IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i2p1137-d1028043.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Organisational-Life Cycle Assessment Approach for Internet of Things Technologies Implementation in a Human Milk Bank

Author

Listed:
  • Tamíris Pacheco da Costa

    (School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Agriculture Building, UCD Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • James Gillespie

    (School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Magee Campus, Ulster University, Northland Road, Londonderry BT48 7JL, UK)

  • Katarzyna Pelc

    (Bedfordshire Business School, University of Bedfordshire, Putteridge Bury, R. 220, Hitchin Road, Luton LU2 8LE, UK)

  • Natalie Shenker

    (Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS, UK
    Human Milk Foundation, Rothamsted Institute, Daniel Hall Building, Harpenden AL5 2JQ, UK)

  • Gillian Weaver

    (Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS, UK
    Human Milk Foundation, Rothamsted Institute, Daniel Hall Building, Harpenden AL5 2JQ, UK)

  • Ramakrishnan Ramanathan

    (Essex Business School, University of Essex, Southend Campus, Elmer Approach, Southend-on-Sea, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK)

  • Fionnuala Murphy

    (School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Agriculture Building, UCD Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

Human milk banks (HMB) are responsible for screening and recruiting milk donors with surplus milk to their own infant’s needs, followed by transporting, heat-treating (pasteurising) and microbiologically confirming the donor human milk (DHM) is safe to issue to vulnerable infants. Maintaining the safety and quality of DHM are vital requirements in HMB operations. DHM must be maintained in ideal temperature conditions throughout the whole period—from expression until delivery. In this regard, monitoring technologies (e.g., sensors, Big Data and the Internet of Things) have become a viable solution to avoid food loss, allowing prompt corrective action. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the trade-offs between optimising DHM transportation and the environmental impact of implementing such technologies. The environmental performance was carried out through an Organisational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA). The electricity consumed during milk storage is the main driver for the environmental impacts in this organisation, responsible for up to 82% of the impacts in ionising radiation. The transportation stage and the treatment of discarded DHM were also relevant for ozone formation and marine eutrophication, respectively. Considering the strategy to integrate monitoring technologies to control the temperature conditions during transportation and the reduction of milk discarded by 3%, an environmental impact reduction can be also observed. In some categories, such as global warming, it could avoid around 863 kg of CO 2 -eq per year. The sensitivity analysis showed that the impacts of the HMB depend highly on the transport distance. In addition, changing the transportation mode from motorcycles to drones or electric vehicles can affect the environmental performance of this organisation. Therefore, human milk transport logistics must be studied in a multidisciplinary way to encompass all possible impacts of these strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Tamíris Pacheco da Costa & James Gillespie & Katarzyna Pelc & Natalie Shenker & Gillian Weaver & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan & Fionnuala Murphy, 2023. "An Organisational-Life Cycle Assessment Approach for Internet of Things Technologies Implementation in a Human Milk Bank," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1137-:d:1028043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1137/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1137/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fritz Balkau & Alberto Bezama & Noemie Leroy-Parmentier & Guido Sonnemann, 2021. "A Review on the Use of Life Cycle Methodologies and Tools in Sustainable Regional Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-41, September.
    2. Ching-Hsu Huang & Shih-Min Liu & Nai-Yun Hsu, 2020. "Understanding Global Food Surplus and Food Waste to Tackle Economic and Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Michela Rimano & Alberto Simboli & Raffaella Taddeo & Michele Del Grosso & Andrea Raggi, 2021. "The Environmental Impact of Organizations: A Pilot Test from the Packaging Industry Based on Organizational Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Hendrik Marx & Silvia Forin & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2020. "Organizational Life Cycle Assessment of a Service Providing SME for Renewable Energy Projects (PV and Wind) in the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Christopher L. Weber & Jonathan G. Koomey & H. Scott Matthews, 2010. "The Energy and Climate Change Implications of Different Music Delivery Methods," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 14(5), pages 754-769, October.
    6. Mustafa Ergin Şahin & Frede Blaabjerg & Ariya Sangwongwanich, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review on Supercapacitor Applications and Developments," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-26, January.
