Driving sustainability at early-stage innovation in production of zinc oxide nanoparticles

D i ing sus ainabili y a ea ly-s age inno a ion in p oduc ion o zinc
oxide nanopa icles
Is ael Ca ei a-Ba al
a,1
, Julie a Díez-He n´
andez
b,1
, Elo i Igos
c
, Michael Saidani
c
,
Tian an Ding
c
, Tiago Ramos da Sil a
d
, Helena Mon ei o
d
, And eas S ingl
e
,
Pa icia M.A. Fa ias
e,
, Ola o Ca dozo
e,
, Jesús Ib´
a˜
nez
a
, Ana Ga cía-Mo al
a
,
Juan An onio Tamayo-Ramos
a
, Ca los Rumbo
a
, Rocío Ba os
a,*
, Sonia Ma el-Ma ín
a,*
a
In e na ional Resea ch Cen e in C i ical Raw Ma e ials o Ad anced Indus ial Technologies (ICCRAM), Uni e sidad de Bu gos, Cen o de I+D+I, Plaza Misael
Ba˜
nuelos, s/n, 09001 Bu gos, Spain
b
Economy and Business Managemen Depa men , Facul y o Economics, Uni e sidad de Bu gos, Plaza In an a Do˜
na Elena, s/n, 09001 Bu gos, Spain
c
En i onmen al Resea ch &Inno a ion Depa men , Luxembou g Ins i u e o Science and Technology (LIST), 41, ue du B ill, 4362 Bel aux, Luxembou g
d
Low Ca bon &Resou ce E iciency Uni , R&Di, Ins i u o de Soldadu a e Qualidade (ISQ), R. do Mi an e, 258, 4415-491 G ij´
o, Po ugal
e
Pho nano Holding GmbH, Kleineinge sdo e s aße 24, 2100 Ko neubu g, Aus ia
Ad anced Ma e ials Labo a o y, Fede al Uni e si y o Pe nambuco, A . P o . Mo aes Rego, 1235, 50670-901 Reci e, PE, B azil
ARTICLE INFO
Edi o : P o . Raymond Tan
Keywo ds:
Zinc oxide nanopa icles
Holis ic sus ainabili y
En i onmen al Li e Cycle Assessmen
Ma e ial Flow Cos Accoun ing
Social Li e Cycle Assessmen
Mul i-C i e ia Decision Analysis
ABSTRACT
Despi e i s indus ial ele ance and he me hods ha ha e been desc ibed o i s syn hesis, li le is known abou
he pe o mance o he p oduc ion p ocesses o ZnO nanopa icles (ZnO NPs), ei he pu e o doped, om he
sus ainabili y pe spec i e. The Sa e-and-Sus ainable-by-Design (SSbD) amewo k b ings o his con ex an
excellen oppo uni y o 1) e alua e he impac s o chemical p ocesses om he sa e y and sus ainabili y pe -
spec i es, and 2) design and es sa e y and sus ainabili y s a egies o s udy and op imise hese key aspec s in
ea ly inno a ion s ages. This wo k aims a assessing he p oduc ion o ZnO NPs using his app oach, es ing he
sus ainabili y o he ma e ials, designed and p oduced by Pho nano, an Aus ian SME, unde his scheme. Th ee
scena ios we e analysed: he o iginal p ocess (BS) and wo al e na i es esul ing om he applica ion o SSbD
s a egies o he o me (S1 and S2). BS is a linea p ocess in which Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O, whey, wa e and a dopan (a
Mn sal ) a e used as s a ing ma e ials. Howe e , ob en ion o he desi ed p oduc en ails he elease o oxic
umes (SO
x
and NO
x
) o he a mosphe e. S1 and i s scale-up e sion, S2, a e ci cula p ocesses in which SO
x
emissions a e a oided, due o he eplacemen o whey by a non-amina ed s a ch, and NO
x
a e ans o med in o
HNO
3
, which eac s wi h Zn powde o p oduce Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O; in his way, no ha m ul subs ances a e eed and
he zinc sal employed as a aw ma e ial in BS is gene a ed du ing he manu ac u e o ZnO NPs. Fou well-known
e alua ion ools we e employed o achie e a holis ic sus ainabili y pe spec i e: En i onmen al Li e Cycle
Assessmen (LCA), Ma e ial Flow Cos Accoun ing (MFCA), Social Li e Cycle Assessmen (S-LCA) and Mul i-
C i e ia Decision Analysis (MCDA), acco ding o he s anda dised me hodologies o he mos b oadly sp ead
ones; he s udy was complemen ed wi h an unce ain y analysis. The esul s o he p oduc ion o 1 kg o ZnO
NPs show ha he a e -SSbD scena ios a e ema kably mo e sus ainable han BS: he en i onmen al e alua ion
e eals ha S2 ou pe o ms BS o 10 en i onmen al indica o s, allowing a educ ion o 67 % in e ms o o al
agg ega ed impac ( om 13.7 o 4.4 mP ); om he economic iewpoin , syn hesis o ZnO NPs h ough S2 is
a ound ou imes cheape han ha achie ed ia BS (512 s 2206
€
); inally, he social oo p in is educed om
159 mP in he o iginal p ocess o 21 mP in S2. MCDA o BS, S1 and S2 conside ing he h ee assessmen s
pe o med con i ms ha S2 is, wi h almos 100 % p obabili y, he bes -pe o ming al e na i e om he sus-
ainabili y pe spec i e, ollowed by S1. O e all, his wo k, he mos comple e in his ield o da e, con ibu es o
* Co esponding au ho s.
E-mail add esses: [email p o ec ed] (I. Ca ei a-Ba al), [email p o ec ed] (J. Díez-He n´
andez), [email p o ec ed] (M. Saidani), [email p o ec ed]
(T. Ding), [email p o ec ed] (T. Ramos da Sil a), [email p o ec ed] (H. Mon ei o), [email p o ec ed] (A. S ingl), [email p o ec ed]
(P.M.A. Fa ias), [email p o ec ed] (O. Ca dozo), [email p o ec ed] (J. Ib´
a˜
nez), [email p o ec ed] (A. Ga cía-Mo al), [email p o ec ed]
(J.A. Tamayo-Ramos), [email p o ec ed] (C. Rumbo), [email p o ec ed] (R. Ba os), [email p o ec ed] (S. Ma el-Ma ín).
1
These au ho s con ibu ed equally o his wo k and sha e i s au ho ship.
Con en s lis s a ailable a ScienceDi ec
Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion
jou nal homepage: www.else ie .com/loca e/spc
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.spc.2025.03.003
Recei ed 12 No embe 2024; Recei ed in e ised o m 26 Feb ua y 2025; Accep ed 2 Ma ch 2025
Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
A ailable online 6 Ma ch 2025
2352-5509/© 2025 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie L d on behal o Ins i u ion o Chemical Enginee s. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY-NC-ND
license (
h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).
he sus ainable syn hesis o ZnO NPs and o he me hodological ad ance o he SSbD amewo k h ough he
e ision o i s limi a ions and oppo uni ies.
1. In oduc ion
Nanoma e ials (NMs) a e appealing because o hei high s abili y,
s aigh o wa d syn he ic me hods and easy con ol o e aspec s like
size and shape (Neg escu e al., 2022). Among hese ma e ials, ZnO is
he mos widely used, since i s chemical and op ical p ope ies can be
easily uned (Mandal e al., 2022). This wo k ocuses on imp o ing he
sus ainable syn hesis o his compound, combining unc ionali y wi h
educed en i onmen al, economic and social impac s. ZnO exhibi s
excellen he mal and chemical s abili ies (Sko enko e al., 2016;Hei-
nonen e al., 2017), i is biocompa ible (S e anidou e al., 2006) and
biodeg adable (Kielbik e al., 2017), and he aw ma e ials equi ed o
i s p oduc ion a e accessible (El Fa oudi e al., 2023). These ad an ages
ha e u ned ZnO nanopa icles (NPs) in o a aluable mul i unc ional
ma e ial, key o he de elopmen o G een Technologies (Klingshi n
e al., 2010), ha has been employed, o ins ance, in sunsc eens
(Schneide and Lim, 2019) and biomedical imaging (Hahm, 2014).
These a e he wo main applica ions o he ZnO NPs manu ac u ed by
PHORNANO Holding GmbH (he ea e Pho nano), he company ha
has p oduced ZnO NPs acco ding o he p ocesses desc ibed in his wo k.
Se e al physical, chemical and biological me hods ha e been epo ed
o he syn hesis o nanoscale ma e ials al oge he , and o ZnO NPs in
pa icula (Mekuye and Abe a, 2023); some o hem a e shown in Fig. 1.
In his wo k, ZnO NPs we e p epa ed h ough a hyb id s a egy: a sol-gel
me hod assis ed by whey, a by-p oduc o he p oduc ion o cheese o
casein (Soa es e al., 2020), o by a non-amina ed s a ch, a poly-
saccha ide (Nain e al., 2020).
Al hough ZnO NPs ha e been ex ensi ely s udied, he po en ial o
sus ainable hyb id syn he ic me hodologies, pa icula ly hose inco -
po a ing enewable by-p oduc s, such as whey o s a ch, emains
signi ican ly unde explo ed. These app oaches pose a p omising a enue
by u ilising abundan , cos -e ec i e and biodeg adable esou ces,
he eby aligning wi h he p inciples o sus ainabili y and ci cula
economy (Uni ed Na ions, 1987). This esea ch gap highligh s he u -
gen necessi y o de eloping en i onmen ally sus ainable syn he ic
s a egies o he ailo ed unc ionalisa ion o ZnO NPs. In his con ex ,
his wo k aims a assessing and compa ing he sus ainabili y o he
p oduc ion o ZnO NPs be o e and a e applying he Sa e-and-
Sus ainable-by-Design (SSbD) amewo k (Eu opean Commission,
2022), implemen ing he iden i ied sa e y and sus ainabili y
ecommenda ions. Use o his amewo k, which is a gene al app oach
o s ee inno a ion owa ds sa e and sus ainable ma e ials (in his case,
NMs) (Pizzol e al., 2023) h oughou hei li e cycles (Fu xhi e al.,
2023;Caldei a e al., 2024), has allowed o pinpoin key sus ainabili y
ho spo s and o e alua e he e ec i eness o he p oposed edesign
measu es o mi iga e hose impac s. The SSbD me hodology consis s o
i e s eps, S eps 1, 2 and 3, associa ed o sa e y, and S eps 4 and 5,
ela ed o en i onmen al and socio-economic analyses, espec i ely.
