In recent years, the amount of waste generated from the production of goods and services has drawn considerable research attention, as it paves the way for increasing global environmental concerns. This imposes stress on industries to act responsibly and adopt more sustainable practices across various processes such as sourcing, manufacturing, production, and distribution. Many companies were not convinced that climate change is the real problem; however, they still need to adopt sustainable practices for product development to establish their products as a global brand and lead the way forward in a competitive environment.
One significant trend that has become pivotal towards sustainable products is carbon footprint methodologies. Methodologies to estimate carbon footprints have come into practice very recently and have quickly acquired great importance. Whether directly or indirectly, production and manufacturing act as fundamental causes of environmental carbon footprints. Some of the direct sources of carbon footprints include emissions from landfills, support vehicles, heating, fleet vehicles, and refrigerants. The indirect sources include emissions from capital goods, purchased goods and services, upstream and downstream leased assets, etc. Carbon footprint assessment methodologies offer tools and techniques that are generally used to find the amount of carbon emissions for which the individual or organization is responsible. Footprints can be calculated for products, activities, as well as events.
When used across industries, these carbon footprint assessment techniques will result in sustainable product development and can protect our planet and people's health. When developing a new product, both the companies and product designers can advocate and assess its impact on the environment with carbon footprint methodologies, developing an eco-friendly product that minimizes waste and remains energy efficient. These practices will result in the design of products that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future demands.
This Article Collection aims to gather the latest research on the impacts of carbon footprints on sustainable products and the environment. The following topics are welcome but not restricted to:
- Innovative frameworks for assessing carbon footprints across product development
- Impact of carbon footprint methodologies on sustainable product development
- Novel and innovative frameworks for carbon footprint assessment across various industrial sectors
- Influence of carbon footprint methodologies on environmental protection and management
- Estimating direct and indirect emissions of carbon sources across various stages of product development
- Product life cycle analysis with carbon footprint assessment methodologies
- Shift towards sustainable products with carbon footprint methodologies
- Carbon footprint assessment and energy efficiency
- Product input and output analysis
- Impact of carbon footprint assessment on sustainable production and consumption
- Low carbon policies for sustainable products
- Fundamental regulatory compliance to reduce carbon emission
- Advances in carbon footprint assessment methodologies to meet emerging requirements of sustainability
