Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Global waste management'

Current physical resource management (PRM) was investigated in a global perspective in this thesis, to gain a deeper understanding of its implications in a sustainability perspective. In particular, the main challenges to the current PRM system and the kinds of systemic changes needed for sustainable PRM were examined. In five separate studies, different theoretical and practical challenges to current PRM approaches were analysed. A descriptive literature review, causal loop diagrams and semi-structured interviews were performed to gather qualitative and quantitative inferences. Perspectives from industrial ecology, life cycle thinking, systems thinking and environmental philosophy were then applied to analyse global resource/waste management issues. The analysis resulted in an overview of the global ecological sustainability challenges to current PRM and identification of major challenges to the global waste management system. Causal loop diagrams were used to qualitatively analyse the structure and behaviour of production and consumption systems responsible for unintended environmental consequences of purposive actions to improve material and energy efficiencies. Ways in which resource quality could be maintained throughout the system of production and consumption systems were determined by identifying challenges facing product designers while closing the material loops. A planning framework was devised to operationalise the sustainable development demands in society, including production and consumption systems. A broader systems approach is proposed for future sustainable global PRM, focusing on ensuring societal functions within the human activity system. The approach involves designing and managing anthropogenic stocks of physical resources to reduce inflows of physical resources and outflows of wastes and emissions. Life cycle-based databases linking resource consumption with waste generation are needed for improved global PRM.
I denna avhandling undersöktes fysisk resursanvändning i ett globalt perspektiv, för att få en djupare förståelse av dess konsekvenser i ett hållbarhetsperspektiv. Framför allt undersöktes de största utmaningarna med den aktuella fysiska resurshanteringen och vilka typer av systemförändringar som krävs för en hållbar fysisk resurshantering. I fem studier analyserades olika teoretiska och praktiska utmaningar för den nuvarande fysiska resurshanteringen. Litteraturstudier, kausala loopdiagram och semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att samla kvalitativ och kvantitativ information. Perspektiv från industriell ekologi, livscykeltänkande, systemtänkande och miljöfilosofi tillämpades för att analysera globala resurs- och avfallshanteringsfrågor. Analysen resulterade i en översikt av den nuvarande fysiska resurshanteringens globala ekologiska hållbarhetsutmaningar och identifiering av stora utmaningar för den globala avfallshanteringen. Kausala loopdiagram användes för att kvalitativt analysera strukturen och beteendet hos de produktions- och konsumtionssystem som gör att ändamålsenliga åtgärder för att förbättra material- och energieffektivitet får oavsiktliga negativa miljökonsekvenser. Hur resurskvalitet kan upprätthållas i produktions- och konsumtionssystemen som helhet bestämdes genom att identifiera de utmaningar som produktdesigners möter när de sluter kretslopp av material. En planeringsmodell utformades för att operationalisera kraven på hållbar utveckling i samhället, bland annat produktions- och konsumtionssystem. Ett bredare systemtänkande föreslås för en hållbar global fysisk resursförvaltning i framtiden, med fokus på att säkerställa samhällsfunktioner inom det mänskliga aktivitetssystemet. Tillvägagångssättet innebär att utforma och hantera antropogena fysiska resurser i syfte att: minska inflödet av fysiska resurser; och utflödet av avfall och utsläpp. Livscykelbaserade databaser som länkar resursanvändning till avfallsgenerering behövs för att förbättra den globala fysiska resursförvaltningen.

QC 20160516

India4EU

Electronic waste, also called e-waste, are various forms of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) that have ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfy their original purpose. E-waste products have exhausted their utility value through either redundancy, replacement, or breakage and include both “white goods” such as refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves and “brown goods” such as televisions, radios, computers, and cell phones. Given that the technology revolution has exponentially increased the use of new electronic equipment, it has also produced growing volumes of obsolete products; e-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams. Although e-waste contains complex combinations of highly toxic substances that pose a danger to health and the environment, many of the products also contain recoverable precious materials, making it a different kind of waste compared with traditional municipal waste. Globally, e-waste constitutes more than 5 percent of all municipal solid waste and is increasing with the rise of sales of electronic products in developing countries. Most of the world’s e-waste is recycled in developing countries, where informal and hazardous setups for the extraction and sale of metals are common. Recycling companies in developed countries face strict environmental regulatory regimes and an increasing cost of waste disposal and thus may find exportation to small traders in developing countries more profitable than recycling in their own countries. There is also a significant illegal transboundary movement of e-waste in the form of donations and charity from rich industrialized nations to developing countries. E-waste profiteers can harvest substantial profits owing to lax environmental laws, corrupt officials, and poorly paid workers, and there is an urgent need to develop policies and strategies to dispose of and recycle e-waste safely to achieve a sustainable future.