Sa e-by-Ma e ial (SbMD) and Sa e-by-P ocess (SbPD) app oaches, wo
pa icula se s o SSbD s a egies, we e applied o imp o e Pho nano’s
o iginal p oduc ion p ocess (BS), leading o de ini ion o wo new sce-
na ios, S1 and S2, ha a e desc ibed below; bo h SbMD and SbPD a e
pa o he backg ound esea ch o his wo k, which is ocused on S eps 4
and 5. Al hough he Eu opean Commission ecommends he ea ly
applica ion o SSbD in he inno a ion p ocess (Abba e e al., 2024),
challenges ha e been iden i ied in a ious case s udies (Caldei a e al.,
2023), as well as di icul ies expe ienced by companies when ying o
implemen SSbD (Eu opean En i onmen Agency, 2020;CEFIC, 2021,
2022;ChemSec, 2021). Fo ins ance, he homogenised e minology and
SSbD c i e ia, e alua ion ools, da a a ailabili y and quali y, me hods
o scaling up labo a o y da a o an indus ial le el, and o he s (Abba e
e al., 2025). Wi hin S eps 4 and 5, da a a ailabili y, quali y and un-
ce ain y, and ools, a e he main conce ns (Caldei a e al., 2022;Abba e
e al., 2025); besides, a holis ic iew o he applica ion o he SSbD
amewo k has been highligh ed as a desi able app oach o connec all
alue chain s akeholde s and acili a e co-c ea ion o SSbD solu ions
(Soe eman-He n´
andez e al., 2024;Abba e e al., 2025). As S ep 5 is an
op ional s ep o he amewo k and, di e en ly om S ep 4, he e a e no
uni e sally accep ed me hodologies o conduc he socio-economic
e alua ion, his wo k in ends o assess he use ulness o he selec ed
social and economic ools, and del e in o da a and unce ain y analysis
o BS, S1 and S2 om he h ee sus ainabili y pilla s iewpoin ,
conside ing also he in eg a ion o he esul s h ough a Mul i-C i e ia
Decision Analysis (MCDA) ool (P ado and Heijungs, 2018;Tschul-
kow, 2024), which allows o balancing complex ade-o s among
en i onmen al, social and economic ac o s. Al oge he , his wo k con-
ibu es o illing some o he gaps ound in he applica ion o S eps 4 and
5 o he amewo k, and o he global analysis o he esul s o LCA,
MFCA and S-LCA s udies.
As indica ed in Sec ion 2, sus ainabili y s udies abou NMs
Fig. 1. Some o he me hods desc ibed in he li e a u e o he syn hesis o ZnO NPs: we chemis y, eco- iendly ou es and hyb id me hods.
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
354
manu ac u ing p ocesses in gene al, and o ZnO NPs in pa icula , a e
limi ed, which means a esea ch gap in he iden i ica ion o c i ical
en i onmen al, economic and social ho spo s wi hin hose p ocesses,
and applica ion o co ec ing measu es o educe he co esponding
impac s, pa icula ly acco ding o he SSbD app oach. Analysing he
in luence o unce ain ies on he inal esul s is also key, especially o
low-TRL p ocesses like hose desc ibed he e. This wo k aims a co e ing
his gap by s udying and compa ing he ho spo s o BS, S1 and S2, and
he unce ain ies o he inal esul s, conside ing he h ee sus ainabili y
pilla s and in eg a ion o esul s h ough he me hods desc ibed in
Sec ion 3. The h ee scena ios a e ep esen ed in Fig. 2. B ie ly ( o a
mo e de ailed discussion, see Sec ion 3.1), BS is he ini ial al e na i e, in
which Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O, a Mn sal , whey and wa e a e used as aw
ma e ials o ul ima ely yield he ZnO NPs, bu wi h he concomi an
o ma ion o oxic umes (SO
x
and NO
x
). S1 and S2, he la e being an
adap ed and upscaled scena io wi h espec o S1, a oid such emissions
by eplacing whey by s a ch (SO
x
), and by e u ning NO
x
o he sys em o
p oduce use ul eagen s (HNO
3
) ha e en ually eac wi h Zn powde o
gene a e Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O, and om he e he desi ed good.
This s udy no only ad ances sus ainable nano echnology by op i-
mising he syn hesis o ZnO NPs o a ious applica ions bu also p o-
ides p ac ical guidance on he ope a ionalisa ion o he socio-economic
in eg a ion aspec s o he SSbD app oach. In pa icula , i con ibu es o
he holis ic sus ainabili y e alua ion, conside ing en i onmen al, eco-
nomic and social esul s. The indings o his esea ch highligh i s po-
en ial o suppo sa e y and sus ainabili y in indus ial p ocesses om
he ea lies s ages o inno a ion. By demons a ing he easibili y o
hyb id g een me hods and he applica ion o he SSbD app oach o hei
s udy and imp o emen , his wo k lays a ounda ion o sa e , mo e
sus ainable nano echnology inno a ions, wi h esul s ha a e use ul no
only o academia bu also o s akeholde s and con ibu e o he
de elopmen o hese s udies o NMs-based low-TRL echnologies.
2. Li e a u e e iew
The blooming o nano echnology and he ubiqui y o NMs, such as
he discussed ZnO, ha e encou aged he eco- iendly design and he
sus ainable use o hese goods (Hu chison, 2016;Pok ajac e al., 2021;
Chausali e al., 2023). Simul aneously, conce ns abou he sus ainabili y
o he p oduc ion p ocesses o NMs, including NPs emissions o he
en i onmen , ha e been aised (Buis e al., 2017;Salie i e al., 2019;
Ma ínez e al., 2021;A o a e al., 2024). Among di e en e alua ion
ools, Li e Cycle Assessmen (LCA) has been commonly employed o
quan i y he impac s associa ed o he li e cycle o a p oduc . Fo an
eme ging echnology such as NMs ha o en only unc ions a a lab o
pilo scale, ex-an e LCA has become an essen ial ins umen o iden i-
ying po en ial ho spo s and guiding sus ainable design (Cucu achi
e al., 2018;Cucu achi and Blanco, 2022). Fo ins ance, Tan e al. (2018)
pe o med an ex-an e LCA o cellulose nanoc ys al oam along he R&D
ajec o y, desc ibing he design imp o emen s. Pallas e al. (2020)
conduc ed an ex-an e LCA s udy o he eme ging gallium-a senide
nanowi e and p o ided a benchma k o he comme cialisa ion o he
echnology. Recen ly, a amewo k o ex-an e LCA o nano- ein o ced
biopolyme s a low TRL (Technology Readiness Le el) was p oposed
and applied, and he en i onmen al ho spo s iden i ied (Mülle -Ca nei o
e al., 2023). Howe e , he use o Li e Cycle Assessmen (LCA) (and,
pa icula ly, ex-an e LCA) as a ool o quan i y he en i onmen al
oo p in o he manu ac u ing o hese ma e ials (Meye and Upad-
hyayula, 2014) is s ill a an ea ly s age (Hachhach e al., 2022). Ac-
co ding o a ecen e iew, om 2001 o 2020 only 71 s udies e ol ing
a ound LCA o NMs we e published (Nizam e al., 2021). Techno-
economic analyses o NMs p oduc ion p ocesses, in some cases com-
plemen ed wi h LCA s udies, ha e also been epo ed (de Assis e al.,
2018;Ragadhi a e al., 2019;Ka adaghi e al., 2023;Rajend an e al.,
2023), bu S-LCA in es iga ions in his con ex a e sca ce (Handy and
Shaw, 2007;S oyche a e al., 2022). Mul i-objec i e p oblem-sol ing
s a egies a e highly ecommended o achie e a meaning ul in e p e-
a ion o esul s (Jia e al., 2016), since hese app oaches allow o
simul aneously analyse and balance con lic ing goals (e.g., educing
en i onmen al impac s s minimising ope a ional cos s); he holis ic
na u e o he assessmen and he conside a ion o unce ain ies also
pe mi s o educe bias, hus imp o ing con idence in he ou come.
Mul i-C i e ia Decision Analysis (MCDA) (Cinelli e al., 2017) is one o
he ools used o his pu pose; i is a aluable me hodology o analyse
se e al scena ios (as BS, S1 and S2; see Sec ion 1) and a ious indica o s
(e.g., en i onmen al, economic and social) a he same ime. Howe e ,
conce ning NMs he use o MCDA is no as common as would be ex-
pec ed. Indeed, despi e he comp ehensi e ou comes hey p o ide, he
o me me hodologies s ill aise challenges o hei applica ion o NPs,
e.g., he complex modelling o he consequences o NPs elease (Hischie
e al., 2017) and he unce ain modelling o low-TRL echnologies. In he
case o ZnO NPs, o he bes o ou knowledge he e is only one published
LCA s udy, which add esses he mic owa e-assis ed syn hesis o his
ma e ial, al hough no om a ci cula pe spec i e (Papadaki e al.,
2017). Few echno-economic assessmen s dealing wi h he p oduc ion o
his NM ha e been epo ed (Zah a e al., 2020;Yashni e al., 2021).
