The cases presented in Chaps. 14–20 are hand-picked from an inventory of research conducted by myself and my PhDs and my colleagues and students over many years, including some ongoing projects. In each instance, an initial problematic state within the boundaries of a specified organization, environment, or situation needed a remedial solution. However more often than not, the solution was a starting point for additional activity, in keeping with the concept of continuing improvement and transition toward sustainability. For this reason, each case study is more a roadmap than a prescription, and the problems addressed are global as much as they are local. The cases may revolve around a single, sectoral or regional issue using quantitative evidence from multiple sources, and building, when possible, from the results of previous research.

The cases share a number of features. For many in the industrial domain problems arise when customer or regulatory requirements shift toward products that meet stringent sustainability performance criteria (cf. Chaps. 14 and 18). Municipalities are driven by similar challenges to provide services that meet strict requirements imposed by their constituencies for responsible environmental stewardship (cf. Chaps. 15, 19 and 20). Industrial sectors such as construction (Chap. 16) and fishery (Chap. 17) struggle to coordinate the efforts of many actors toward desirable sustainable processes. In all cases, tools and methods from the CapSEM Model provide direction to improve and continuously transition to sustainable objective. Systems engineering and industrial ecology principles are applied in nearly every case. Table 13.1 categorizes the cases according to the industry and the CapSEM Level of application.

Table 13.1 Cases categorized by industry and CapSEM Level
Full size table

The following provides a quick synopsis of the cases that follow.

FormalPara Chapter 14: From Waste to Value: A Story About Life Cycle Management in the Furniture Industry

This case focuses on the use of the CapSEM Model by the Norwegian furniture industry, beginning with efforts that raised sustainability awareness through a series of case studies over a period of more than 10 years. It started with a Cleaner Production (CP) programme for a group of furniture companies in a small community. The goal for another case study running in parallel with the CP-project, was to define a common set of Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs) for reporting purposes for both the companies and the municipality to reduce waste and improve its treatment according to circular principles. While CP is at Level 1, EPIs and reporting is on level 3 and 4 in the CapSEM Model. In the furniture sector, the CP-programme led to capacity building by integrating Level 2 methods such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) into their daily work processes. LCA was used for product improvements based on hot spots detected through the analyses, and also to generate Environmental Performance Declarations (EPDs) for products. The implementation of these new procedures was integrated into the organisation’s strategic work through certified Environmental Management System (EMS). In addition to a demonstration of a gradual shift from Levels 1, 2 and 3, the case also describes the benefits of building cooperative communities (Level 4) that include sectoral, regional, and academic participants. The Level 4 activities were originally initiated by a Norwegian Local Agenda 21 programme.

FormalPara Chapter 15: The Role of Public Sector Buyers: Influencing Systemic Change in the Construction Sector

Construction machinery is essential to all construction projects and is also a significant contributor to both air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Non-Road Mobile Machinery Market (NRMM), otherwise known as the construction machinery market, largely operates using diesel fuel nowadays which has significant negative environmental impacts. It is critical that governmental leaders push suppliers to innovate and implement sustainable solutions in the construction sector. Green Public Procurement (GPP) and Innovation Orientated Public Procurement (IOPP) have emerged as potentially powerful instruments to drive green innovation by providing ‘lead markets’ for new technologies. City municipalities, regions, nations, and supranational government structures such as the European Union (EU) are starting to use public purchasing to achieve cleaner construction and Zero Emission Construction Sites (ZEMCONs). Early Market Dialogues (EMD) prior to the release of procurement documents can be an effective tool for achieving innovative solutions and for creating positive buyer and supplier collaboration. This case illustrates how the CapSEM Model and toolbox can operate from a top-down approach, initiating collaborative approaches amongst multiple actors, across multiple CapSEM Levels.

FormalPara Chapter 16: CapSEM Applied to the Construction Sector

The construction sector and built environment have the potential to impact on a variety of systemic dimensions, ranging from specific processes in the production of construction materials to pan-national regulations affecting regional areas and cities. This case study uses the CapSEM Model in order to identify the potential enabling and constraining impact of different methods, schemes and regulations for reducing environmental impact in the construction sector. The use of a systemic perspective highlights that all methodologies are working recursively in actor-networks, thereby affecting society and the market differently, depending on the systemic level.