This thesis unpacks the dynamic nature and architecture of the global e-waste (electronic and electrical waste) recycling network. It analyses the functions of formal (guided by regulatory apparatus) and informal sectors (usually outside the regulatory orbit) involved in waste production and processing and their structural inter-linkages to situate the process and practise of informality in e-waste in the realm of formal capitalist economy. Additionally, it investigates the impact of regulatory interventions on the waste network and the actors therein. It focuses on the spatiality of waste treatment where the narrative of the physical material starts in the formal sector of electronics manufacturing and consumption and travels along quasi-legal channels of e-scrap trade and traffic to reach the informal sector (often in developing countries) for its end-of-life management. Till date, the systemic interconnections between formality and informality in waste processing operations have not been analysed in the waste scholarship. Despite critically reviewing the widespread presence and preponderance of informality with its definite characteristics, the literature has largely disregarded its relationship with formality and the broader lexicon of production and exchange. This research addresses this important omission in the literature and examines the drivers of informality and myriad formal-informal associations in e-waste transfer and treatment in the changing contours of the global economy. The following research question guides the structure and argument of this thesis. Main Research Question: What drives informality in e-waste movement and management?The research follows the trajectory of the international waste stream and examines how these path(way)s are embedded in the socio-economic processes of formality and informality. It uses the qualitative field work conducted in Netherlands, Belgium and India (Delhi) in 2011 and 2012. The fieldwork covers all the stakeholders engaged directly or indirectly in the e-waste network starting with the manufacturers, consumers to the traders, collectors, dismantlers, recyclers and second-hand sellers in both formal and informal sectors as well as the state and NGOs. The production, distribution and consumption of electronics, its waste and the recovered elements are not disjoint despite their apparent dispersion across geographical and political borders. Rather it is a functionally and organizationally inter-connected network characterised by a continuum of formal-informal material transfer, socio-economic transactions and financial arrangements between different players performing diverse functions. The analytical foundation of this study is laid by the Global Production Network (GPN) approach which follows the spatial e-waste flow in the post-consumption stage and locates the role and position of the various actors engaged in the process. It deconstructs the inter-connections between the formal and the informal actors by drawing on the rich formality-informality discourse. It uses the Global Value Chain (GVC) framework to specifically interrogate the vertical and horizontal governance patterns and power imbalances between the different players and additionally employs the idea of informal social networks from the industrial clusters literature to understand the ties of family, kinship and community between them. The study also engages with the diverse (re)valuations of e-waste and the (re)creation of secondary products that are used for further consumption and production. The value generated, circulated and captured in the waste recycling stream by the participating actors is understood using the Marxian exposition of circuits of capital. The e-waste network is institutionally embedded in particular geographical settings, socio-cultural milieus and regulatory framework leading to spatially differential comprehensions and treatment of e-waste. The roles of the regulatory and civic initiatives in conditioning and configuring this network are scrutinised to deliberate on the different paradigms of its management. The research illustrates that the fluidity between formality and informality in waste processing is crucial in (re)fashioning and (re)constructing waste for further use. It suggests that commodity production, consumption, waste generation and treatment are conjoined internationally in which value is created and circulated across sectoral and geographical boundaries. In effect, it reflects on the politics and practices of waste production and management and questions the design and enforcement of state policies towards eco-friendly processing of e-waste.

Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream today and information and communications technology (ICT) equipment make up a significant portion of all the electronics put on market. Due to the valuable, rare, and toxic material content of ICT equipment, their disposal requires proper treatment to ensure materials are recovered and harm to the surrounding environment and nearby residents is avoided. As a tool used to identify the impacts resulting from a product, life cycle assessment (LCA) requires details around the processes performed during each stage of a product’s life. LCA studies on ICT waste often assume that discarded equipment is fully recycled under formal conditions. This study investigates current ICT waste treatment practices and proposes a more reasonable end-of-life treatment scenario for use in future LCA work. The volume of ICT waste generated in each country is estimated according to reported mobile phone subscription counts, and treatment flows are investigated for the countries identified as generating the most waste in each region. National results are then aggregated to estimate regional and global end-of-life treatment scenarios. The research indicates that developed countries properly recycle the majority of the ICT waste that is collected and treated domestically; the United States is an exception as a majority of ICT waste generated there is discarded to landfills. Developing countries tend to recycle a majority of electronic waste in informal sectors where a lack of technology and limited enforcement of regulations result in harmful waste processing activities. Waste is also exported from developed countries for treatment in developing countries. The proposed global end-of-life treatment scenario is 19% of ICT waste is recycled under formal conditions, 64% is recycled using informal methods, and the remaining 17% is discarded in landfills. Due to a lack of uncertainty, there is a clear need for more research regarding the treatment of ICT waste, especially in regards to B2B waste and export flows. A sensitivity analysis to determine the overall impact these results may have when applied to an LCA study is recommended.

In the world today, thousands of humans in developing countries live in metropolises anddepend on garbage for their livelihoods. In Cairo, waste has been taken care of by aChristian minority group called the ‘Zabaleen’.This Bachelor thesis was conducted in Cairo and financed by a Minor Field Studyscholarship in August-October 2012. It focuses on Egyptian citizens’ attitudes towards asustainable recycling system and their attitudes towards the traditional garbage collector‘Zabaleen’. I used focus groups as the main source for collecting data and the technique ofshowing photographs to create a dialog among the participants. The focus groups have led to dynamic and useful discussions that this study is based upon. In conclusion, onecommon attitude that was met in the study indicates the frustration of how dirty the streetsof Cairo are. People all said they wanted a clean Egypt but they felt that no one from thegovernment wanted to put their finger on the solution to this problem.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2019, In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019, In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 59-60).
Verizon distributes Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) such as set top boxes, broadband routers, and WiFi extenders to Fios customers via a variety of paths; for example: direct ship to customer (either for self-install or for later installation by a field technician), delivery via field technicians, or retail store pickup (primarily for self-install). Each method has its own benefits and shortcomings due to impacts on metrics such as inventory levels, shipping costs, on-time delivery, and system complexity. Although the majority of shipments are successfully activated in the customer's home, a non-trivial percentage results in unused returns or inventory shrinkage. These undesirable results represent a significant amount of wasted resources. This thesis is focused on identifying and realizing cost savings in the Fios supply chain through reduction in waste associated with unsuccessful shipments.
In order to effectively analyze the closed-loop supply chain, accurate and reliable process mapping is critical. Interviews with key stakeholders, together with order and shipment data analysis yielded a complete picture of the ecosystem's processes and infrastructure. Process mining techniques augmented this understanding, using event log data to identify and map equipment and information flows across the supply chain. All together this analysis is used to identify order cancellations as a key source of waste. To limit waste, it is necessary to conduct analysis both internal to Verizon's processes and externally, to determine if there are customer trends leading to order termination. Process mining was used for the internal analysis and, while it helped identify singular cases in which process abnormalities were associated with undesirable outcomes, its current form proved unsuited for root cause analysis.