Nei he S-LCA no MCDA s udies ha e been ound in he li e a u e. The
inclusion o S-LCA and MCDA in his wo k is he e o e a p og ess beyond
s a e o he a .
Fig. 2. Simpli ied diag am o he manu ac u ing p ocess o ZnO NPs h ough he baseline scena io (BS, highligh ed in blue) and scena ios 1 and 2 (S1 and S2,
espec i ely, highligh ed in g een; S2 is an adap ed and upscaled e sion o S1). The las s ep (p oduc ion o ZnO NPs) is shown as a g een-blue g adien since i is a
common s ep o he h ee p ocesses.
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
355
3. Me hods
In o de o pe o m he p esen in es iga ion, ou assessmen ools
we e employed: LCA, MFCA, S-LCA and MCDA. LCA is a s anda dised
me hodology aiming a e alua ing he en i onmen al impac s o p od-
uc s, p ocesses o se ices h oughou hei li e cycle, acco ding o ISO
14040 (2006) and 14044 (2006); his is he ecommended app oach
wi hin he SSbD amewo k. MFCA is s anda dised h ough ISO 14051
(2011); i ocuses on ma e ial and ene gy lows o pinpoin and quan i y
was e and losses o p oduc ion p ocesses in mone a y e ms (Bie e
e al., 2015). Di e en ly om adi ional cos ing me hods, MFCA
highligh s no jus he di ec cos s o undesi able ou pu s (in e ms o los
sale e enue), bu also all he ups eam alue loss in cos d i e s like
labou , aw ma e ials and in es ed capi al, ha a e also was ed
(Schmid , 2015). Thus, i is a use ul ool no only in e ms o cos ac-
coun ing, bu also in p omo ing imp o emen s in esou ce e iciency and
consequen educ ion in en i onmen al impac . The hi d ool, S-LCA,
he leas de eloped o his g oup, ollows a simila app oach o ha o
LCA, i s pu pose being o iden i y, p io i ise and e alua e all he social
impac s de i ed om he li e o he objec o s udy. Al hough he e is no
a uni e sally accep ed me hodology o conduc S-LCA, he guidelines
de eloped by UNEP/SETAC a e he mos widely sp ead a emp (Benoî
No is e al., 2020;T a e so e al., 2021). Acco ding o hese guidelines,
a Re e ence Scale App oach (RSA) was ollowed o he assessmen
h ough a da abase-assis ed S-LCA. This me hod p oposes o analyse he
social pe o mance opposi e in e na ional and sec o ial s anda ds and
s a is ics, which allows na iga ing unce ain ies o low-TRL p ocesses
h ough a sc eening o po en ial ho spo s. Finally, MCDA is a decision-
suppo ing me hod ha add esses in ica e p oblems wi h high un-
ce ain ies and conside s mu ual di e ences. This ool allows o in e-
g a e wo o mo e scena ios (e.g., he p oduc ion o ZnO nanopowde by
h ee al e na i es; ide in a) and wo o mo e indica o s ( o ins ance,
en i onmen al, economic and social indica o s) in a compa a i e s udy
o decide which one is he bes -pe o ming p ocess om a pa icula
pe spec i e ( o example, sus ainabili y). To pe o m his analysis, he
Excel wo kshee de eloped by Tschulkow (2024), based on he wo k by
P ado and Heijungs (2018), was employed.
3.1. Case s udy
This s udy was pe o med o e alua e he en i onmen al, economic
and social impac s de i ed om he p oduc ion o doped ZnO NPs by
Pho nano, an Aus ian SME (small and medium-sized en e p ises)
ocused on he esea ch, de elopmen and manu ac u ing o unc ional
NMs. The manu ac u ed Mn-doped ZnO NPs a e used as a aw ma e ial
o : (a) o mula ions leading o he de elopmen o sunsc eens, as ZnO
s ongly abso bs UVA and UVB adia ions (An oniou e al., 2008), and
(b) luo escen nanop obes o biomedical imaging, as eplacemen o
he less sa e Cd-based quan um do s (see Sec ion 1) (Hahm, 2014).
Ini ially, a p ocess leading o he annual p oduc ion o 2.5 kg o doped
ZnO nanopowde ( he baseline scena io, BS) was pe o med. By
employing he Sa e-and-Sus ainable-by-Design (SSbD) me hodology,
key p ocess ine iciencies we e iden i ied, and e idence-based ecom-
menda ions p o ided o op imise pe o mance, sa e y and global sus-
ainabili y. Implemen a ion o such ecommenda ions esul ed in wo
edesigned scena ios, S1 and S2, which we e sys ema ically e-e alua ed
o quan i y hei impac and alida e he obus ness o he p oposed
app oach. Comp ehensi e physicochemical cha ac e isa ion, in eg a ed
wi h oxicokine ic modelling, demons a ed ha he eenginee ed ma-
e ials and p ocesses exhibi ed equi alen o supe io unc ional p op-
e ies compa ed o hose o he o iginal ma e ial (BS). The esul s o he
sus ainabili y s udies conduc ed o he h ee p ocesses a e analysed in
his wo k. The h ee al e na i es we e de eloped by Pho nano wi hin
he amewo k o he ‘Diagonal’Eu opean esea ch p ojec (GA
953152). The syn hesis o doped ZnO NPs acco ding o BS s a s wi h he
dissolu ion o zinc ni a e hexahyd a e (Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O) and
manganese(II) ni a e e ahyd a e (Mn(NO
3
)
2
⋅4H
2
O) in wa e unde
s i ing and hea ing a 90 ◦C. This is ollowed by he inse ion o a gelling
agen ; ini ially, whey was used as a chela ing species (BS), bu a e -
wa ds i was eplaced by a non-amina ed s a ch, a egan al e na i e (i.e.,
ee o animal sou ces o p ocessing aids de i ed om animals, o ani-
mal by-p oduc s) o whey (S1 and S2). Bo h whey and s a ch a oid he
use o ci ic acid and e hylene glycol, o he commonly employed e-
agen s in his p ocess (Soa es e al., 2020). Polyme isa ion akes place
a e he inse ion o he chela ing agen , d i ing o he o ma ion o a
gel ha is hea ed in a d ying o en o one hou a 200 ◦C o emo e he
wa e excess. A nano oam is ob ained and subsequen ly calcina ed
(400 ◦C), leading o he desi ed ZnO nanopowde . In he case o S1 and
S2, he gel is ea ed in a closed eac o , hus a oiding he elease o
ni ogen oxides (NO
x
), which low in o a wa e ba h o u n hem in o
ni ic acid (HNO
3
), ha ul ima ely eac s wi h Zn powde o p oduce Zn
(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O, es a ing he cycle. In bo h scena ios he calcina ion s ep
is ci cum en ed, wi h he consequen ene gy sa ing ( ide in a, and see
also Figs. 3 and 4).
A e ca ying ou he physicochemical, oxicological and sus ain-
abili y e alua ions o BS, a se o Sa e-by-Ma e ial and Sa e-by-P ocess
design al e na i es (SbMD and SbPD, espec i ely) we e iden i ied and
applied. Rega ding SbMD, doping o ZnO wi h Mn was pe o med. As
he VERDEQUANT p ocess (S ingl e al., 2021;Pho nano, 2024) sup-
po s doping o ZnO qui e well (Picasso e al., 2022;Assis e al., 2024),
samples we e p oduced ia his me hod. Conce ning SbPD, h ee im-
p o emen s we e applied:
•C ea ion o a NOFLOW box o enhance he sa e y o he handling
p ocess. The NOFLOW box is a wo kplace shielded agains ai low
and wi h a sc een o p o ec he ope a o . I s design is simila o ha
o a lowbox, bu wi hou any en ila ion o a oid nanopowde s o be
blown away du ing handling and illing.
•Con e sion o NO
x
in o HNO
3
, hus allowing he ci cula i y o he
abo e-men ioned VERDEQUANT manu ac u ing p ocess.
•Subs i u ion o whey by a non-amina ed s a ch, a egan o mula ion,
hus a oiding he o ma ion and elease o sul u oxides (SO
x
), an
unwan ed by-p oduc .
These modi ica ions in he p oduc ion p ocess led o he de ini ion o
wo new scena ios:
•Scena io 1 (S1): applica ion o he abo e-men ioned SbMD and SbPD
s a egies o a small amoun o p oduc (2.5 kg).
•Scena io 2 (S2): applica ion o hose s a egies o a la ge -scale sce-
na io, leading o 100 kg o p oduced doped ZnO NPs.
The linea i y o BS and he ci cula i y o S1 and S2 a e explained in
Fig. 3. S2 di e s om S1 mainly in wo aspec s: on he one hand, in S1
bo h Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O and Zn powde a e employed as aw ma e ials,
whe eas in S2 only Zn powde is used. On he o he , S2 is an upscaled
scena io: 100 kg o doped ZnO NPs a e manu ac u ed ia his p ocess,
and 2.5 kg a e ob ained h ough S1. In S2, a la ge eac o , wi h a highe
ene gy e iciency, is employed. The selec ed unc ional uni (FU), as
explained in he nex sec ion, is iden ical o he h ee s udied p ocesses,
o allow o a p ope compa ison.
Once he LCA, MFCA and S-LCA esul s o S1 and S2 we e analysed,
hey we e subjec ed, oge he wi h hose o BS, o a Mul i-C i e ia De-
cision Analysis (MCDA) o de e mine which o he h ee app oaches was
he bes -pe o ming p ocess om he sus ainabili y poin o iew.
