Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle

The coordinated relationship between the environment, resources and economy is necessary for global sustainable development. As the basis of many countries’ economies, the steel industry has received much attention. Considering the three typical stages in the steel life cycle of ore mining, crude st...

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Autores principales:	Yanxin Liu, Huajiao Li, Haizhong An, Jianhe Guan, Jianglan Shi, Xiaodan Han
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Steel life cycle Global trade routes Sustainable development Environment-resource-economy relationship Coupling analysis Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/30f879fea2604849bcc11cf26f9d3180
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:30f879fea2604849bcc11cf26f9d31802021-12-01T04:42:04ZAre the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107306https://doaj.org/article/30f879fea2604849bcc11cf26f9d31802021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20312486https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XThe coordinated relationship between the environment, resources and economy is necessary for global sustainable development. As the basis of many countries’ economies, the steel industry has received much attention. Considering the three typical stages in the steel life cycle of ore mining, crude steel production and scrap recycling, this study aims to identify the current unbalanced relationship between environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits. To that end, life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to analyze 18 trade routes involving 8 major steel trading countries, a sustainability evaluation model is constructed containing three indicators at different levels, and the coupling coordinated degree in the steel trade routes under four scenarios is simulated and discussed. The results show that, first, the category of ecotoxicity has the greatest impact on the environment during the whole steel life cycle. Second, inequalities in trade routes are common. The Australia-Russia-US, Australia-Russia-UK, and Brazil-China-Japan routes have obvious disadvantages in terms of the resource-environment, economy-resource, and environment-economy relationships, respectively, for reasons related to yield and production technology. Third, the Australia-Russia-US route has the highest coupling coordinated degree, while the Brazil-Russia-Japan route has the lowest, thereby representing the most significant imbalanced relationship. When the development of the environment-resource relationship is improved, the imbalance of most trade routes improves significantly. When development of the economy-environment relationship increases, the improvement in coordination is mainly related to the trade routes associated with Brazil and China. With the development of the economy-resource relationship, trade routes, including those involving Russia and UK, improve significantly. Based on the above findings, this paper proposes some policy recommendations to address the imbalances of trade routes in terms of environmental impact, evaluation indicators at various levels, and coupling coordination. These suggestions can help countries and related enterprises promote the circular economy and promote the sustainable development of the steel industry chain.Yanxin LiuHuajiao LiHaizhong AnJianhe GuanJianglan ShiXiaodan HanElsevierarticleSteel life cycleGlobal trade routesSustainable developmentEnvironment-resource-economy relationshipCoupling analysisEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 122, Iss , Pp 107306- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Steel life cycle Global trade routes Sustainable development Environment-resource-economy relationship Coupling analysis Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Steel life cycle Global trade routes Sustainable development Environment-resource-economy relationship Coupling analysis Ecology QH540-549.5 Yanxin Liu Huajiao Li Haizhong An Jianhe Guan Jianglan Shi Xiaodan Han Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
description	The coordinated relationship between the environment, resources and economy is necessary for global sustainable development. As the basis of many countries’ economies, the steel industry has received much attention. Considering the three typical stages in the steel life cycle of ore mining, crude steel production and scrap recycling, this study aims to identify the current unbalanced relationship between environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits. To that end, life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to analyze 18 trade routes involving 8 major steel trading countries, a sustainability evaluation model is constructed containing three indicators at different levels, and the coupling coordinated degree in the steel trade routes under four scenarios is simulated and discussed. The results show that, first, the category of ecotoxicity has the greatest impact on the environment during the whole steel life cycle. Second, inequalities in trade routes are common. The Australia-Russia-US, Australia-Russia-UK, and Brazil-China-Japan routes have obvious disadvantages in terms of the resource-environment, economy-resource, and environment-economy relationships, respectively, for reasons related to yield and production technology. Third, the Australia-Russia-US route has the highest coupling coordinated degree, while the Brazil-Russia-Japan route has the lowest, thereby representing the most significant imbalanced relationship. When the development of the environment-resource relationship is improved, the imbalance of most trade routes improves significantly. When development of the economy-environment relationship increases, the improvement in coordination is mainly related to the trade routes associated with Brazil and China. With the development of the economy-resource relationship, trade routes, including those involving Russia and UK, improve significantly. Based on the above findings, this paper proposes some policy recommendations to address the imbalances of trade routes in terms of environmental impact, evaluation indicators at various levels, and coupling coordination. These suggestions can help countries and related enterprises promote the circular economy and promote the sustainable development of the steel industry chain.
format	article
author	Yanxin Liu Huajiao Li Haizhong An Jianhe Guan Jianglan Shi Xiaodan Han
author_facet	Yanxin Liu Huajiao Li Haizhong An Jianhe Guan Jianglan Shi Xiaodan Han
author_sort	Yanxin Liu
title	Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
title_short	Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
title_full	Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
title_fullStr	Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
title_full_unstemmed	Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
title_sort	are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/30f879fea2604849bcc11cf26f9d3180
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Are the environmental impacts, resource flows and economic benefits proportional? Analysis of key global trade routes based on the steel life cycle

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