Internal analysis did, however, illuminate opportunities for improvement in radio-frequency identification (RFID) usage and protocols across the supply chain. Current systems can result in poor visibility of equipment as it moves within some segments of the supply chain. The actual monetary impact is difficult to determine but likely to increase as the importance of RFID increases. External analysis is conducted through predictive modelling. Using a variety of data sources, a model with over 80% sensitivity and a low false positive rate is achieved. Operationalizing this model through real time incorporation with sales was explored but found to be overly complex. Instead, the random forest model yielded policy changes guided by the features with the highest importance. A pilot is currently in development to test the efficacy of suggested changes, as the model implies significant savings opportunity.
by Hans P. Kobor.
M.B.A.
S.M.
M.B.A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management
S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2017.
Thesis: S.M. in Engineering Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2017.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 91).
Quest Diagnostics has committed to reducing operating expenses by $1.3B between 2012 and 2017. A portion of the cost-saving initiative focuses on reagents - expensive liquids that are combined with patient samples to detect compounds of interest. This project aims to reduce reagent waste for high-volume diagnostic tests run on an instrument platform that generates a relatively high amount of reagent waste. Waste, in this context, means any reagent that does not generate unique patient results. Therefore critical components of the quality system, such as quality control and calibration tests, are designated waste even though they are a necessary expenditure. Quality control (QC) samples and mechanical errors accounted for 5.2% and 4.4%, respectively, of all reagent usage prior to the start of the project. Mechanical errors occur when the diagnostic testing platform encounters something unexpected, such as debris or a reading that indicates insufficient sample volume, which interrupts sample processing. The instrument jettisons this test and attempts to repeat the assay. Initial discussions with laboratory representatives revealed differing interpretations of quality control requirements. All sites using the platform of interest were then surveyed to gauge the extent of variation. All sites met quality control requirements but several exceeded them. The most pertinent variations are listed below. 1. Frequency: Several sites ran control samples more often than established in Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) requirements, increasing total QC usage by over 70%. 2. Container size: The choice of container determines the amount of "dead volume", material that the instrument cannot access and must be discarded. Some sites used containers with 12.8 times the dead volume required in the smallest option. 3. Reuse policy: Some labs reuse containers of quality control materials across multiple batches. Reusing QC material further reduces the amount of dead volume discarded, but using new QC materials eliminates the possibility of evaporation between batches. An interdisciplinary team of experts tasked with maintaining the SOPs has reviewed these results and will clarify the appropriate SOP interpretation to unify practices across laboratories. In order to understand mechanical errors, I observed routine maintenance at four sites and found that business units did not consistently share best practices. Collaborating with vendor representatives and operators, I launched an Autonomous Maintenance (AM) pilot program in order to develop training materials capturing institutional knowledge and to test additional maintenance procedures. The AM activities generated 29 training documents, which were added to a national database of competency training materials. All operators certified to operate the testing platform will be required to review and pass comprehension quizzes on the training materials. As the Marlborough site continues to develop improvements to the maintenance procedures, these changes will be shared with the vendor and incorporated into training documents.
by Amy Rose Gobel.
M.B.A.
S.M. in Engineering Systems