3.2. Goal and scope
As indica ed in Sec ion 3.1, he main objec i e o his wo k is o s udy
he en i onmen al, economic and social pe o mance and, al oge he ,
he sus ainabili y o he p oduc ion p ocess o doped ZnO NPs acco ding
o he expe imen al p ocedu e concei ed by Pho nano, and o compa e
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
356
his p ocess wi h wo scena ios esul ing om he applica ion o SSbD
s a egies o he o me in an in eg a ing s udy. En i onmen al, eco-
nomic and socie al a gumen s, analysed bo h sepa a ely and combined,
a e p o ided o selec he mos ad isable al e na i e om he sus ain-
abili y pe spec i e. This, oge he wi h he li e cycle in en o y da ase s
included in his wo k, will con ibu e o he s a e-o - he-a knowledge
o he sus ainable syn hesis o nanosized ZnO o he e en ual p oduc-
ion o sola lo ions (Chauhan e al., 2022) and o medical-o ien ed
ma e ials (Weng e al., 2023), among o he applica ions (Raha and
Ahma uzzaman, 2022;Sha ma e al., 2022).
The h ee scena ios we e modelled consis en ly. Thus, he FU o BS,
S1 and S2 is iden ical, so ha he esul s can be compa ed: he p o-
duc ion o 1 kg o ZnO nanopowde ha is o be used in sunsc een
o mula ions o achie e 50 SPF (Sun P o ec ion Fac o ), a minimum 20
% concen a ion o he pho op o ec i e agen (ZnO). This FU was also
selec ed o ca y ou he h ee assessmen s desc ibed in his a icle (LCA,
MFCA and S-LCA) and, consequen ly, MCDA. The sys em bounda ies a e
also iden ical o he h ee scena ios and assessmen s. The p esen wo k
is a ‘c adle- o-ga e’s udy ha s a s wi h he aw ma e ials ex ac ion
and inishes wi h he ob en ion o he p oduc o in e es (Fig. 4). I
should be no ed ha only he inpu s (e.g., aw ma e ials, elec ici y
consump ion) and ou pu s (e.g., emissions, gene a ed was e) we e
collec ed and included wi hin he sys em bounda ies. Ups eam ac i -
i ies, such as ex ac ion o anspo , we e ob ained om he selec ed
da abase (ecoin en 3.10, 2024), which ga he s and in eg a es a e age
da a o each inpu o he p oduc ion p ocess, o om he li e a u e,
whe eas downs eam ac i i ies (e.g., dis ibu ion, inal use) we e no
conside ed in his wo k.
3.3. En i onmen al Li e Cycle Assessmen (LCA)
3.3.1. Li e Cycle In en o y (LCI)
Table 1 displays he da a o aw ma e ials, ene gy and emissions,
among o he i ems, in ol ed in he syn hesis o 2.5 o 100 kg o doped
ZnO NPs acco ding o he baseline and a e -SSbD scena ios (da a e e
o he whole p oduc ion p ocess, wi hou di e en ia ing indi idual
s eps). The ope a ional in en o ies we e no malised o he p oduc ion o
1 kg o doped ZnO NPs ( e e ence low); all o hem can be ound in he
Fig. 3. Schema ic ep esen a ion o he p oduc ion p ocess o ZnO NPs h ough BS (a), and S1 and S2 (b). In he case o S1 and S2, he gene a ed NO
x
a e ans o med
in o HNO
3
, which eac s wi h Zn powde o p oduce Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O; in BS, he las eagen en e s he p ocess as such. A e adding Mn(NO
3
)
2
⋅4H
2
O, he inse ion o
whey (BS) o a non-amina ed s a ch (S1 and S2) akes place. Following a sui able ea men (Sec ion 3.1), Mn-doped ZnO NPs a e ob ained, wi h he concomi an
o ma ion o NO
x
ha en e he cycle again (S1 and S2). This design allows eci cula ing NO
x
and a oids he emission o SO
x
(BS). *In S1 a mix u e o Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O
and Zn is employed.
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
357

‘LCI_Modelling’wo kshee o he SI.
3.3.2. App oxima ions, assump ions and limi a ions
I was assumed ha he losses o cleaning and p ocess wa e a e
negligible (0 % losses applied) and, in o de o model he anspo
(exp essed in ons-kilome e , ⋅km) and p oduc ion (mass uni used as
e e ence o he ecoin en 3.10 da ase ) o whey, a densi y o 1 kg/L
was supposed. Da ase s om ecoin en 3.10, a common LCI da abase,
we e chosen as much as ep esen a i e in e ms o echnology (same
ma e ials and p ocesses), geog aphy (Aus ian da a i a ailable, Eu o-
pean o global da a i no ) and ime (mos ecen da a); geog aphical
ep esen a i eness is indica ed in b acke s in he da ase name (AT o
Aus ia, RER o Eu ope and GLO o he wo ld). When he p oduc ion
p ocesses and anspo dis ances we e known, ma e ials we e modelled
wi h he so-called ‘p oduc ion’da ase s (men ioned a he end o he
da ase name); o he wise, ‘ma ke ’da ase s, which e lec he a e age
p oduc ion mix and anspo means o he conside ed geog aphical
a ea, we e applied. In he case o Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O and Mn(NO
3
)
2
⋅4H
2
O
no backg ound da a could be ound in ecoin en 3.10 da ase s.
The e o e, a s oichiome ic balance, coming om he eac ion o ZnO
and MnO, espec i ely, wi h HNO
3
, was employed o model hese
chemicals (MO +2HNO
3
➔M(NO
3
)
2
+H
2
O; M =Zn o Mn). All o his is
e lec ed in Table 2.
3.3.3. Li e Cycle Impac Assessmen (LCIA)
This phase allows ans o ming he da a collec ed in he p e ious
s ep in o en i onmen al impac s. The En i onmen al Foo p in (EF,
3.1) me hod, based on he En i onmen al Foo p in (EF) ini ia i e,
launched by he Eu opean Commission (2013) o c ea e a ha monised
EU me hodology o communica e en i onmen al pe o mance o p od-
uc s and o ganisa ions, was selec ed as he LCIA me hod since his wo k
was de eloped in he Eu opean Union unde he shel e o a Eu opean-
Commission unded esea ch p ojec . This me hod consis s o 16
midpoin impac ca ego ies (Fazio e al., 2018). As his a icle add esses
he s udy o a low-TRL echnology, he e a e no objec i e c i e ia o
exclude any o he EF 3.1 indica o s om he analysis and, he e o e, he
in o ma ion p o ided by he 16 impac ca ego ies was deemed ele an
o he wo k. Finally, c ea ion o he models o he impac assessmen
calcula ion was conduc ed wi h SimaP o®9.6 (2024) by PR´
e Consul-
an s. SimaP o®, being an in e na ionally ecognised so wa e o
pe o m LCA s udies, is used bo h by indus y and academia, in eg a es
Fig. 4. Schema ic iew o he p oduc ion p ocess o Mn-doped ZnO nanopowde designed by Pho nano h ough he h ee s udied scena ios (BS, S1, S2). ‘NF’s ands
o ‘nano oam’.
Table 1
Ope a ional in en o y da a o he baseline and a e -SSbD scena ios (BS: base-
line scena io; S1: scena io 1; S2: scena io 2) p o ided by Pho nano o he
annual p oduc ion o 2.5 (BS and S1) and 100 (S2) kg o doped ZnO nano-
powde , using 1 kg o doped ZnO as he e e ence low.
Flow Uni No malised alue T anspo dis ance
(km)
BS S1 S2 BS S1 S2
Inpu s
Zn(NO₃)₂⋅6H₂O kg 4 1.8 –700 700 –
Zn powde (99.9 %) kg –0.31 0.62 –700 700
Non-amina ed s a ch kg –0.3 0.2 – – –
Whey L 16 – – 20 – –
Mn(NO
3
)
2
⋅4H₂O kg 0.4 0.4 0.1 700 700 700
HNO
3
(68 %) L –3 3 – – –
Elec ici y om he g id,
low ol age ( o ZnO)
kWh 4 12 9 – – –
Cleaning wa e ( ap) L 40 40 10 – – –
P ocess wa e
(deionised)
L 10 10 10 – – –
Ou pu s
ZnO kg 1 1 1 – – –
Was ewa e om
cleaning
L 50 40 10 – – –
NO
2
o ai kg 1.12 0.55 0.37 – – –
Table 2
LCI backg ound da a o he baseline and a e -SSbD scena ios, ob ained om
ecoin en da ase s.
Flow Backg ound p ocess
Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O 0.27 kg/kg ‘Zinc oxide {GLO}| ma ke o ’+0.42 kg/kg
‘Ni ic acid, wi hou wa e , in 50 % solu ion s a e {RER w/
o RU} | ma ke o ’+0.36 kg/kg ‘Tap wa e {Eu ope
wi hou Swi ze land} | ma ke o ’
Zn powde (99.9 %) ‘Zinc oxide {GLO}| ma ke o ’
Non-amina ed s a ch ‘S a ch, om maize {GLO}| ma ke o ’
Whey ‘Whey {GLO}| cheese p oduc ion, so , om cow milk’
Mn(NO
3
)
2
⋅4H
2
O 0.40 kg/kg ‘Manganese(III) oxide {GLO}| ma ke o ’+
0.70 kg/kg ‘Ni ic acid, wi hou wa e , in 50 % solu ion
s a e {RER w/o RU} | ma ke o ’
HNO
3
(68 %) ‘Ni ic acid, wi hou wa e , in 50 % solu ion s a e {RER w/
o RU}| ma ke o ni ic acid, wi hou wa e , in 50 %
solu ion s a e | Cu -o , U’
Elec ici y ‘Elec ici y, low ol age {AT}| ma ke o ’
Wa e (p ocess o o
cleaning)
‘Tap wa e {Eu ope wi hou Swi ze land}| ma ke o ’
Was ewa e om
cleaning
‘Was ewa e , a e age {Eu ope wi hou Swi ze land}|
ma ke o ’
Lo y anspo ‘T anspo , eigh , lo y, unspeci ied {RER}| ma ke o ’
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
358
he abo e-men ioned ecoin en da abase and EF me hod and allows o
model and analyse complex scena ios, ende ing key in o ma ion o
p ocess op imisa ion, ho spo s iden i ica ion and sus ainabili y
imp o emen , hus acili a ing decision-making. The EF single sco e (in
mP ) (using he la es no malisa ion and weigh ing ac o s om EF 3.1)
is compu ed as well o be used o he MCDA.
