, and the conditions for effective certification in the future

Cultura organizacional, inovação e gestão ambiental: integrando conceitos para a edificação de organizações sustentáveis

The main purpose of this article is to relate two among the most important themes of the current organizational dynamic: organizational culture, innovation and environmental management. Great part of the literature about environmental management and environmental innovation refers to organizational culture as the most arduous wall or the most significant element to develop effective practices of business environmental management. However, relationship among such concepts is, many times, superficial or camouflaging the necessary analytic depth. To solve this challenge, this article integrates the levels of the organizational culture (workmanships, values and presupposed unconscious), the typologies of environmental innovation (total productivity of resources, innovations for the segregation of materials and articulation of bio-systems), and the environmental technologies (end-of-pipe, environmental measurement, pollution prevention and zero-impact technology). Recommendations and challenges for the continuity of this research are registered.

Environmental Innovation: in search of a meaning

The purpose of this paper is to propose a definition of the term “green/environmental innovation”, based on a systematic literature review. Design/methodology/approach– The literature review conducted in this research was based on papers published in ISI Web of Science and Scopus databases. Findings– Environmental innovations are organizational implementations and changes focusing on the environment, with implications for companies’ products, manufacturing processes and marketing, with different degrees of novelty. They can be merely incremental improvements that intensify the performance of something that already exists, or radical ones that promote something completely unprecedented, where the main objective is to reduce the company's environmental impacts. In addition, environmental innovation has a bilateral relationship with the level of proactive environmental management adopted by companies. Increasing of environmental innovation tends to come up against many barriers.

Evidências da relação entre evolução da gestão ambiental e a adoção de práticas de Green Supply Chain Management no setor eletroeletrônico brasileiro

The objective of this research is to examine if the environmental management evolution is positively related towards the adoption of green supply chain management practices (GSCM) by companies in the electronics sector in Brazil. To reach this objective, a quantitative research was conducted by survey with 100 companies in the electronics sector in Brazil. The collected data were processed using descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. The most important results are: in the sample, GSCM practices to the recovery of investment, as the resale of scrap and other waste materials, and the adequacy with legislation and auditing, obtained high scores; and research hypothesis (H1) was confirmed and considered statistically valid, indicating that, in fact, the evolution of environmental management influences the adoption of GSCM practices.

Há sinergia entre o sistema lean manufacturing e a gestão ambiental? mapeando o estado da arte

In recent decades, two research themes have been prominent in the academic and organizational setting: lean manufacturing and green management. Since 1996, when Florida (1996) wrote an article focusing on the synergy between these two areas, the debate if “Lean is Green?” enters in the academic field. It is in this context that this research presents the results of a systematic literature on the topic, focusing on the characteristics, positive and negative impacts, lean paradigms, green paradigms and design of supply chains. To perform this procedure it were followed the methodological footsteps of Lage Junior and Godinho Filho (2010). The research occurred in the database Scopus and it was conducted from June, 2012 to July, 2012.The key word used was “green lean” and as search filter it were included only articles and conference Papers. Their main result is a deep analysis of the accumulated knowledge on the subject, where it is revealed that the majority of studies point to the synergy between some components of the lean manufacturing system in relation to environmental management. The research gap found is related to articles that address the entropy of the union of lean and green systems.

Diagnóstico e proposta de diretrizes para o gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos no município de Rio Claro (SP)

Over the last few years, Brazil has some problems related to the management of solid waste, mainly related to the final disposal of materials, resulting in serious environmental risks to the municipalities that suffer from this type of situation. Poorly designed landfills and weak management systems after the termination of their employment, for example, is currently showing as a major problem for urban expansion and the subsoil of these sites, endangering all the environmental quality of the areas where they are located . Because of this scenario, this work produced a diagnosis of the current situation of the management of solid waste in the city of Rio Claro (SP) from its generation, through selective collection and sorting, as well as its final destination, in order to propose a reflection on current form management, in order to present some guidelines based on Federal Law 12.305 / 2010 - National Solid Waste Policy for improvement of this issue in the city. Although the situation found in the city can be considered reasonable for good, there is a need to improve and how to manage, especially in the operational issue of selective collection and also the participation of society in the category Environmental Education, converging in the search for improvements to the common good