Nuestras sociedades necesitan soluciones para reducir el consumo de recursos, así como de gases de efecto invernadero (GHG en inglés). La identificación de los residuos como un recurso valioso puede ayudar a reducir el consumo de recursos y en consecuencia las emisiones de GHG. Por lo tanto, el enfoque ha sido originalmente puesto en la recuperación y el reciclaje. Sin embargo, los gestores de residuos y los investigadores han destacado la reciente importancia de los residuos comercializados en mercados globales. Esta perspectiva global podría afectar los ahorros de emisiones de GHG atribuidas al reciclaje. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de esta tesis es en primer lugar calcular y evaluar las emisiones de GHG de la gestión en España de los residuos sólidos municipales (MSW, en inglés). En segundo lugar un enfoque especial se pone en las emisiones de GHG del reciclaje teniendo en cuenta el mercado y el comercio internacional, especialmente para los residuos de papel, aluminio y plástico. Una nueva herramienta llamada CO2ZW ®, el análisis de ciclo de vida consecuencial (CLCA en inglés) y el análisis del flujo de materiales (MFA en inglés) se aplicaron para las evaluaciones de GHG y de recursos. La aplicación de la CO2ZW ® para evaluar la gestión de los MSW confirmó que existe un alto potencial para la mitigación del cambio climático en España a través del aumento de la recuperación material junto con la reducción de la eliminación de los vertederos. La aplicación del MFA demostró que existe una considerable acumulación de productos de papel, aluminio y plástico que en los próximos años se convertirá en residuos pero el incremento de la oferta de residuo probablemente será exportado. Por otra parte, bajo el supuesto de que el reciclaje evita la producción de materia prima, se determinó también que el reciclaje evita emisiones de GHG. Sin embargo, los residuos pueden ser reciclados en España o en el extranjero, y el reciclaje puede sustituir la producción mundial o la española. Las emisiones de GHG varían en cada caso. Las producciones mundiales más competitivas de pulpa virgen, aluminio primario y plástico virgen fueron identificadas como los escenarios base bajo el CLCA. Las producciones nacionales españoles fueron evaluados como escenarios alternativos. Los resultados mostraron que los procesos más competitivos generan más emisiones de GHG, ya que son más ineficientes y a menudo se encuentran en países con alto contenido de carbón en su mix eléctrico Por lo tanto, si estos procesos se evitan mediante el reciclaje, más emisiones de GHG son mitigados que si se evitan los procesos españoles. Además, el aumento de la exportación de residuos disminuye los beneficios de GHG en todos los escenarios evaluados con excepción de la exportación de chatarra de aluminio. Los resultados no sólo pueden ayudar a los investigadores para evaluar las emisiones de GHG de la gestión de residuos, pero también pueden ser utilizados por los productores, gestores de residuos y los políticos de residuos para evaluar y proponer la mejor estrategia para reducir el consumo de recursos junto con las emisiones de GHG.
Our societies need solutions to reduce resource consumption as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Identifying waste as a valuable resource can help reduce resource consumption and consequently GHG emissions. Therefore, focus has originally been placed on recovery and recycling. However, waste managers and researchers have recently highlighted the importance of wastes traded in global markets. This global perspective could affect the savings of GHG emissions attributed to recycling. Thus, the goal of this thesis is firstly to calculate and evaluate the GHG emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Spain. Secondly a special focus is put on the GHG emissions of recycling considering the market and the international trade, specifically for waste paper, aluminium old scrap and plastic waste. A new tool called CO2ZW®, consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) and material flow analysis (MFA) were applied for the GHG and resource assessments. The application of the CO2ZW® to evaluate the MSW management confirmed that there is a high potential for climate change mitigation in Spain through the increase of material recovery along with reducing disposal to landfills. The application of MFA showed that there is a considerable accumulation of paper, aluminium and plastics products which in coming years will become waste but the increase in waste supply will probably be exported. Moreover, under the assumption that recycling avoids raw material production, it was also determined that recycling avoids GHG emissions. However, waste can be recycled in Spain or abroad, and recycling can substituted global or Spanish raw material production. The GHG emissions varied in each case. The most competitive global productions of virgin pulp, primary aluminium and virgin plastic were identified as the base scenarios under CLCA. The Spanish national productions were assessed as alternative scenarios. Results showed that the most competitive processes generate more GHG emissions as they are more inefficient and they are often located in countries with high hard coal content in their electricity mixes. Therefore, if these processes are avoided by recycling, more GHG emissions are mitigated than if the Spanish processes are avoided. In addition, increasing the export of waste decreases the GHG benefits for all scenarios evaluated except for the aluminium old scrap export. The results not only help researchers to evaluate the GHG emissions from waste management but also can be used by producers, waste managers and waste politicians to evaluate and propose the best strategy to reduce the resource consumption and the GHG emissions.