The impac s o he epo ed new ma e ials/p ocesses we e assumed
o no signi ican ly dis u b he economy, so hey we e modelled
ollowing an a ibu ional app oach, whe e he impac s o lows om
o he sec o s a e alloca ed wi hou conside ing a po en ial change in
hei ope a ions. In addi ion, impac s due o was e ea men we e
assigned o he was e p oduce . I such was e had an economic alue,
hose impac s we e a ibu ed o he u u e use . The cu -o app oach
was selec ed o be consis en wi h he s a ed modelling choices. Impac s
om in as uc u es we e excluded om he assessmen , since hey
gene ally ha e a low con ibu ion o indus ial p ocesses and a e sub-
jec ed o la ge unce ain ies. En i onmen al lows we e classi ied and
cha ac e ised depending on hei e ec s, and o each low he impac
was he esul o mul iplying he mass o a gi en inpu /ou pu by he
associa ed cha ac e isa ion ac o (CF) ( he impac s a ibu able o ZnO
NPs emissions we e no conside ed a his s age since CFs a e no
a ailable, a ma e ha is cu en ly unde s udy in ou labo a o ies).
3.4. Ma e ial Flow Cos Accoun ing (MFCA) analysis
3.4.1. Ope a ional cos in en o y and modelling
In his pape , an MFCA analysis o bo h he baseline al e na i e and
he a e -SSbD scena ios (S1 and S2) was conduc ed, using he same
sys em bounda ies (Fig. 4), unc ional uni (1 kg o ZnO nanopowde )
and mass and ene gy lows conside ed in he LCA.
This me hodology o e s de ailed cos insigh s in o ma e ial and
ene gy ine iciencies du ing manu ac u ing, and p o ides a obus
amewo k aligned wi h he goals o sus ainable p oduc ion (Hunkele
e al., 2008). In addi ion, i s ce i ica ion unde ISO 14051 (2011) allows
o enhance he anspa ency, ep oducibili y and compa abili y o he
esul s. Acco ding o MFCA, he p oduc ion p ocess is di ided in o
Quan i y Cen es (QC), whe e inpu ma e ials a e compa ed wi h he
p oduc s o judge ma e ial losses (ma e ial loss =inpu –p oduc s).
Since he a ailable da a we e agg ega ed o he whole p oduc ion
p ocess, a single QC was de ined, epo ing he comple e p oduc ion
p ocess o he doped ZnO NPs om s a o inish. Nex , all cos s asso-
cia ed wi h he en y and exi o ma e ial lows o he QC a e assessed
and a ibu ed o hose lows, in line wi h he Asian P oduc i i y O -
ganiza ion (Tachikawa, 2014) and ISO 14051 (2011). In MFCA, hese
cos s a e b oken down in o ou ca ego ies (ma e ials, ene gy, sys em
and was e managemen ) (Tachikawa, 2014).
In addi ion o he LCI o Table 1, inpu s o equipmen cos s,
Table 3
Agg ega ed cos in en o y da a o he baseline and a e -SSbD scena ios (BS: baseline scena io; S1: scena io 1; S2: scena io 2) p o ided by Pho nano o he annual
p oduc ion o 2.5 (BS and S1) and 100 (S2) kg o doped ZnO nanopowde , using 1 kg o doped ZnO as he e e ence low.
Inpu s Uni Uni cos (
€
/uni ) Annual cos (
€
/yea )
BS S1 S2 BS S1 S2
Raw ma e ials
Zn(NO
3
)
2
⋅6H
2
O kg 37.00 13.21 –370.00 59.45 –
Zn powde (99.9 %) kg –16.80 14.43 –13.04 899.00
Non-amina ed s a ch kg –5.00 5.00 –10.00 100.00
Whey L 3.50 – – 140.00 – –
Mn(NO
3
)
2
⋅4H
2
O kg 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 1000.00
HNO
3
(68 %) L –21.20 20 –106.00 4000.00
Cleaning wa e ( ap) L 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.10 0.10 1.00
P ocess wa e (deionised) L 1.00 1.00 1.00 25.00 25.00 1000.00
Wide mou h bo les piece 5.00 5.00 5.00 500.00 250.00 1000.00
Shipping cos s – – – – 68.40 107.19 255.00
Ene gy
Elec ici y om he g id, low ol age kWh 0.50 0.32 0.32 10.00 9.60 288.00
Equipmen
Inpu s Pu chase cos (
€
) Annual dep ecia ion (%) Annual cos (
€
/yea )
BS S1 S2 BS S1 S2 BS S1 S2
Magne ic s i e 400.00 400.00 1200.00 20 20 20 80.00 80.00 240.00
Reac o 300.00 300.00 10,000.00 20 20 20 60.00 60.00 2000.00
Mu le u nace 800.00 – – 20 – – 160.00 – –
Main enance
Inpu s F equency Uni cos (
€
/uni ) Annual cos (
€
/yea )
BS S1 S2 BS S1 S2
Equipmen calib a ion Annual 400.00 400.00 400.00 400.00 400.00 400.00
Labou
Type Uni Uni cos (
€
/uni ) Annual cos (
€
/yea )
BS S1 S2 BS S1 S2
In-house labou cos
€
/hou 36.00 40.00 40.00 3600.00 4000.00 40,000.00
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
359
main enance asks, labou expenses and shipping ees o he aw ma-
e ials we e conside ed. Ou pu lows ha ha e no po en ial economic
alue and a e ee o handling and disposal cha ges we e dis ega ded, as
hey bea no e ec on he cos esul s. Table 3 p esen s a compila ion o
he cos in en o y. All cos s a e be o e axes. The empo al sys em
bounda ies o his s udy e e o he pe iod be ween 2022 and 2024 and
a e based on p ima y da a om Pho nano o aw ma e ials, ene gy and
labou . No u u e p ojec ions we e included in he base case, as he ocus
was on analysing p esen -day p oduc ion cos s wi hin he de ined sys-
em bounda ies. Fu u e s udies could expand he empo al bounda ies o
include p ojec ed cos s o longe - e m scena ios, inco po a ing ac o s
such as echnological ad ancemen s and ma ke dynamics.
3.4.2. App oxima ions, assump ions and limi a ions
In e ms o equipmen alloca ion, he lis ed machine y was assigned
in ull o he annual p oduc ion amoun s o he doped ZnO nanopowde .
Also, he ou pu was ewa e was only assigned wi h i s espec i e aw
ma e ials expenses, while he doped ZnO NPs was ed in he cleaning and
packing p ocesses we e alloca ed wi h all he ups eam cos inpu s
necessa y o he doped ZnO NPs p oduc ion.
3.5. Social Li e Cycle Assessmen (S-LCA)
The social e alua ion o he h ee scena ios aimed a he p oduc ion
o doped ZnO nanopowde in ol es wo ypes o da a: p ice in o ma ion
o he quan i a i e assessmen , conduc ed wi h SimaP o®9.6 (2024),
and quali a i e da a, o o he indica o s p oposed by UNEP/SETAC in
i s me hodological shee s (T a e so e al., 2021), which we e used o
e alua e he isks o po en ial impac s and o design pa hways o
imp o emen .
The selec ed unc ional uni o he h ee scena ios (1 kg o doped
ZnO NPs) was ansla ed in o mone a y e ms, and he conside ed ac-
i i y a iable was ‘wo ke hou s’, which ep esen s he in ensi y o
wo k equi ed by each coun y-speci ic sec o di ec ly ela ed o p o-
duc ion (Benoî No is e al., 2018).
The Social Ho spo s Da abase (SHDB) was used o backg ound in-
o ma ion and o iden i y and assess po en ial ups eam impac s (Benoî
No is e al., 2018). SHDB, being one o he mos widely used da abases,
p o ides in o ma ion on social isks and oppo uni ies by coun y and
sec o , and on he composi ion and loca ion o he supply chain, h ough
a Global Inpu -Ou pu Model (GTAP) (Benoî No is e al., 2018). Only 5
o he 6 ca ego ies (labou igh s and decen wo k, heal h and sa e y,
socie y, go e nance and communi y) abou which he da abase p o ides
in o ma ion we e conside ed in his s udy, since he six h one (socio-
economic con ibu ions), being measu ed in economic e ms and no in
wo ke hou s, could o e lap wi h he MFCA analysis.
3.5.1. Social Li e Cycle In en o y (S-LCI) and modelling
To build he S-LCA in en o y, bo h backg ound and o eg ound da a
we e employed. The o me a e he coun y-sec o da a coming om he
da abase. In he case o he la e , in o ma ion was ga he ed h ough a
ques ionnai e including LCA, MFCA and S-LCA in o ma ion. Quan i a-
i e in o ma ion on he cos s and sou ces o each sys em inpu was
collec ed and, o pe o m he S-LCA, he e e ence low conside ed o
he h ee p ocesses was he p oduc ion o 1 kg o doped ZnO nano-
powde , exp essed in mone a y e ms; da a om he MFCA assessmen
was employed o no malisa ion. Table 4 displays he cos o he inpu s
o he h ee scena ios, classi ied acco ding o hei indus y and coun y
o o igin.