Análise da educação ambiental em uma agroindústria: um estudo de caso no município de Guararapes/SP

Pós-graduação em Agronegócio e Desenvolvimento - Tupã

Contribuição dos indicadores de sustentabilidade na gestão urbano ambiental

Recently in Brazil cities have been suffering strong influence concerning concepts of sustainable development and urban-environmental management in order to implement public policies. These approaches combined, subsidize fair democratic construction, along with citizen participation and transparency regarding the use of resources. This study was meant to address the evaluation of performance and environmental quality through the use of sustainability indicators as a tool for planning and management of municipal urban-environmental, its advantages, disadvantages and contributions to the effectiveness in the implementation of policies aimed at local sustainable development. The main objective of the study was to do a comparative analysis of the indicators used in Piracicaba, to the national indicator system and other municipal programs, and also, its application in urban and environmental planning. To achieve this goal, initially a topic selection was made based on a bibliographic analysis in order to discuss the use of management tools and municipal evaluation systems from the perspective of sustainability, showing the management tools such as laws, agreements, documents and mainly, sustainability indicators. It was then, prepared the case study carried out in Piracicaba, São Paulo municipality. With the obtained results, it was possible to provide a model which shows strengths and weaknesses of public actions and policies for the environment, such as project suggestions that could be applied aiming greater sustainability and continuous improvement of municipal environmental performance

Green supply chain management em uma indústria de bens do consumo do Vale do Paraíba - SP

The Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is gaining prominence in the academy and business, as an approach that aims to promote economic and environmental gains. The GSCM is operated through the Environmental Management System Tools and treated as an Environmental Management System (EMS), involving Reverse Logistics, Green Purchasing, Green Sourcing, Green Design, Green Packaging, Green Operation, Green Manufacturing, Green Innovation and Customer Awareness. The objective of this study is to map the GSCM tools and identify their practice in a consumer goods industry in the Vale do Paraiba. The approach and data collection were made in the company's database chosen as the object of study, as well as through on site visits and interviews. The results showed that the tools Green Operation, Green Manufacturing, Green Innovation and Green Sourcing are applied in the company and just Costumer Awareness tool showed no practice at all. To other tools was identified ideology or interest of the company in applying them

Microbial biomass and soil chemical properties under different land use systems in Northeastern Pará

O aumento da produção agrícola na Amazônia brasileira tem ocorrido devido, em grande parte, à expansão da fronteira agrícola, utilizando áreas já antropizadas ou avançando sobre a vegetação primária. Ao mesmo tempo, os sistemas agrícolas, na pequena produção, continuam utilizando o fogo no preparo da área, o que leva à perda da capacidade produtiva dos solos em curto espaço de tempo, forçando a abertura de novas áreas. Este trabalho avaliou o efeito de métodos de preparo do solo e tempo de pousio que envolvem queima e trituração da vegetação, com permanência na superfície ou incorporada ao solo, com ou sem adubação mineral, em duas épocas do ano sobre os atributos químicos e biológicos do solo. O experimento foi instalado em 1995 em um Latossolo Amarelo do campo experimental da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, no nordeste do Estado do Pará. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados, arranjados em esquema fatorial 2 x 6, sendo dois sistemas de manejo e seis tratamentos, estudados em duas épocas de coleta. Os sistemas de manejo envolveram as culturas de arroz (Oriza sativa), seguido de feijão-caupi (Vigna unguiculata) e mandioca (Manihot esculenta). Um sistema constou de dois ciclos de cultivo seguidos, deixando em pousio por três anos; e o outro, de um ciclo de cultivo, deixando em pousio por três anos. Os tratamentos foram: corte e queima da vegetação, com adubação NPK (Q+NPK); corte e queima da vegetação, sem adubação NPK (Q-NPK); corte e trituração da vegetação, deixando-a na superfície do solo, com adubação NPK (C+NPK); corte e trituração da vegetação, deixando-a na superfície do solo, sem adubação NPK (C-NPK); corte e trituração da vegetação, com incorporação e com adubação NPK (I+NPK); e corte e trituração da vegetação, com incorporação e sem adubação NPK (I-NPK). As coletas de solo foram realizadas na estação mais chuvosa (abril de 2006) e na menos chuvosa (setembro de 2006), na profundidade de 0,0-0,1 m. Em cada parcela, foram coletadas 10 amostras simples para compor uma amostra composta. O sistema de manejo mais intensivo apresentou maiores teores de C microbiano (Cmic) e N microbiano (Nmic), ao passo que o sistema menos intensivo mostrou maio teor de C orgânico. Os tratamentos que apresentaram maior teor de Cmic e Nmic foram aqueles em que houve corte, trituração e deposição da biomassa na superfície do solo. Os atributos químicos nos dois sistemas de manejo encontram-se em faixas que enquadram os solos como de baixa fertilidade; no entanto, P e K (no período chuvoso) foram mais elevados no sistema de manejo menos intensivo.

