Importance of sustainability assessment and circular ...€¦ · criteria to establish an Environmental Management System, that can be certified • ISO 14004 – general guidelines

Importance of sustainability assessment and circular economy in agricultural machinery production

29th Members’ Meeting of the Club of Bologna

Agricultural Mechanization and Sustainability10-11 November 2019

Hannover, Germany

Giuseppe Gavioli – [email protected]

29th Members’ Meeting of the Club of BolognaHannover, November 10-11, 2019


Power of Change

“In terms of their influence on the carbon cycleand climate, the human-driven changes of theAnthropocene are beginning to match orexceed the rates of change that drove past,relatively sudden mass extinction events”

[Will Steffen et al., Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2018].


Earth Systems Pathway

[Will Steffen et al., Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2018].


Call for Action

• We have to adopt new principles to guide ourdevelopment, as the old “consume andthrowaway” model did not work

• We have to act, by measuring and assessingthe status of our processes and behaviors, andestablishing plans for change

• Plans must be supported by quantitativeindicators of trends and results.


Overshoot Day 2019

“The fact that has shocked me the most is theOvershoot Day: by July 29th, we used up all theregenerative resources of 2019. From July 30th

we started to consume more resources than theplanet can regenerate in a year. It's very serious.It's a global emergency”.Pope Francis, La Stampa, August 9, 2019


Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity

There are many research works on theconsumption of Earth resources by humanactivity, of which one is based on the definitionof Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity of aterritory, whose ratio can indicate an EcologicalDeficit or Reserve.Global Footprint Network, www.footprintnetwork.org., 2019

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/



Ecological DeficitThis figure shows how many countries in the world arein Ecological Deficit.


Earth Overshoot Day

The Earth Overshoot Day marks the date whenhumanity’s demand for ecological resources andservices in a given year exceeds what Earth canregenerate in that year.

In 2019 the Overshoot Day has been July 30th.

Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.7 Earths toprovide the resources we use and to absorb ourwaste.


Earth Overshoot Day Trend


The Goal

The goal, and the challenge, is to decoupleeconomic growth from environmentaldegradation.

“Sustainable development is development thatmeets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations tomeet their own needs.”[United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development]


Awareness

The first step toward sustainability is awareness.

Everything we do has an impact, it consumesresources and produces waste.Therefore, we should start taking a picture of thecurrent status, measuring all the parameters thatqualify our activity in terms of:• output versus resource consumption• quantity and quality of waste• ability to regenerate resources.


Environmental AssessmentThe environmental assessment is the most common and widelyused methodology, as it focuses on the consumption andregeneration of natural resources (energy, water, minerals,biological elements), and on the impact of waste.To get a reasonably accurate picture of the sustainabilityposition of a given process/product, a preliminary inventory ofall the aspects to consider is prepared:• input materials (type, characteristics, quantity, cost)• process factors (energy, water, air, land, labour, safety)• output products (type, characteristics, quantity, cost)• waste (type, characteristics, quantity, cost, risk)


Life Cycle AssessmentTo consider the full cycle of creation, use, and end of life, other elements have to be added to the inventory:

• energy and material history of the input materials, including waste generated by upstream processes

• inbound logistics• source and environmental history of the utilized

process factors• outbound logistics• use and reuse of the product after production• termination of use and product end of life


• ISO 14040 – principles and framework for life cycle assessment (LCA)

• ISO 14044 – requirements and guidelines for LCA

• ISO 14049 – illustrative examples of LCA application

ISO Standards forLife Cycle Assessment


Life Cycle Assessment


Social and Economical Sustainability

In addition to the impact on the environment, social and economicaspects are two other very relevant dimensions of sustainability.A complete sustainability assessment should consider theseaspects as well, in particular in the modern world, where: multiple and broad interconnections exist with a variety of

stakeholders, multiple places in the world are impacted, broad social differences and political implications exist.

Just one example for all: sourcing raw material from one place ofthe world or another, may have completely different socialimplications, due to existence of conflicts, inequalities, slavery, etc.


Environmental Management System

The assessment of how much our activities andproducts are sustainable is just the startingpoint.A powerful second step is to establish in ourorganization an Environmental ManagementSystem.This means to define rules, methodologies,standards and procedures, all consistent andeffective in driving increasingly sustainableprocesses.