To include he company pe o mance, ad hoc wo ke hou s o he
‘Labou ’inpu we e designed, ollowing he o mulae by Smi h (2019)
(Eqs. 1 and 2):
Uni labou cos =Meanhou lysala y o hecoun y−sec o (pe employee)
G ossannualou pu o hesec o in hecoun y
(1)
Wo ke hou s =Uni labou cos
Mean hou ly labou cos pe employee (2)
By employing hese newly c ea ed company-speci ic wo ke hou s
and dele ing he da abase o iginal ones, gene ic o he Aus ian
chemical indus y and he mac oeconomic ade ne wo k connec ing
his indus y o he es o he wo ld, he unce ain y pe aining o he
use o gene ic da a was elimina ed. As, while he possibili y o isks
occu ing in he sec o emained, he use o audi ed i s -handed da a
abou labou condi ions educed he chances o hese isks occu ing in
he company, which is e lec ed on he wo ke hou s associa ed o his
inpu .
Conce ning he speci ic wo ke hou s calculus, an a e age hou ly
sala y o 36
€
pe employee was conside ed, as s a ed in he in en o y
da a p o ided by Pho nano. Acco ding o he Aus ian inpu -ou pu a-
bles o 2016 (S a is ics Aus ia, 2020), he annual ou pu o he Fo -
schungs und En wicklungs (Resea ch and De elopmen ) sec o was o
14,677,911
€
, whe eas he mean Technology and De elopmen base
sala y in Aus ia amoun ed o 73,529
€
pe yea . Pho nano wo ke hou s
we e calcula ed acco ding o Eq. (2), h owing a esul o 1.39 ×10
−7
wo ke hou s (‘Pho nano ailo -made wo ke hou s’indus y in
Table 5). Table 5 shows he wo ke hou s used om he da abase o
each inpu ’s coun y-speci ic sec o .
The ‘Re e ence Scale’me hod (also known as S-LCA Type I me hod)
was selec ed o ca y ou he impac assessmen o he h ee scena ios
conside ed in his wo k. Such e alua ion was conduc ed wi h he aid o
SHDB and he Social Ho spo s Index (SHI; Benoî No is e al., 2018),
which calcula es he social isks associa ed o he p oduc and he supply
chain acco ding o Eq. (3), measu ed in medium isk hou s equi alen
(m heq):
Social isks =Wo ke hou s⋅cos o he inpu ⋅indica o ʹs isk le el (3)
Risk le els wo k as cha ac e isa ion ac o s. These co espond o he
isks o he coun y-sec o in compliance wi h he a iable measu ed in
he indica o and he se e i y o a si ua ion, he dis ibu ion o alues
ac oss he popula ion o coun ies and sec o s and expe s’judgemen .
Table 4
Inpu s o he S-LCA modelling (
€
) o he baseline and a e -SSbD scena ios (BS: baseline scena io; S1: scena io 1; S2: scena io 2) o he annual p oduc ion o doped
ZnO (2.5 o 100 kg, depending on he scena io), using 1 kg o doped ZnO as he e e ence low.
Indus y BS S1
a
S2
Aus ia Ge many Aus ia Ge many Aus ia Ge many
Chemicals 66.00 188.00 10.00 87.62 10.00 58.99
Labou 1440.00 –1600.00 –400.00 –
Elec ici y 4.00 –3.84 –2.88 –
Wa e 0.04 –0.04 –0.01 –
Bo les –200.00 –100.00 –10.00
Equipmen 920.00 –216.00 –26.40 –
T anspo 27.36 –42.88 –2.55 –
Co n – – 4.00 –1.00 –
a
In S1 some chemicals come om B azil; such inpu s amoun o 23.78
€
.
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
360
Then, hese we e agg ega ed o he di e en sub-ca ego ies and ca e-
go ies. Resul s we e agg ega ed o each scena io (BS, S1 and S2) using
he SHDB impac assessmen me hod (SHI; Benoî No is e al., 2018),
which p o ides a single sco e in millipoin s (mP ) based on he agg e-
ga ion o he di e en sub-ca ego ies; his allows o compa e he social
pe o mance o he p oduc -sys em in he s udied p ocesses om a
quan i a i e poin o iew. No weigh ing was applied o any indica o
because o he unce ain ies ela ed o he inno a i e na u e o he
echnology and i s scale.
3.5.2. App oxima ions, assump ions and limi a ions
The backg ound modelling o his case s udy was designed h ough
an i e a i e p ocess ying o unde s and which o he exis ing coun y-
sec o pai in he da abase would i bes he p oduc -sys em; he chosen
ones o each g oup a e p esen ed in Table 5. Rega ding he coun y o
o igin o he machine y and equipmen used, all he supplie s we e
assumed o be si ed in Aus ia. Since he e is no sec ion accoun ing o
labou impac s in he SHDB, a new one was included (‘Pho nano ailo -
made wo ke hou s’).
The isks assessed in his case s udy come om he alua ions
included in he SHDB, which we e adap ed whene e possible o e lec
Pho nano’s eali y. Ne e heless, as he isk o a po en ially occu ing
impac is measu ed acco ding o mac oeconomic measu es, ew isks
we e adap ed; speci ically, ‘Unemploymen le el’, as he e we e da a no
only o Aus ia al oge he , bu also o Ko neubu g, he place in which
he company is loca ed.
3.6. Unce ain y analysis
Unce ain y analysis was pe o med wi h wo pu poses: (a) o e al-
ua e he quali y o da a used in he o eg ound and backg ound in-
en o y, and p ice ola ili y. Fo LCA, MFCA and S-LCA, each scena io
was e alua ed conside ing he inpu s a iabili y. This has allowed o
unde s and how inpu da a unce ain ies in luence he inal esul s, and
hus suppo SSbD endea ou s; (b) o use he calcula ed unce ain ies o
ca y ou a Mul i-C i e ia Decision Analysis (MCDA) (Sec ion 3.7). Fo
he en i onmen al, economic and social assessmen s he SimaP o®9.6
(2024) so wa e was employed o conduc a Mon e Ca lo unce ain y
analysis wi h 1000 uns. Two classes o unce ain ies we e conside ed:
he basic unce ain y, which e lec s he in insic a iabili y, and he
addi ional one, a consequence o he use o impe ec da a (San iago-
He e a e al., 2024). The basic unce ain y o inpu da a was modelled
h ough an ad hoc log-no mal dis ibu ion ep esen ing he possible
ange o inpu alues and he associa ed cos s (i.e., on aw ma e ials,
chemicals, ene gy, emissions o pollu an s, equipmen and labou )
p o ided by Pho nano. The addi ional unce ain y was de e mined
h ough he Pedig ee ma ix. This ma ix conside s i e quali y in-
dica o s ( eliabili y, comple eness, empo al co ela ion, geog aphic
co ela ion and u he echnological co ela ion) and, depending on he
quali y o he da a sou ces, a sco e om 1 o 5 is assigned o each o hem
(Pizzol e al., 2024). An unce ain y ac o was de e mined o each
indica o and each sco e. All hese alues we e added up, yielding SD
g95
,
acco ding o Eq. (4) (Mulle e al., 2016):
whe e U
1
=unce ain y ac o o eliabili y, U
2
=unce ain y ac o o
comple eness, U
3
=unce ain y ac o o empo al co ela ion, U
4
=
unce ain y ac o o geog aphic co ela ion, U
5
=unce ain y ac o o
u he echnological co ela ion, and U
b
=basic unce ain y ac o .
Fo S-LCA, he Pedig ee ma ix was adap ed o he pa icula i ies o
his e alua ion ool acco ding o Mancini e al. (2018). The esul s o his
ma ix, ansla ed in o a single numbe employing Weidema e al.’s
(2013) me hod in he absence o a speci ically social ansla ion model,
buil up he basic unce ain y o he social in en o y, as i is inhe i ed o
he da abase unc ioning; he addi ional unce ain y o he social
assessmen was calcula ed based on he cos in o ma ion inpu ed in o
he sys em.
3.7. Mul i-C i e ia Decision Analysis (MCDA)
In he li e a u e, LCA, S-LCA and economic assessmen s a e usually
conduc ed sepa a ely o a gi en p oduc , p ocess, o se ice, and hen
he esul s o he di e en scena ios a e compa ed. This wo ks when he
objec o compa ison is single indica o s, bu i is no i ial when
mul iple indica o s a e in ol ed. In hese cases, he use would need o
compa e each indica o o each domain o all he op ions conside ed
which, besides being ime-consuming, may in oduce bias when in e -
p e ing he esul s and, he e o e, in he selec ion o he mos p e e able
al e na i e. To a oid his, pe o mance o a Mul i-C i e ia Decision
Analysis (MCDA) is ad isable. Acco ding o Dean (2020), MCDA com-
p ises a ious classes o me hods, echniques and ools which explici ly
Table 5
Coun y-sec o modelling and wo ke hou s (wh) o he baseline and a e -SSbD scena ios o he annual p oduc ion o doped
ZnO (2.5 o 100 kg, depending on he scena io), using 1 kg o doped ZnO as he e e ence low.
Indus y Coun y-sec o wh (all scena ios)
a
Chemicals Chemical, ubbe , plas ic p oduc s (c p)/AUT U 1.09 ×10
−5
Chemical, ubbe , plas ic p oduc s (c p)/DEU U 8.59 ×10
−6
Chemical, ubbe , plas ic p oduc s (c p)/BRA U –
Labou Chemical, ubbe , plas ic p oduc s (c p)/AUT U 5.16 ×10
−5
Pho nano ailo -made wo ke hou s (AUT) 1.39 ×10
−7
Elec ici y Elec ici y (ely)/AUT U 4.08 ×10
−6
Wa e Wa e (w )/AUT U 1.10 ×10
−5
Bo les Manu ac u es nec (om )/DEU U 5.27 ×10
−5
Equipmen Machine y and equipmen nec (ome)/AUT U 2.58 ×10
−5
T anspo T anspo nec (o p)/AUT U 2.81 ×10
−5
Co n Ce eal g ains nec (g o)/AUT U –
a
All he shown da a a e common o BS, S1 and S2, wi h he excep ion o he chemicals coming om B azil, which apply only o
S1 (in his case, wh =2.93 ×10
−4
), and co n, applying only o S1 and S2 (in bo h cases, wh =1.17 ×10
−3
).