Preparation of Coated Microtools for Electrochemical Machining Applications

PREPARATION OF COATED MICROTOOLS FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL MACHINING APPLICATIONS Ajaya K. Swain, M.S. University of Nebraska, 2010 Advisor: K.P. Rajurkar Coated tools have improved the performance of both traditional and nontraditional machining processes and have resulted in higher material removal, better surface finish, and increased wear resistance. However, a study on the performance of coated tools in micromachining has not yet been adequately conducted. One possible reason is the difficulties associated with the preparation of coated microtools. Besides the technical requirement, economic and environmental aspects of the material and the coating technique used also play a significant role in coating microtools. This, in fact, restricts the range of coating materials and the type of coating process. Handling is another major issue in case of microtools purely because of their miniature size. This research focuses on the preparation of coated microtools for pulse electrochemical machining by electrodeposition. The motivation of this research is derived from the fact that although there were reports of improved machining by using insulating coatings on ECM tools, particularly in ECM drilling operations, not much literature was found relating to use of metallic coating materials in other ECM process types. An ideal ECM tool should be good thermal and electrical conductor, corrosion resistant, electrochemically stable, and stiff enough to withstand electrolyte pressure. Tungsten has almost all the properties desired in an ECM tool material except being electrochemically unstable. Tungsten can be oxidized during machining resulting in poor machining quality. Electrochemical stability of a tungsten ECM tool can be improved by electroplating it with nickel which has superior electrochemical resistance. Moreover, a tungsten tool can be coated in situ reducing the tool handling and breakage frequency. The tungsten microtool was electroplated with nickel with direct and pulse current. The effect of the various input parameters on the coating characteristics was studied and performance of the coated microtool was evaluated in pulse ECM. The coated tool removed more material (about 28%) than the uncoated tool under similar conditions and was more electrochemical stable. It was concluded that nickel coated tungsten microtool can improve the pulse ECM performance.

Análise da educação ambiental em uma agroindústria: um estudo de caso no município de Guararapes/SP

Pós-graduação em Agronegócio e Desenvolvimento - Tupã

Contribuição dos indicadores de sustentabilidade na gestão urbano ambiental

Recently in Brazil cities have been suffering strong influence concerning concepts of sustainable development and urban-environmental management in order to implement public policies. These approaches combined, subsidize fair democratic construction, along with citizen participation and transparency regarding the use of resources. This study was meant to address the evaluation of performance and environmental quality through the use of sustainability indicators as a tool for planning and management of municipal urban-environmental, its advantages, disadvantages and contributions to the effectiveness in the implementation of policies aimed at local sustainable development. The main objective of the study was to do a comparative analysis of the indicators used in Piracicaba, to the national indicator system and other municipal programs, and also, its application in urban and environmental planning. To achieve this goal, initially a topic selection was made based on a bibliographic analysis in order to discuss the use of management tools and municipal evaluation systems from the perspective of sustainability, showing the management tools such as laws, agreements, documents and mainly, sustainability indicators. It was then, prepared the case study carried out in Piracicaba, São Paulo municipality. With the obtained results, it was possible to provide a model which shows strengths and weaknesses of public actions and policies for the environment, such as project suggestions that could be applied aiming greater sustainability and continuous improvement of municipal environmental performance