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(工学)
甲第14561号
工博第3029号
新制||工||1451(附属図書館)
26913
UT51-2009-D273
京都大学大学院工学研究科都市環境工学専攻
(主査)教授 松岡 譲, 教授 酒井 伸一, 准教授 倉田 学児
学位規則第4条第1項該当

The process of allocating necessary resources like clean water, fuel/energy and food have resulted in an unsustainable use of natural resources causing problems with Soil erosion, soil fertility, desertification, deforestation, eutrophication and global warming. The purpose of this study was to gain information on the functional design of a waste management system enabling the organic components of domestic waste to be processed as useful resources while at the same time allow them to be re-circulated. The main part of this study was carried out at the Kendu SDA Hospital in the Rachyonyo district in western Kenya. For the case of this study two main objectives where chosen. The first was to develop a principal technological solution using three classed “appropriate technologies” found suitable for the purpose namely biogas, ecological water treatment systems and slow sand filtration. The second was to further analyse each included technology to further develop their potential to fit the concept. Results from the pilot facilities where then to be retrieved from the actual component selection and construction process itself, with performance analysis left for future studies.

The main purpose of the biogas system study has been to evaluate the original ideas of overall concept, details, materials and construction methods. The 1 m3 biogas system has improved significantly during the development process and is today not far from an implementation, i.e. construction on a slightly larger scale. The biogas system developed during the project has proven to have potential for digestion of both latrine and kitchen waste. Using the two as fuel for the process does not only remove a problem – it grants several benefits.

The ecological waste water treatment system main objective was to design and construct a pilot SSF-wetland. Results show that the construction process for smaller scaled SSF systems is simple and does not require trained personnel or specialized equipment and that significant cost reduction can be made by using locally available materials.

The slow sand filtration sub system concept is called PT SCX and though still in the stage of development proved to have great potential concerning both efficiency and sustainability. The PT SCX comprises the advantages of slow sand filtration with further development of individual system solutions. It was adapted to enable both integration to the IWESS solution and stand alone installations purifying even highly turbid surface water sources to drinking water quality.

The result from the study confirms the suitability of the three included technologies, ecological waste water treatment, biogas and slow sand filtration to work in an integrated system called IWESS- Integrated Water Energy and Sanitation Solution. The combined subsystems can together with source separated sewage offer full resource recovery enabling recirculation of both nutrients and water. In addition the system can be designed as a net producer of renewable and emission free energy.

“Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.” – Ingvar Kamprad IKEA, as one of the biggest furniture companies in the world (Alänge, 2015), makes it interesting to have a look into their practices to gain a deeper insight by looking at how they work on a more sustainable and environmental friendlier world. Since Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of this company, mentioned sustainability from the earliest years, this work will provide an insight on how the sustainability annual reports of IKEA present their sustainability strategies to the reader every year. The researchers use the secondary analysis method to provide the theoretical framework and apply a case study to conduct the empirical data of the company IKEA. Since (Harte et al., 1991) pointed out that annual reports are an important source of environmental information. The database is in form of annual reports from the year 2010 till 2018 that were provided by the company IKEA itself. Through the pattern matching method the numbers over the years are compared and discussed due to their development. Furthermore, the areas “production” and “supplier” are selected from the supply chain management and also included in the analyzes section, since both, the development of other organizational relationships in the supply chain and the environmental corporation can become an integral part of the company (Seuring & Müller, 2008). Through diagrams in the empirical chapter this work will provide a comparison between the different factors in the mentioned areas of the supply chain management and discuss the actual development and partly improvements of the factor’s “energy”, “waste”, “production” etc. and the promises and goals from the IKEA’s side.