SDg95 ≅
σ
2
g=exp 
[ln(U1)]2+[ln(U2)]2+[ln(U3)]2+[ln(U4)]2+[ln(U5)]2+[ln(Ub)]2
√(4)
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
361
unce ain ies (Table 9) in he Excel wo kshee igge ed a 1000-i e a ion
Mon e-Ca lo simula ion. This means ha , o each scena io and each
indica o , 1000 alues a e andomly gene a ed, and hei a e age and
s anda d de ia ion calcula ed. These numbe s can be g ouped by anges;
i he equency o appea ance o hose anges in he s ochas ic analysis
is plo ed agains such anges, Gaussian-like dis ibu ions a e ob ained,
wi h hei p o ile (shape o b oad) depending on he unce ain y o he
ini ial alues. Hence, he dis ibu ions ob ained o he h ee scena ios
o a gi en indica o can be ep esen ed in he same g aph, o compa e
he pe o mance o he s udied p ocesses om he en i onmen al, eco-
nomic and social iewpoin s. The esul s o his analysis o he h ee
scena ios and he h ee epo ed indica o s a e shown in Fig. 9. En i-
onmen ally, S2 is he scena io wi h he lowes sco e ( oughly 0.007 P ),
ollowed by S1 (a ound 0.011 P ) and, inally, BS, wi h app oxima ely
0.016 P ( he a e age alues esul ing om he s ochas ic p ocesses we e
conside ed; see Table 9). This means ha he impac s gene a ed when
p oducing 1 kg o doped ZnO h ough S2 a e less han hal o hose
o igina ed ia BS, and 1.5 imes lowe han hose gene a ed by S1.
Conce ning he cos s o such manu ac u ing, S2 is, by a , he mos
a o dable op ion. Al hough S1 is less expensi e han BS (2088
€
s 2205
€
on a e age), S2 (512
€
) is oughly ou imes cheape han he o he
wo. Finally, S2 is also he leas impac ul p ocess om he social poin
o iew (0.021 P s 0.082 P –S1–and 0.158 P –BS–). The esul s o he
h ee indica o s conside ed indi idually a e in ag eemen wi h he main
ou come o he MCDA: he 100-kg scaled-up scena io, S2, is he mos
sus ainable o he h ee p oposed op ions. In addi ion, S1 pe o ms
be e han BS in he h ee indica o s, which makes i he second mos
sus ainable p ocess o he s udy.
A e conduc ing his esea ch, wo addi ional MCDAs we e p o-
posed, each o hem consis ing o wo scena ios, o con i m he abo e-
p esen ed esul s: on he one hand, a s udy be ween S1 and S2 and, on
he o he , be ween he bes -pe o ming edesign esul ing om his
analysis and BS.
The anking ob ained om he i s o he wo p oposed MCDAs is
shown in Fig. 8b. S2 is he mos sus ainable p ocess. Indeed, his is he
al e na i e ha is mo e likely o occupy he i s posi ion (a ound 98 %
likelihood), he chances o S1 o be anked i s being negligible.
The e o e, he la e would be anked second. This ou come is in line
wi h ha ob ained om he o me MCDA. In a simila ashion, he
beha iou o S1 and S2 in he en i onmen al (x), economic (y) and social
(z) indica o s was explo ed (Fig. S7). Wi h espec o he o me , S2 is
1.5 imes less impac ul han S1, whe eas he cos o S2 is ema kably
lowe han ha o S1 (a ound 512
€
s 2088
€
). Finally, he social im-
pac s de i ed om he p oduc ion o 1 kg o doped ZnO NPs h ough S2
a e ca. 4 imes lowe han hose gene a ed by S1. Al oge he , hese e-
sul s ma ch hose o he cu en MCDA and o ha conside ing he h ee
scena ios, whe e S2 was p e e ed o e S1.
Gi en his esul , he nex MCDA ha was pe o med is ha be ween
BS and S2. In oduc ion o he alues ob ained o each indica o o
bo h al e na i es h owed he esul s p esen ed in Figs. 8c and S8. Again,
S2 is he bes -pe o ming p ocess om he sus ainabili y poin o iew
(nea ly 100 % likelihood), so he o iginal design, BS, would be he leas
ad isable p ocess o p oduce 1 kg o doped ZnO NPs. This is also e-
lec ed in he indica o s. Indeed, when s udying he en i onmen al im-
pac s, S2 is oughly wice less impac ul han BS, whe eas in e ms o
social impac s he a io is a ound 8:1 (BS:S2). Economically, S2 is also
p e e able, gi en ha he cos o manu ac u ing 1 kg o doped ZnO NPs
is 512
€
in he case o S2 and 2205
€
in he case o BS, on a e age. All o
his makes S2 a supe io op ion, in ag eemen wi h he cu en and
o me MCDAs. Thus, he 100-kg scaled-up scena io, in which ci cula
economy p inciples we e ollowed o educe some aw ma e ials inpu s,
is he mos sus ainable one o he h ee ha ha e been s udied in his
wo k.
Al hough a his s age o he esea ch i was no possible o assign
weigh s o he en i onmen al, economic and social indica o s, a sensi-
i i y analysis was ca ied ou o unde s and he impac o ixing weigh s
in he analysis, ins ead o using andomly gene a ed ones, conside ing
ei he ha he h ee indica o s a e equally ele an (33.33 % weigh
assigned o each one), o gi ing p e e ence o one o hem o e he
o he s, acco ding o he p ocedu e desc ibed in Sec ion 3.7. The esul s,
shown in SI (Fig. S9), allow o conclude ha he global ou come depends
nei he on he na u e o he weigh s, no on he p io i y o one o hem
o e he o he wo, as in all cases he end is simila o ha shown in
Fig. 8, wi h S2 being he mos likely p ocess o be anked i s om he
sus ainabili y iewpoin , ollowed by S1.
As indica ed in Sec ion 2, he li e a u e abou applica ion o MCDA
ools o analyse he holis ic sus ainabili y o NMs p oduc ion p ocesses is
sca ce, and no wo ks ocused on ZnO NPs ha e been ound. Anyway,
po en ial compa isons a e di icul due o he di e en na u e o
collec ed da a (quali a i e o quan i a i e) and se ings/ ools (Hansen,
2010). I should be no ed ha , while MCDA p o es o be a highly
e ec i e ool o isualise esul s and suppo decision-making in a p o-
cess e alua ion, as shown in his wo k, i is c ucial o keep he in e -
p e a ion o esul s sepa a ely o he h ee sus ainabili y pilla s. This
ensu es ha po en ial ade-o s among hese dimensions a e explici ly
ecognised and mi iga ed, a oiding unin ended compensa ions ha
could comp omise uly sus ainable ou comes. Tha said, he SSbD
amewo k ecommends he use o MCDA o e alua e and compa e
se e al al e na i es, conside ing sa e y and sus ainabili y ac o s
Fig. 9. Analysis o he pe o mance o op ions A (baseline scena io, BS), B (2.5-
kg edesign, S1) and C (100-kg scaled-up p ocess, S2) in each indica o : (a)
en i onmen al, x, (b) economic, yand (c) social, z, o he Pho nano case s udy.
The Y axis ep esen s he equency o he co esponding ange (X axis)
esul ing om he Mon e Ca lo analysis, and he X axis he P (en i onmen al
and social indica o s) o
€
(economic indica o ) o he analysed scena ios.
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
368

(Abba e e al., 2025). Pa icula ly, MCDA allows o balancing complex
ade-o s among en i onmen al, social and economic c i e ia. This
in eg a ion is in line wi h SSbD p inciples, as his me hodology p o ides
a solid ounda ion o decision-making om he ea lies s ages o
de elopmen .
4.6. ZnO NPs: policy implica ions and comme cial p ospec s
As his wo k is he esul o a EU- unded esea ch p ojec , Eu opean
policies conce ning NMs ha e been conside ed o ca y ou his in es-
iga ion. In his con ex , he EU’s en i onmen al egula ions (e.g.,
REACH; Eu opean Commission, 2006) equi e NMs p oduce s o e al-
ua e and limi he impac s de i ed om he manu ac u e o hese ma-
e ials. As explained in Sec ion 2, emissions o NPs du ing he p oduc ion
o hese goods is a opic o special conce n, so e o s o s udy he
mechanisms accoun ing o hei elease and o de e mine hei cha -
ac e isa ion ac o s a e being p io i ised. By he same oken, he EU is
pushing o he adop ion o cleane , sa e and mo e e icien me hods o
syn hesise NPs. The SSbD amewo k (Eu opean Commission, 2022) is a
olun a y app oach o guide he inno a ion p ocess o chemicals and
ma e ials. This wo k is a case s udy ha explo es he applicabili y o his
amewo k and p o ides insigh s o u he de ini ion, wi h a pa icula
ocus on NMs, gi en hei singula cha ac e is ics.
As a esul o his app oach, signi ican conclusions o imp o e he
p oduc ion p ocess o ZnO NPs ha e been idea ed. The so-called ‘F ench
p ocess’, consis ing in he apo isa ion o me allic Zn ollowed by i s
oxida ion wi h ai a high empe a u es and apid cooling o he o med
ZnO pa icles, is a ypical way o ob ain his p oduc (Cha nha ako n
e al., 2011). Howe e , i is an ene gy-in ensi e me hod, and ge ing
pa icles o uni o m size is no i ial. In con as , he p ocesses p e-
sen ed in his wo k a e en i onmen ally iendly, in line wi h he EU’s
G een Deal (Eu opean Commission, 2019), and con olling pa icles size
is easie . Moni o ing o he exposu e o wo ke s o NMs is also c i ical, as
i may pose heal h isks, such as espi a o y p oblems; hus, compliance
o he manu ac u ing p ocesses wi h he EU’s legisla ion on his subjec
(Eu opean Commission, 2006) and he Eu opean Chemicals Agency
(ECHA) is manda o y.