ISO Standards for Environmental Management System

• ISO 14001 – a complete framework of rules and criteria to establish an Environmental Management System, that can be certified

• ISO 14004 – general guidelines on implementation• ISO 14005 – guidelines for a phased implementation• ISO 14006 – guidelines for eco-design• ISO 14031 – design and use of environmental

performance evaluation


Sustainability Reports


The Circular Economy

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, acircular economy is based on the principles of:1. designing out waste and pollution2. keeping products and materials in use3. regenerating natural systems.


Toward A Circular Economy

take-make-wastelinear model

From: To:

The simple and revolutionary approach of the circulareconomy concept is to abandon the old (and mostlycurrent) take-make-waste linear model and migrate to acircular economy, “one that is restorative andregenerative by design”.

Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation


Circular Economy Model

Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation


Circular Economy ApplicationThe circular economy approach has a very general scope and it can be successfully applied to a variety of economic activities. In particular we will explore here some possible specific applications to the agricultural machinery industry.Farm machinery is a complex industrial product, based on multiple technologies applied to a variety of materials, to provide farmers with a lot of functions and services. On one hand there are multiple opportunities to look

for sustainability improvements in this industry On the other hand, the product complexity and the

interconnection of multiple technologies surely discourage simplistic approaches.


Materials

• Metal– a very sustainable material because it can be

recycled almost indefinitely (with a considerablereduction of the need to mine and transform newmaterials; also recycling metals consumes lessenergy and produces much less waste)

• Tires– commonly recycled or regenerated, even if the

recycled material is mostly used for otherapplications


Materials• Plastic

– the plastic components production process is oftensimpler and more sustainable than others

– recycling of plastic is difficult and expensive (mainlybecause only a limited number of plastic materials canbe actually recycled or regenerated)

– most of plastic ends up in landfills and in water(groundwater, rivers, and sea), with a long residual lifeand a high pollution potential

– use plastic materials that can be really and easily reusedin other applications and to design plastic componentseasy to disassemble and separate


Design for limited wasteand limited pollution

• Eliminate or reduce the presence of dangeroussubstances in the waste

• Protect the waste from being dispersed in theenvironment

For example, organizing the disassembly and recovery of electronic systems,which are full of potentially highly pollutant elements.If the cost of identification and disassembly at the end of product life isminimized by design, it will not be impossible to recover materials and value,directly or in partnership with other organizations.Other potentially risky substances may be incorporated by design into partsthat don’t release them into the environment, even when discarded at theend of product life


Reuse and Remanufacturing

Product life can be extended by design, facilitatingreuse, repair, and remanufacturing• Reuse and Repair

– Farm machinery is intrinsically made to last, as themachines are designed to sustain heavy loads andhigh mechanical stress for long periods of time.Therefore, it’s normal to repair and replace somecomponents after a period of use and get back amachine used but still very much operative.This supports several reuse instances of the machine,through a very active second-hand market.


Reuse and Remanufacturing

• Remanufacturing– Another strong help to the machine life extension is to

remanufacture the worn-out parts of the product, in away that the product gets a new life, withspecifications and characteristics that are almost thesame as the original ones

– Remanufacturing itself is a way to increasesustainability of the industrial processes, as normallyless resources are used to remanufacture acomponent (in particular raw material and energy),compared to the original manufacturing process,


Smart LogisticsAvoid the waste caused by poor inventory management

Materials and parts inventory importance is often underestimated,creating room for a lot of material:

– lost– not known– stored in the wrong place– wrongly identified or not identified– with inaccurate recorded quantities

Any of these issues inevitably leads to create waste: wastedmaterials, wasted time, additional costs to procure material notpresent or not found, etc.The recommendation here is to invest in tools and processes toorganize and keep under strict control materials/parts inventoryand flow, applying the approach and methodologies of the leanmanufacturing or lean organization


Smart LogisticsMoreover, the adoption of smart logistics businessmodels, allows for a very effective optimization of theproduct transportation: to distribution network to customer from customer to repair and recycle from and to industrial and commercial partners for

collaboration and synergies,

opening opportunities for saving costs and reducing CO2emissions into the atmosphere.


Product As A ServiceAnother very interesting way to extend the life of a productor at least to plan very much in advance the evolution of itslife and taking control of it, is to move from the “sell asmany products as possible” model, to the product-as-a-service model.If physical products remain under direct control of themanufacturers for all their life, with manufacturers owningthe reuse, refurbishing or recycling loop, it is much moreprobable that the product itself is designed and managedfollowing the circular economy model, because this wouldbecome one of the main interests and profit generator forthe manufacturing company.


