Brazil has been recognized as one of the countries around the world with the most advanced socio-environmental legislation based on public governance structure. As a signatory to several international agreements, the country aligns itself with the 2030 Agenda goals. This commitment was endorsed by hundreds heads of state and supranational organizations, including the United Nations. Internally, Brazil's governance structures are grounded in constitutional provisions that facilitate the coordination of public policies and organizational guidelines. These structures are legitimized by legal instruments that regulate and guide actions, ensuring adherence to the 2030 Agenda across the national territory. Among these governance structures are the Three Branches of Government, besides others public agencies that constitutionally exercise external control functions over other entities in the country. The Executive Branch, through Normative Instruction No. 10/2012, established the mandatory implementation of the Sustainable Logistics Management Plan (PLS) for all Public Administration entities at the national level. Additionally, the Judiciary Branch introduced sustainability guidelines for its jurisdictional bodies via Resolution No. 400/2021, signed by the National Council of Justice (CNJ). In Brazil, there are twenty-seven State Courts of Justice and thirty-three Courts of Auditors, totaling sixty public bodies endowed with legal authority for external control. However, as of the completion of this study, the Legislative Branch had not yet published a specific administrative act to fulfill its legal duty concerning Brazil's commitments to the 2030 Agenda. In this regard, specialized literature and scientific research indicate significant disparities in the levels of adherence among Brazilian external control bodies to the legal standards aimed at supporting the 2030 Agenda goals. Accordingly, this study reflects on the degree and conditions of compliance with the 2030 Agenda by these control bodies. This research, presented as a theoretical essay, adopts a multidisciplinary and exploratory approach. It was conducted through a bibliographic review and a documentary survey, supplemented by data collected from the official websites of the sixty Brazilian external control bodies during the first week of June 2024. The data analysis followed a qualitative approach. An artificial intelligence was used to enhance scientific writing only. The findings reveal critical issues. While the legal frameworks of the Courts converge positively toward adherence to the 2030 Agenda goals, fewer than half of the Courts of Justice and Courts of Auditors have developed their internal PLS or published their respective technical reports. Additionally, a variety of weaknesses were identified in the transparency and accountability governance mechanisms of these external control bodies concerning the sustainable practices. Consequently, Brazilian external control bodies have not fully complied with the legal standards governing Brazilian Public Administration toward to 2030 Agenda goals. A significant number of public bodies have failed to prepare and implement their PLS or adopt best sustainable practices, as well as to communicate their socio-environmental actions to the public. This analysis highlights the necessity for Brazilian external control bodies to adhere effectively to legal standards, serving as exemplary entities within Brazilian Public Administration. Such adherence would strengthen their role in promoting the 2030 Agenda according to the principles enshrined in the Federal Constitution. For future efforts, we suggest to develop an integrated digital platform that collects and disseminates the actions of the Three Branch of Government and external control bodies transparently and reliably. By fostering the dissemination of good socio-environmental practices in Brazilian Public Administration, Brazil may gain recognition as a reliable partner in achieving the 2030 Agenda goals on both local and global scales.

To address the growing reliance on natural resources and mitigate the environmental impact of construction waste disposal, waste utilization and eco-friendly production methods are essential. This study presents the development of a green composite using cement paste waste (CPW) and hemicellulose, with mechanical properties further enhanced by replacing 50% of the hemicellulose mass with chitosan. Additionally, the incorporation of natural fibers derived from bamboo and banana was investigated for their impact on the composite's performance. The composites were fabricated using a hot-pressing technique, and their mechanical properties were evaluated after a three-day curing period. The findings revealed significant influences of heat pressing, fiber reinforcement, and chitosan addition on the mechanical behavior of the composite. Among these factors, the inclusion of chitosan exhibited the most substantial effect, surpassing both fiber reinforcement and heat pressing. Fiber reinforcement demonstrated a greater impact on flexural strength, while heat pressing was more effective in enhancing compressive strength. Notably, the reduction in composite density caused by the partial replacement of hemicellulose with chitosan was compensated through the hot-pressing process. This research is part of foundational studies in the development of high-performance cement composites integrating chitosan and hemicellulose, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional materials in the construction industry.

Bulky products, including furniture, carpets, rugs, and mattresses, require specialized collection services due to their size and volume. The global market for these products is expanding rapidly, fueled by factors like e-commerce growth, affordable pricing, and shifting consumer preferences. However, this growth exacerbates environmental challenges at the end-of-use and end-of-life stages, as current management systems struggle with low recycling rates and inadequate infrastructure. For instance, in the United States, only 10% of the 18 million mattresses discarded annually are recycled, while 90% are landfilled or incinerated. Similarly, in the European Union, only 14% of the 30 million mattresses discarded yearly are recycled, with the majority ending up in landfills or incinerators. Addressing these issues requires evaluating two main policy approaches: voluntary environmental programs (VEPs), which rely on self-regulation by organizations, and mandatory environmental regulations (MERs), enforced by governments to meet specific environmental targets.

This study employs Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify the most effective policy attributes for managing bulky materials. QCA combines qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze causal complexity, utilizing Boolean logic to determine conditions necessary for desired outcomes. It is particularly effective for small to medium-sized datasets (5–50 cases) and allows for detailed within-case and cross-case analyses. This research examines 30 cases from the U.S. and EU, representing diverse policy mechanisms and implementation contexts. The analysis incorporates a lifecycle approach, focusing on upstream variables such as legislation type, producer responsibility, eco-design incentives, reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling targets, as well as downstream variables like the roles of producer responsibility organizations, retailers, and consumers in waste return and collection.