F om he comme cial pe spec i e, he ma ke o ZnO NPs is ex-
pec ed o g ow signi ican ly in he nea u u e, om USD 254.4 million
in 2020 o USD 425.2 million in 2027, ep esen ing a Compound Annual
G ow h Ra e (CAGR) o 7.6 % (Chand aseka an e al., 2024). ZnO NPs
a e cu en ly used in se e al indus ies and p oduc s. Besides pe sonal
ca e goods, pa icula ly sunsc eens, was ewa e ea men and
biomedical de ices a e common applica ions o his ma e ial. None-
heless, u he esea ch is necessa y o imp o e i s p oduc ion and
enhance i s comme cial iabili y and hus explo e new oppo uni ies o
access un apped ma ke s (Goswami e al., 2024). The scena ios s udied
in his pape allow o syn hesise ZnO pa icles o nanome ic size, which,
in ela ion o he men ioned sunsc eens, a e mo e e icien in blocking
UV ligh han mic opa icles (Kuma i e al., 2010), ha can esul om
he ‘F ench p ocess’: i bo h sizes a e compa ed, less NPs a e needed o
achie e a simila e ec , which p esen s a clea comme cial in e es .
Al oge he , collabo a ion be ween academia, indus y and egula o y
bodies is key o boos comme cialisa ion and echnological inno a ions
o ZnO NPs (Xie and Wang, 2021).
5. Conclusions
In his wo k he En i onmen al, Economic and Social Li e Cycle
Assessmen s (LCA, MFCA and S-LCA, espec i ely) o h ee p ocesses
aimed a he p oduc ion o Mn-doped ZnO NPs, complemen ed wi h a
Mul i-C i e ia Decision Analysis (MCDA) o objec i ely decide which o
hem was he mos sus ainable one, we e p esen ed. Acco ding o he
ho ough li e a u e e iew ha was ca ied ou , his is he mos com-
ple e wo k in his ield o da e.
The o iginal p oduc ion scena io concei ed by Pho nano (BS) was
imp o ed by applying sui able SbMD, SbPD and ci cula i y s a egies
(S1 and S2, he la e being an adap ed and upscaled e sion o he
o me ). En i onmen ally, he h ee main impac d i e s o he a e -
SSbD scena ios a e he p oduc ion o HNO
3
(main mass low inpu ), o
Zn(NO
3
)
2
(S1) o zinc powde (S2), and o elec ici y. Checking he
single sco e, he educ ion achie ed in S1 and S2 wi h espec o BS was
o 52 and 67 %, espec i ely, which con i med he e icacy o he applied
SSbD measu es and, ul ima ely, o he scaled-up ci cula p oduc ion o
S2. This is also e lec ed in he economic assessmen , since he p o-
duc ion o 1 kg o Mn-doped ZnO nanopowde h ough S2 is oughly
ou imes cheape han ha conduc ed ia BS. Anyway, he main cos
d i e and ho spo in he wo edesigned scena ios was he labou
expense, accoun ing o mo e han 75 % o he o al cos inpu s. S-LCA
also suppo s he sui abili y o he SSbD app oaches, which led o a
d ama ic educ ion o he social oo p in o he comple e p oduc -
sys em: a ound 48 % om BS o S1, and abou 87 % om BS o S2.
This esponds o a mo e e icien use o he esou ces, which ansla es
in o mo e ou pu s o dis ibu e he isks ac oss. The unce ain y analysis
ca ied ou o he en i onmen al, economic and social e alua ion o
each scena io do no impac he in e p e a ion o esul s, and allowed o
pe o m MCDA. The MCDA ou come con i med ha he upscaled p o-
cess, S2, was he bes -pe o ming scena io om he sus ainabili y
iewpoin , wi h almos 100 % likelihood o being placed in he i s
posi ion o he anking among he h ee op ions, and S1 ‘winning’ he
sil e o he classi ica ion; he pe o med sensi i i y analysis demon-
s a ed ha his end is main ained ega dless o he weigh s assigned o
he en i onmen al, economic and social indica o s. Howe e , mo e
esea ch is needed o e ec i ely communica e in eg a ed esul s in a
clea and ac ionable way, ensu ing ha hey a e ul ima ely use ul o
in o med decision-making, wi hou he isk o o e looking ele an
impac s, and o ex end he applica ion o he p esen ed me hodologies o
o he indus ial sec o s. On he o he hand, impac s a ibu able o ZnO
NPs emissions, oge he wi h hei cha ac e isa ion ac o s, should be
conside ed in he analyses. Calcula ion o bo h is howe e no i ial and
ime-consuming, bu hey a e being in es iga ed in ou labo a o ies and
he esul s will be p esen ed in a u u e publica ion, also ela ed o he
‘Diagonal’p ojec . In addi ion, i would be in e es ing o conside an
expansion o he sys em bounda ies, o include he use and end-o -li e
phases, when mo e da a a e a ailable.
Al oge he , he indings o his wo k highligh he po en ial o
combining hyb id g een syn he ic me hods wi h s uc u ed e alua ion
amewo ks o suppo sa e y and holis ic sus ainabili y in indus ial
scena ios om he ea lies s ages o inno a ion. Scaling up p ocesses like
S2 o eal-wo ld se ings will help alida e hei echnical, socio-
economic and en i onmen al easibili y. Based on hese indings,
se e al ecommenda ions can be made: o s akeholde s in indus y, he
SSbD amewo k can suppo he adop ion o sus ainable p ocesses like
S1 and S2, aiming o educe en i onmen al impac s and p oduc ion
cos s, while p omo ing ci cula economy s a egies and social well-
being. Finally, policy-make s should conside de eloping s anda dised
guidelines o e alua ing economic and social dimensions wi hin he
SSbD amewo k and incen i ise he adop ion o ci cula p oduc ion
me hods.
CRediT au ho ship con ibu ion s a emen
Is ael Ca ei a-Ba al: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, W i ing –o ig-
inal d a , Visualiza ion, Valida ion, Supe ision, Me hodology, In es-
iga ion, Fo mal analysis, Da a cu a ion. Julie a Díez-He n´
andez:
W i ing – e iew &edi ing, W i ing –o iginal d a , Visualiza ion,
Valida ion, Me hodology, In es iga ion, Fo mal analysis, Da a cu a ion.
Elo i Igos: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, Valida ion, Supe ision,
Me hodology, In es iga ion, Concep ualiza ion. Michael Saidani:
W i ing – e iew &edi ing, W i ing –o iginal d a , Visualiza ion,
Valida ion, Me hodology, In es iga ion, Fo mal analysis, Da a cu a ion.
Tian an Ding: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, W i ing –o iginal d a ,
I. Ca ei a-Ba al e al. Sus ainable P oduc ion and Consump ion 55 (2025) 353–372
369
Visualiza ion, Valida ion, Me hodology, In es iga ion, Fo mal analysis,
Da a cu a ion. Tiago Ramos da Sil a: W i ing – e iew &edi ing,
W i ing –o iginal d a , Visualiza ion, Valida ion, Me hodology, In es-
iga ion, Fo mal analysis, Da a cu a ion. Helena Mon ei o: W i ing –
e iew &edi ing, W i ing –o iginal d a , Visualiza ion, Valida ion,
Me hodology, In es iga ion, Fo mal analysis, Da a cu a ion. And eas
S ingl: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, Valida ion, Me hodology, In es i-
ga ion. Pa icia M.A. Fa ias: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, Valida ion,
Me hodology, In es iga ion, Da a cu a ion. Ola o Ca dozo: W i ing –
e iew &edi ing, Valida ion, Me hodology, In es iga ion, Da a cu a-
ion. Jesús Ib´
a˜
nez: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, Valida ion, Me hodol-
ogy, In es iga ion, Fo mal analysis. Ana Ga cía-Mo al: W i ing –
e iew &edi ing, Valida ion, Me hodology, In es iga ion, Fo mal
analysis. Juan An onio Tamayo-Ramos: P ojec adminis a ion,
Funding acquisi ion. Ca los Rumbo: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, Vali-
da ion, Supe ision, P ojec adminis a ion, Funding acquisi ion. Rocío
Ba os: W i ing – e iew &edi ing, Valida ion, Supe ision, P ojec
adminis a ion, Concep ualiza ion. Sonia Ma el-Ma ín: W i ing –
e iew &edi ing, W i ing –o iginal d a , Valida ion, Supe ision,
P ojec adminis a ion, Me hodology, In es iga ion, Funding acquisi-
ion, Concep ualiza ion.
Funding
This esea ch was unded by he Eu opean Resea ch Council (ERC)
unde he Eu opean Union’s Ho izon 2020 esea ch and inno a ion
p og amme (G an Ag eemen No. 953152) in he con ex o he ‘Di-
agonal’p ojec .
Decla a ion o compe ing in e es
The au ho s decla e ha hey ha e no known compe ing inancial
in e es s o pe sonal ela ionships ha could ha e appea ed o in luence
he wo k epo ed in his pape .
Acknowledgemen s
Julie a Díez-He n´
andez hanks he Spanish Minis y o Uni e si ies
o he p e-doc o al con ac (Uni e si y Teache s’T aining P o-
g amme, e . FPU/00605-2021). The au ho s hank Daniel Co ´
es-
Ba is a o designing he g aphical abs ac and some o he igu es
shown in he a icle.
Appendix A. Supplemen a y da a
Supplemen a y da a o his a icle can be ound online a h ps://doi.
o g/10.1016/j.spc.2025.03.003.
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