FormalPara Chapter 17: Application of Material Flow Analysis: Mapping Plastics Within the Fishing Sector in Norway

Plastic in our marine environment is now ubiquitous. Abandoned lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is of particular concern due to its ability to continue to function as a trap for marine organisms. In order for decision makers to act on this grave issue, we require data on the flow of ALDFG into the marine environment. One key tool for revealing the flow of material within a specific system is Material Flow Analysis (MFA). MFA takes a life cycle approach (cradle to grave) to assess energy or material flows in a system within space and time boundaries. It can be applied at multiple levels from the industrial process level to the national level. This chapter presents a case study of an MFA conducted on fishing gear in Norway. The MFA methodology was used in this case study to assess the flow of plastic fishing gear from production through to recycling, final disposal or loss to the marine environment. Data was collected for the MFA through stakeholder interviews, literature reviews and analysis of government data sets. The MFA revealed that around 4000 tons of plastic fishing gear enters the system in Norway and around 400 tons enter the marine environment each year. An analysis of the implications of the MFA for the key actors within the life cycle chain of fishing gear is presented and a short description of the links between MFA and the circular economy and sustainable development is provided. Furthermore, the relevance and implications of using MFA tool for policy making at national and regional level is discussed and elaborated while associated challenges are presented here.

FormalPara Chapter 18: Environmental Management at Fiskerstrand Verft AS: A 30 Year Journey

Fiskerstrand Verft is a multipurpose shipyard with extensive expertise and activities in shipbuilding, maintenance, repair and conversion/modification of ships. The yard is exposed to a range of different environmental challenges related to its business which trigged the yard to develop and implement health and safety, and environmental management systems. This chapter gives an overview of environmental management at Fiskerstrand Verft over a 30-year period, written from the perspective of the first author as CEO. The activities from 1991 to 1994 mainly considered Level 1 in the CapSEM Model with annual accounting of materials and wastes, emissions to air and discharges to ocean. The yard participated in various R & D environmental projects and during the period 1994–1999 these were extended with activities corresponding to life cycle thinking according to Levels 2 and 3. In 1999, Fiskerstrand Verft was the first Norwegian shipyard that prepared and published an environmental report. The yard was certified as an environmental lighthouse company in 2000, the first in Norway. During the period 2004–2008, the yard further developed their systems and began to transition to Level 4. The life cycle perspective for ships and technology has been at the center of the development of green technologies for ships. This journey continues today, passing the 30 year mark, and has contributed invaluable knowledge about the CapSEM toolbox and how it can be applied to shipyard operations.

FormalPara Chapter 19: A Transportation Planning Decision Support System

In this chapter, the CapSEM toolbox is explored, applied and evaluated in the context of transportation planning and policy making. Transportation system elements are analyzed across all four CapSEM levels to identify relevant tools to utilize in decision support systems to address sustainability in the sector. The application of the toolbox is demonstrated through a transportation planning case study. Benefits observed from the application include (i) a useful framework to decompose and stack models across system and performance levels to handle transportation modeling complexity, and (ii) an approach to engage and interact with stakeholders and decision-makers through problem structuring, modeling, analysis and resolution.

FormalPara Chapter 20: First Steps Towards Sustainable Waste Management

Waste management started off as a public health issue. Today, the waste business is an important force in developing sustainable development and circular economy. New policies and regulations represent an opportunity for circularity, but there is still a long way to go in achieving a truly circular economy. The Circularity Gap Report 2020 indicated that the global economy is only 8.6% circular. Industrial ecology and material flow analysis are important tools, not only for developing local and regional waste solutions, but also in the development of new global circular business models. In the Ålesund region, new sorting measures have increased recycling, from 32% in 2017 to 45% in 2019. New measures will be needed to reach national targets set for 2025. As the current global use of resources is unsustainable, and as current waste business models are insufficient to achieve circular economy, the next decade is likely to experience a rapid innovation of new business models challenging traditional waste management companies. This chapter presents data collected during a case study conducted in 2020.

1 Concluding Remarks

The inclusion of these Case Studies is crucial to being able to demonstrate the CapSEM Model in action. They have been carefully chosen in order to show that the trajectory for a transition to sustainability is not necessarily linear, nor will each company or industry take a similar length of time to achieve their objectives. It also exemplifies the flexibility of the model and how continuous improvement is very much part of this circular approach to development within any given sector or business. In turn, this can feed back into the development of the CapSEM Model itself and its future use.