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Este trabalho pretende contribuir para o desenvolvimento e o aperfeiçoamento da gestão das organizações hospitalares. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho trata do tema da melhoria da utilização de bens de capital dos hospitais, através da adoção do conceito de Índice de Rendimento Operacional Global (IROG). Objetiva, ainda, a proposição de um modelo de gestão econômica para a avaliação da eficiência dos equipamentos de alta tecnologia em hospitais que possibilite a maximização da utilização da capacidade instalada, no intuito de aumentar o Ganho da empresa, com os mesmos ativos fixos. Estruturou-se, portanto, através de um Estudo de Caso múltiplo, aplicado no Hospital Moinhos de Vento. Realizaram-se, para tanto, a análise e a medição do IROG de dois equipamentos, a fim de verificar a possibilidade de aumentar a produtividade, a capacidade de atendimento mais rápido da demanda e identificar as principais paradas e falhas ocorridas durante a realização de exames em duas áreas distintas do hospital, a saber: Unidades de Angiografia e Diagnóstico de Imagem. Os elementos utilizados para o desenvolvimento do método foram: a) consulta ao referencial teórico sobre o tema; b) definição e aplicação do método em duas áreas distintas de empresa; c) contribuições de gestores e de colaboradores das áreas; d) contribuições oriundas do próprio autor do trabalho. Os principais resultados obtidos através da aplicação do método foram: i) obtenção da medição e constatação do baixo índice do IROG em dois equipamentos de capital; ii) maior clareza e discernimento dos gestores das áreas em relação à eficiência da utilização dos equipamentos; iii) identificação dos principais motivos de paradas dos equipamentos; v) simulação de cenários de melhoria na eficiência dos equipamentos e apresentação de Ganhos financeiros; vi) introdução da medição do IROG na relação dos indicadores do hospital. Por fim, o tema estudado poderá evoluir, principalmente, em organizações focadas na melhoria dos seus processos operacionais e em planos de ação para estabelecer um processo sistemático de melhoria contínua da sua gestão.
This work aims to contribute for the development and improvement of the management of hospital organizations. In this sense, the present work deals with the issue of improving the utilization of capital assets of hospitals, by adopting the concept of Index Global Operating Income ( IROG ). It also aims to propose a model of economic management to assess the efficiency of high-tech equipment in hospitals which enables the maximization of capacity utilization in order to increase the gain of the company, with the same fixed assets. Thus, the work was structured through a multiple case study, applied in the Moinhos de Vento Hospital. There were, therefore, the analysis and measurement of the IROG of two devices in order to verify the possibility of increasing the productivit, the ability to quickly meet demand and identify key stops and failures during examinations in two distinct areas of the hospital namely: Angiography and Image Diagnostic Units. The elements used for the method development were: a) consulting the theoretical framework on the topic; b ) definition and application of the method in two distinct areas of business; c ) contributions of managers and employees from areas; d) Contributions from the author of the work. The main results obtained by applying the method were : i ) obtaining the measurement and verification of low IROG index in two capital equipment;, ii ) greater clarity and insight of managers of areas in relation to efficiency of use of equipment; iii ) identification of the main reasons for equipment downtime; v) simulation scenarios for improving the efficiency of equipment and presentation of financial gains; vi ) introduction of measurement indicators IROG in respect of the hospital. Finally, the subject studied may evolve, especially in organizations focused on improving its operational processes and action plans to establish a systematic process for continuous improvement of their management.

Current global agricultural practices are recognized as unsustainable. The increase in overall human population as well as the global trend of rural to urban migration, partially as a result of historically and continual unsustainable agricultural practices, exacerbates the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger in developing countries. Furthermore, cities and regions in developed countries practice unsustainable food production, distribution and consumption patterns, and as a result, exceed their global ecological footprint (Rees 2009). Consequently, the world is facing a global food (FAO 2009) and water crisis (UN Sick Water 2010). Cities and Regions must learn to feed themselves to address local food insecurity as well as protect from the climate effects of increased urbanization, including the Urban Heat Island effect (UHIe) by optimizing and fully integrating the local ecosystem services of food, water and forest within a tightly woven compact urban form through the implementation of strategic urban and regional food system planning. Cities can mitigate climate change and reduce the UHIe, by implementing sustainable intensive urban agriculture approaches through policy and zoning interventions that include concepts such as intensively productive urban agriculture that includes green roofs, vertical farming and greenways as continuously productive and edible urban landscapes, referred to in this paper as continuously productive urban agriculture and forestation (CPUAF) in the private and public realm. A highly participative, adaptive systems approach is explored as the key to sustainability within an economic world order that included corporate social responsibility and social enterprise as the foundation for the integration of multiple synergies. An increasing body of evidence often links urban forestation with urban greenery initiatives, as a carbon sink to reduce UHI effects, to reduce GHG emissions and as a tool for urban beautification and place making (ISDR: 2009,109). Urban agriculture, through the production of local food is increasingly recognized as a means to reduce fossil fuel emissions by reducing transportation and production outputs, to provide a secure local food source, enhance biodiversity and educate the public regarding food source while fostering a sense of community, environmental awareness and stewardship. This thesis explores the links between intensive urban agriculture and forestation, and the relationship between climate change, and the UHI’s as an adaptation and mitigation process in global cities, implemented as a interconnected, integrated, holistic urban management approach that has a further benefit of providing food security and a sustainable and local urban food source.
Dissertation (MTRP)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Town and Regional Planning
unrestricted