The findings aim to provide actionable insights for policymakers, advocating for balanced policy approaches that address infrastructure limitations, minimize environmental impacts, and align with circular economy principles. By offering a robust comparative analysis of VEPs and MERs, this research contributes to the development of effective policy frameworks for bulky materials management. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating technical solutions with informed decision-making to enhance material circularity through reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling. Ultimately, the recommendations are expected to shape policies that foster sustainable management practices for bulky products, benefiting both the environment and society.

Carbon-curing and mineralization technologies are being explored as potential pathways for large-scale carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) in the low-carbon concrete industry. A robust measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) protocol built on a consistent accounting framework can help to estimate the net carbon removed from deploying these technologies, identify any externalities along the value chain, build trust among stakeholders, and enable developers of these technologies to issue and sell transparent and verifiable carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market. To explore whether existing lifecycle assessment (LCA) frameworks and standards could be leveraged to inform the development of a MMRV protocol , a landscape and gap analysis of LCA and MMRV standards was conducted. An Excel database containing relevant LCA and MMRV standards and guidelines was compiled, and an accompanying code-based decision tree tool was created to help potential users to filter the database based on a set of classification parameters identified to be relevant for LCA and MMRV. Secondly, an automated Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Analysis Tool was developed using Python which leverages Gemini AI to parse through large-scale EPD databases, extracting EPDs and summarizing data and information based on a set of user-specified parameters, which is invaluable when searching for specific EPD content (such as inclusion of carbonation/mineralization, and general practices that can be adapted to MMRV) within databases that have thousands of EPDs for concrete and cement alone. From the gap analysis, it was found that there are significant methodological, data, and operational gaps for LCA and MMRV related to carbon-curing and mineralization. Within the LCA scope, it was found that various methodologies exist in literature for estimation of in-situ total carbon sequestration and full LCA, but these are not reflected in product category rules (PCRs) dictating EPD creation, and existing US-based EPDs do not account for carbon-curing and mineralization as carbon removal pathways. Furthermore, this gap analysis showed significant data gaps for 1) LCA defining system boundaries, 2) how “waste” material should be treated, 3) how to allocate emissions burdens in a multi-product system, 4) methods for sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, and 5) considerations for temporal profiles for emissions and sequestration. Currently, there is a lack of consensus on addressing the above gaps in the CDR and LCA communities, leading to inconsistent accounting and consequently a significant variation in amount of net carbon removed from CDR technologies. Further connecting to the MMRV/CDR scope, there are also significant data gaps for requirement of specialized measurement instrumentation, frequency of conducting MMRV (and how that can and should inform LCA regularity/EPD updates), and consensus on measurement and accounting frameworks. Findings from this work emphasize the need for and identify key gaps towards creating a robust MMRV protocol built on consistent accounting frameworks to ensure that CDR pathways, including carbon-curing and mineralization, indeed enable a net carbon removal from the atmosphere.

Decarbonization efforts in one industrial sector can profoundly affect the resilience of other industries in the future, as changes in energy sources, supply chains, and market demands can ripple through different sectors, creating new opportunities or challenges for businesses. Major changes in material flow in one industry—often driven by emerging technologies—could impact the feasibility of decarbonization across multiple industries. For example, in iron and steel sector, electric arc furnaces with direct reduced iron technology are expected to replace the traditional blast furnace route, reducing the availability of blast furnace slag, a key supplementary cementitious material for decarbonizing the cement industry. Likewise, integrated biorefineries in the pulp and paper sector may supply raw materials for the chemical sector (specifically, bioplastics and bio-composites); yet increased recycling could diminish pulping processes, thereby reducing the supply of these raw materials. Similarly, transitioning from fossil-fuel-based systems to low-carbon alternatives or adopting electricity-driven heating systems requires additional renewable energy capacity and enhanced grid infrastructure to accommodate intermittent energy generation while meeting continuous electricity demand. Despite such interdependencies, how one sector’s decarbonization strategies affect other sectors' long-term viability and decarbonization potential remains poorly understood. System Dynamics (SD) can be used to model changes in complex systems over time, particularly when non-linear relationships exist between different variables. Using a system dynamics approach and qualitative literature analysis, this work examines the key processes, decarbonization efforts, and stakeholder engagements that can either accelerate or hinder decarbonization pathways and industrial resilience. We propose an SD modeling framework that captures the evolution of multiple decarbonization technologies through stock-flow relationships over time. We will use complex material and energy systems models that accounts for interdependencies between sectors, including mass & energy flows, technology adoption, and emissions. This framework will help identify unintended consequences and risks related to material supply, environmental impact categories, and the verification of long-term decarbonization potential. Our methodology focuses on including only essential variables, thus reducing unnecessary complexity compared to other modeling approaches (e.g., agent-based modeling). We build on the existing life cycle and techno-economic assessments, as well as industrial sector road-mapping efforts, to represent forthcoming technologies and validate our findings. Ultimately, the insights from this study can inform advanced planning and strategic adjustments in decarbonization actions, thereby supporting transformative resilience in industrial sectors.