Philips Circular Lighting

Philips AG, Amsterdam NL, www.lighting.philips.com/main/services/circular-lighting

http://www.lighting.philips.com/main/services/circular-lighting


Farm Machinery As A ServiceThe product-as-a-service model is partially already in use inthe farm machinery world, with contractor companies thatbuy and own fleets of machines and offer services to thefarmsThis surely helps to do some optimization and efficiency inmachine use, but still leads contractors to resell used orobsolete machines, in order to buy new ones, without takingtoo much care about the rest of the machine life; and beforethat, manufacturers are focused on just selling products.Such interruption of continuity in managing the product life issurely preventing a lot of sustainability actions.A new, more integrated, service model has to be developed


Digital Twin and Artificial Intelligence

Modern technology allows for the creation of a digital twin, a“copy” of the product and its surrounding environment in thedigital world.Such a model can be exploited to: make simulations of different conditions of use to study design alternative’s impact on subsequent phases

of product life to assess and weigh environmental sustainability aspects

against economic values and risks.

The digital twin can be constantly enriched of data byconnected sensors on the product and in the field, or by linkswith data service providers, and this makes it “alive” togetherwith the physical product


Digital Twin and Artificial Intelligence

The combination of digital twin modelling and the use ofArtificial Intelligence (AI) is going to further expand the powerof simulation and data-assisted decisions, introducing a newdimension of knowledge.o AI, through the use of deep learning techniques, can mine

tons of available data, impossible to use with traditionalapproaches, and develop scenarios and alternatives basedon hidden but real trends and weights.

o If the digital twin is connected to the real world, then AIcan continuously update the scenario analysis and buildnew alternatives as situations change.

o Furthermore, if new inputs and excitations are injected intothe digital model, AI can rapidly deploy sensitivity analysisand update the impact assessment framework.


PartnershipAll the applications of circular economy seen so far, even when focusedon specific short-term actions, are very much based on the broad view ofthe whole product lifecycle.Only looking to the total perspective, we can choose the single actionsthat are consistent with, and contributing to the end target of anincreased sustainability of products and processes.It’s also evident that the broad view and the whole product lifecyclesmart management is often impossible if there is not an activecooperation between different subjects.A company alone cannot see everything, may not have all theinformation, could not directly manage all aspects of product lifecycle.

The broad view, necessary to implement the logic of circular economy,definitely implies alliance and collaboration among organizations andstakeholders.


PartnershipPartnership not only means practical collaboration andinteraction, but also implies sharing principles and long-term goals. And sharing long-term goals, in a world moreand more challenged by lack of resources andunsustainable human impact on nature, is becoming atrue priority for economic organizations.Producers of goods, providers of services, and users, allbelong to the same extended value chain, where theirspecific interests and goals may remain achievable on along-term basis only if that value chain is not broken ordiscontinue.


Impact On Agricultural Practices

Farmers know how much natural resources are important, and how the long-term view is also essential to get crops not only today but tomorrow as well.They are very sensitive to the balance and restoration of natural resources and biodiversity, as that would be for them the only available future.The progressive adoption of the circular economy approach and subsequent implementation of consistent sustainability actions, could find farmers quite receptive and ready to jump on board, as soon as they will see real change and benefits to their practices.


Impact On Agricultural PracticesA number of sustainability improvement actions to the farmmachinery lifecycle, like reducing the resource consumptionand the waste, will directly benefit agriculture in terms of lessscarcity of resources and lower pollution of land, water and air.Moreover, actions like dematerialization of products, through: provision of services incorporation of functions into software and information

management,will tremendously help agriculture, supporting evolution ofpractices and simplifying farm resource and assetmanagement.


ConclusionsEnvironmental sustainability is of paramount importance for thefarm machinery industry, as for all other economic activities.The general principles of sustainability and circular economy areabsolutely actionable and potentially very effective in ourindustry.

Sometimes difficult to implement, often with partial results atthe beginning of the journey, but surely the only crediblealternative

to build a future of Earth that will be good and acceptable to future generations as well.

Documents

Importance of sustainability assessment and circular ...€¦ · criteria to establish an Environmental Management System, that can be certified • ISO 14004 – general guidelines