    7. Wagner, Marcus, 2008. "Empirical influence of environmental management on innovation: Evidence from Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 392-402, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zahra Amiri & Arash Heidari & Mehdi Darbandi & Yalda Yazdani & Nima Jafari Navimipour & Mansour Esmaeilpour & Farshid Sheykhi & Mehmet Unal, 2023. "The Personal Health Applications of Machine Learning Techniques in the Internet of Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-41, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Axenbeck, Janna & Niebel, Thomas, 2021. "Climate Protection Potentials of Digitalized Production Processes: Microeconometric Evidence," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238007, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Ghosh, Sourav & Yadav, Sarita & Devi, Ambika & Thomas, Tiju, 2022. "Techno-economic understanding of Indian energy-storage market: A perspective on green materials-based supercapacitor technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Patricia Laurens & Christian Le Bas & Stéphane Lhuillery & Antoine Schoen, 2017. "The determinants of cleaner energy innovations of the world’s largest firms: the impact of firm learning and knowledge capital," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 311-333, May.
    5. Terziovski, Milé & Guerrero, Jose-Luis, 2014. "ISO 9000 quality system certification and its impact on product and process innovation performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 197-207.
    6. António Pedro Vieira & Gregor Radonjič, 2020. "Disclosure of eco‐innovation activities in European large companies' sustainability reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2240-2253, September.
    7. Dewick, Paul & Maytorena-Sanchez, Eunice & Winch, Graham, 2019. "Regulation and regenerative eco-innovation: the case of extracted materials in the UK," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 38-51.
    8. Andreas Ziegler, 2008. "Disentangling Specific Subsets of Innovations : A Micro-Econometric Analysis of their Determinants," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 08/100, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    9. Abbas, Sadia & Adapa, Sujana & Sheridan, Alison & Azeem, Muhammad Masood, 2022. "Informal competition and firm level innovation in South Asia: The moderating role of innovation time off and R&D intensity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    10. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation: A patent analysis of energy-efficient technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 799-819.
    11. Fabio Montobbio & Ilaria Solito, 2018. "Does the Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme Foster Innovation in European Firms?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 82-99, January.
    12. Markus Hang & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Andreas Rathgeber & Stefan Stöckl, 2018. "Economic Development Matters: A Meta‐Regression Analysis on the Relation between Environmental Management and Financial Performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(4), pages 720-744, August.
    13. Enrique Acebo & José‐Ángel Miguel‐Dávila & Mariano Nieto, 2021. "External stakeholder engagement: Complementary and substitutive effects on firms' eco‐innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2671-2687, July.
    14. Gilles Grolleau & Naoufel Mzoughi & Sanja Pekovic, 2015. "Environmental management practices: good or bad news for innovations delivering environmental benefits? The moderating effect of market characteristics," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 339-359, June.
    15. Carlo Corradini, 2019. "Location determinants of green technological entry: evidence from European regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 845-858, April.
    16. del Río González, Pablo, 2009. "The empirical analysis of the determinants for environmental technological change: A research agenda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 861-878, January.
    17. Wolfgang Gerstlberger & Mette Præst Knudsen & Ian Stampe, 2014. "Sustainable Development Strategies for Product Innovation and Energy Efficiency," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 131-144, February.
    18. Apergis, Nicholas & Eleftheriou, Sofia & Payne, James E., 2013. "The relationship between international financial reporting standards, carbon emissions, and R&D expenditures: Evidence from European manufacturing firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 57-66.
    19. Smits, Armand & Drabe, Viktoria & Herstatt, Cornelius, 2016. "Standard implementation trajectories for sustainable product design: A configurational approach," Working Papers 95, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Technology and Innovation Management.
    20. Alessio Ilari & Sara Fabrizi & Ester Foppa Pedretti, 2022. "European Hophornbeam Biomass for Energy Application: Influence of Different Production Processes and Heating Devices on Environmental Sustainability," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1137-:d:1028043. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.