Technical efficiency is crucial for the advancement and growth of contemporary enterprises and is a major area of policy concern in many countries. Numerous pieces of evidence suggest that Ethiopia's ...industries, particularly those depend on wood were not operating as efficient as they should be. As a result, the country is not benefiting as much from the sector as it ought to, and it is now compelled to import wooden products at a higher cost in foreign exchange. Therefore, to examine the technical efficiency of the industries; four purposively selected main cities such as Addis Ababa, Hawassa, Jima and Bahir Dar were selected. From these cities, information was collected, analyzed, and the results were obtained. The result shows that the technical efficiency of Ethiopia's wood industries is lower than expected. Out of a total of 170, about 149 (87.6 %) of the furniture workshops are technically inefficient. This is because workers working in the wood industries are less educated. In addition to this lack of on-the-job training, lack of modern machineries and insufficient skills to use them properly, inconvenient production and sales area, shortage and quality of raw materials, insufficient capital, lack of market connection, have been shown to be the reasons. Therefore, to improve the technical efficiency of the industries, it is better to have continuous vocational training, loan support so that they can get and use better machines, as well as convenient manufacturing, product display and sales, improving and facilitating market linkages.
Asymmetric timber trade between least-developed countries with large forest resources but backward processing industries and emerging economies has led to an uneven distribution of value in ...international timber commodity chains. Selling their raw timber with no domestic value added contributes little to socio-economic development and is associated with high rates of deforestation. The Lao PDR has served as a raw timber frontier for advanced timber industries in neighboring countries, leading to forest loss and related environmental problems. In response, since 2015, the Lao government has adopted drastic policy measures to end forest degradation and upgrade its timber industry (e.g., log export ban). Using teak as an example, our study provides empirical ex-post evidence on the effectiveness of state-imposed timber industry upgrading policies. The study relies on expert interviews with key policy actors at national and local levels, as well as an enterprise survey and cluster analysis conducted in Xayyabouly province. These drastic policies had far-reaching implications for the structure of the timber industry and the configuration of the timber value chain and rural development.
The purpose of this research is to identify the determinants of the productivity of the wood industry for the economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APECF) in the period ...1990-2019. As a dependent variable, a sustainable productivity index is created to measure this productivity. Using the econometric method of panel data, the impact of employment, capital stock, and innovation on the sustainable productivity of the wood manufacturing industry is found. The variable capital stock (SC) is estimated using the Perpetual Inventory Method (PIM) and incorporating an adjustment factor for the absence of the first observation. The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between the sustainable productivity index and the variables employment, innovation, and capital stock. The study's findings demonstrate that productivity exists when there is a balance in the use of resources or public goods. The contribution that is made to the literature is about authentic productivity that promotes the improvement of the quality of life of the population as well as the responsible use of finite resources. This research examines the practical implications of sustainable forest resource utilization, specifically focusing on sustainable productivity.
This article presents the rationale for modelling the process of internal recapture of wood fibre from wastewater in fibreboard production using conventional refining methods and a new refiner disc ...design. New experimental studies to obtain mathematical dependencies for confirming the possibility of reusing cellulosic fines in comparing conventional and new refiner discs for fibreboard production are presented. Models reflecting the internal reuse of cellulosic fines from wastewater were developed. In this article, for comparative assessment of the efficiency of the proposed technologies, an environmental and economic assessment of cellulosic fines in modelling the process of its obtainment in fibreboard production was performed.
This article presents a sustainable solution to repurpose paper/wood industry waste as a geotechnical construction material. A novel lignosulphonate (LS)-based composite admixture (CA) was used in ...this study to cope with construction problems pertaining to expansive soils. Surface water infiltration in terms of rainfall and surface water irrigation are the prime factors that cause volumetric change behavior and a drastic reduction in shear strength due to loss in suction that eventually causes failure in expansive soils. Such failures are comprised of complex hydromechanical phenomena and their remediation requires special attention. In this context, this study for the first time deals with the use of LS-based CA as a remedy to such failures in expansive soils considering the hydromechanical properties. To better understand the hydraulic response, the specially designed soil-column model tests (SCMTs) were conducted. Besides, different geotechnical experiments and microstructural analyses were carried out to analyze the hydromechanical behavior of CA treatment against the varying degree of saturation (Sr). The results showed that LS-based CA treatment increases the water holding capacity over a suction range of 78.4 kPa and air entry value (AEV) by 33%. Also, the SCMT showed that the wetting-front depth (WFD) at full saturation in CA treated expansive soil was 4–10% quicker than untreated expansive soil. In addition, for the increase in Sr from optimum to 100%, the decrease in cohesion (c) value for untreated and treated soil was found to be 88% and 39.8%, and the increase in compressibility was 37% and 17%, respectively, highlighting better resistance against Sr. Whereas, the swelling potential was completely eradicated with a significant reduction in volumetric shrinkage by 43% compared to untreated soil. The microstructural analyses showed the development of apparent aggregation with the Sr in untreated expansive soil, whereas the CA treatment-induced better structure with bigger size particles with disrupted inter and intra assemblage pore spaces. The results showed that LS-based CA manifests substantial hydromechanical stability against variation in Sr. Overall, this study provides the scientific basis to the practitioners for the pragmatic use of LS-based CA in treating expansive soil problems.
•Paper/wood industry waste is reused for hydromechanical stability of expansive soil•Physical soil column model tests are designed and conducted to determine suction•Suction, strength, compressibility and volume change behavior performance w.r.t. Sr•Lignosulphonate based-CA gives water holding capacity and hydromechanical stability•Lignosulphonate based-CA is found to be a comprehensive expansive soil stabilizer
Organic waste management in environmentally sustainable way is important not only to reduce the negative impacts on ecosystems but also valorizing the waste resources. Herein we evaluated the ...potential of wood ash (WA) and paper sludge (PS) wastes from a pulp and paper mill as potting media and their effects on the physicochemical properties of podzolic soil.
WA, PS and biochar (BC) was mixed in different combinations with a sandy loam podzolic soil. Potting media treatments included: T1–soil (negative control); T2–PromixTM (positive control); T3–50%soil+50%WA; T4–75%soil+25%WA; T5–50%soil+50%PS; T6–75%soil+25%PS; T7–75%soil+25%BC; T8–25%soil+50%WA+25%BC; T9–50%soil+25%WA+25%BC; T10–25%soil+50%PS+25%BC; T11–50%soil+25%PS+25%BC, T12– 25%soil+25%WA+25%PS+25%BC and replicated three times.
Potting media treatments expressed significant (p < 0.00) effects on pH, bulk density, total porosity, field capacity, plant available water (PAW) and water retention curves. Potting media amended with WA showed high pH range (8–12) while PS amendments exhibited pH in range where most plant nutrients are available (6.5–7.5). Results depicted significantly lower bulk density, and increased total porosity and water holding capacity of potting media amended with WA and PS. BC addition further enhanced the water retention properties compared to combinations without BC. T6, T10 and T11 produced higher amounts of PAW with desired pH compared to T1 and T2.
WA, PS and BC showed high potential for developing podzolic soil-based potting media, but their effects on plant growth and elemental uptake need to be investigated.
•Valorization of organic waste is important to improve environmental sustainability through recycling of valuable waste.•Herein we investigated the potential applications of wood ash and paper sludge as a potting media for horticultural crops.•Wood ash and paper sludge improved the physicochemical properties of podzolic soil.•Paper sludge was more effective than wood ash in improving soil hydrological properties for better plant growth.•Furthermore, the incorporation of biochar in the potting media enhanced water holding capacity.
