Greening the factory floor and reducing the climate impact of the manufacturing sector

Walter Leal Filho; Yusuf A. Aina; Andrea Gatto; Izabela Simon Rampasso; Tiago F. A. C. Sigahi; Rosley Anholon; Ricardo L. F. Bella; Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas; Claudio Ruy Portela De Vasconcelos; Johannes M. Luetz

doi:10.1007/s43621-025-02056-1

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Greening the factory floor and reducing the climate impact of the manufacturing sector

Journal article

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Greening the factory floor and reducing the climate impact of the manufacturing sector

Walter Leal Filho, Yusuf A. Aina, Andrea Gatto, Izabela Simon Rampasso, Tiago F. A. C. Sigahi, Rosley Anholon, Ricardo L. F. Bella, Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas, Claudio Ruy Portela De Vasconcelos and Johannes M. Luetz

Discover Sustainability, Vol.6, pp.1-20

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-02056-1

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Abstract

climate change

carbon footprint

manufacturers

guidelines

industrial vulnerability

green growth

The manufacturing sector is a cornerstone of the global economy, driving innovation, employment, and national development. Yet it is also a substantial contributor to climate change, primarily due to its high carbon emissions. To mitigate its contribution to climate change, the manufacturing sector needs to adopt a range of strategies for economic decoupling, including enhancing energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy, optimising material use and waste management, and embracing circular economy principles. This paper presents a study comprising a systematic literature review, complemented by case studies from companies in sectors including automotive, construction, aerospace, food, and consumer goods. It uniquely integrates cross-sectoral evidence into actionable guidelines for decarbonisation. Drawing from a systematic review of 29 peer-reviewed studies and sector-specific case studies, the study develops key guidelines to foster green growth. While selective, the analysis provides insight into key industrial pathways. One limitation of the paper is the exclusive focus on the manufacturing sector and the small sample of papers selected.

Details

Title: Greening the factory floor and reducing the climate impact of the manufacturing sector
Authors: Walter Leal Filho - Manchester Metropolitan University
Yusuf A. Aina - Yanbu Industrial College
Andrea Gatto - Wenzhou-Kean University
Izabela Simon Rampasso (Corresponding Author) - Universidad Católica del Norte
Tiago F. A. C. Sigahi - Universidade de São Paulo
Rosley Anholon - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Ricardo L. F. Bella - Universidade Federal Fluminense
Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas - Universidade Federal Fluminense
Claudio Ruy Portela De Vasconcelos - Universidade Federal da Paraíba
Johannes M. Luetz - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Publication details: Discover Sustainability, Vol.6, pp.1-20
Publisher: Springer Cham
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1007/s43621-025-02056-1
ISSN: 2662-9984
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Data Availability: Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
Grant note: This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), under the grant 304145/2021-1, and 308354/2021-4, and by the Internal Faculty Start-Up Research Grant of Wenzhou-Kean University Project No. ISRG2023014.
Organisation Unit: Academic Support Unit
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991192144602621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies; Green & Sustainable Science & Technology

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