Environmental corporate social responsibility practices and firm innovation: Complementarities and empirical evidence from Spanish firms

This study examines the complementarity effect of combining different types of environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) practices on firm innovation. We apply the complementarity approach to test whether the adoption of different ECSR practices (i.e. practices for fewer materials per unit produced [materials], less energy per unit produced [energy], or decreasing environmental impact [impact]) generates super-additive effects on firms' innovation, measured by innovations type: adoption, new-to-the-market, and new-to-the-firm innovation. We use data from the Spanish Community Innovation Survey for the period 2009-2014. The results show that the best combination of ECSR practices depends on the innovation type. For innovation adoption, all possible combinations of the three practices produce super-additive effects; however, the complementarity patterns differ for new-to-the-market and new-to-the-firm innovations. For new-to-the-market innovation, energy practices appear to be a key factor in fostering innovation when combined with materials or impact practices. For new-to-the-firm innovation, the combination of these three ECSR practices shows complementarity effects. These findings provide useful insights for the design of corporate social responsibility strategies.

Impact of pollution prevention practices and green environmental practices on sustainable performance: Empirical evidence from Chinese SMEs

Adequate protection of the environment is one of the hot spots of concern for all sectors of society due to severe environmental pollution. The solution to this issue is friendly management of the environment. With the rapid growth of Chinese Manufacturing SMEs for economic development, environmental pollution and abuse of resources are arising. To resolve these issues, Chinese manufacturing SMEs are accelerating the implementation of green innovation in their industries. However, it is a complex task that involves enterprise, government, and social considerations. Therefore, it is essential to identify the green drivers for this implementation. With a focus on China's current situation from previous research and views from experts, this study aims to investigate how Chinese Manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are responding to resource misuse and environmental pollution by implementing green innovation, emphasising the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in improving environmental performance. This study primarily looks into the factors that influence the adoption of green innovations by analysing the growth paths of Chinese SMEs operating in highly polluting industries over a longer time frame than five years. Artificial Intelligence is a valuable tool for solving the issues of ecological degradation. A quantitative method has been implemented for the Chinese companies' samples from the deeply polluting industries for more than five years. The findings of this paper advise that the average board size, the governing board meetings, and organizational performance are positively connected with the Chinese firms' environmental process. Board independence and diversity of gender have irrelevant associations with ecological performance. A convenient threshold regression model has been used to accumulate the respondents' data. It also reveals that larger board sizes and more frequent governing board meetings are positively associated with improved environmental performance among these firms. The findings state the critical implications for the firm executives, policymakers, environmental activists, and regulators. This result supports the insight drained from the resource dependence, stakeholder, firm agency, and legitimacy theories.

Evaluating the effects of environmental management practices on environmental and financial performance of firms in Malaysia: the mediating role of ESG disclosure

The concepts of environmental and business sustainability are well-established in the business lexicon of progressive firms. However, firms are yet to examine the effects of environmental management practices (EMPs) on environmental performance (EP) and financial performance (FP) by connecting the missing linkage of environment, social, and governance disclosure (ESGD). This study analyses the impact of EMPs on EP and FP and offers empirical evidence of whether ESGD mediates the relationship between EP and FP of firms in Malaysia. The data from 141 listed firms on Bursa Malaysia was extracted between 2009-2020. The data was analyzed using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique. The findings reflect that EMPs have a significant positive effect on EP and all five proxies of EP have a significant positive effect on ESGD (except 'S') and FP. Also, ESGD together with its three proxies mediates the relationship between EP and FP. The findings of this research offer an empirical rationale for regulators and policymakers of industrial firms to accelerate their EMPs and improve ESGD mechanisms for better environmental and financial outcomes.

Vinasse odyssey: sugarcane vinasse remediation and laccase production by Trametes sp. immobilized in polyurethane foam

Vinasse is a high pollutant liquid residue from bioethanol production. Due to its toxicity, most vinasse is used not disposed of in water bodies but employed for the fertigation of sugarcane crops, potentially leading to soil salinization or heavy metal deposition. The anaerobic digestion of vinasse for energy production is the main alternative to fertigation, but the process cannot eliminate colored compounds such as melanoidins, caramels, or phenolic compounds. The treatment of raw vinasse with white-rot fungi could remove colored and persistent toxic compounds, but is generally considered cost-ineffective. We report the treatment of vinasse by an autochthonous Trametes sp. strain immobilized in polyurethane foam and the concomitant production of high titers of laccase, a high value-added product that could improve the viability of the process. The reuse of the immobilized biomass and the discoloration of raw vinasse, the concentration of phenolic compounds, BOD and COD, and the phytotoxicity of the treated vinasse were measured to assess the viability of the process and the potential use of treated vinasse in fertigation or as a complementary treatment to anaerobic digestion. Under optimal conditions (vinasse 0.25X, 30 °C, 21 days incubation, 2% glucose added in the implantation stage), immobilized Trametes sp. causes a decrease of 75% in vinasse color and total phenolic compounds, reaching 1082 U L^-1 of laccase. The fungi could be used to treat 0.50X vinasse (BOD 44,400 mg O₂ L^-1), causing a 26% decolorization and a 30% removal of phenolic compounds after 21 days of treatment with maximum laccase titers of 112 U L^-1, while reducing COD and BOD from 103,290 to 42,500 mg O₂ L^-1 (59%) and from 44,440 to 21,230 mg O₂ L^-1 (52%), respectively. The re-utilization of immobilized biomass to treat 0.50X vinasse proved to be successful, leading to the production of 361 U L^-1 of laccase with 77% decolorization, 61% degradation of phenolic compounds, and the reduction of COD and BOD by 75% and 80%, respectively. Trametes sp. also reduced vinasse phytotoxicity to Lactuca sativa seedlings. The obtained results show that the aerobic treatment of vinasse by immobilized Trametes sp. is an interesting technology that could be employed as a sole treatment for the bioremediation of vinasse, with the concomitant the production of laccase. Alternatively, the methodology could be used in combination with anaerobic digestion to achieve greater decolorization and reduction of phenolic compounds, melanoidins, and organic load.

Determinants and implications of environmental practices for waste management and the minimization in the construction industry: a case study of Pakistan

The construction projects and activities generate waste materials, which impose negative impacts on the environment and contribute towards environmental degradation. In this regard, the implementation of environmental practices (EPs) can play a vital role in reducing the environmental risks associated with waste materials from construction projects. Based on this hypothesis, the present survey study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of different EPs in reducing environmental risks associated with waste materials from construction firms (n = 159) operating in Pakistan. Organizational and government support, regulatory pressure, and economic and environmental performance were among the main determinants of EPs studied in the present study. The partial least squares technique was used for the data collection, assessment, and prediction of the results based on the hypothesis testing for a range of determinants. Compose reliability analysis of determinants showed that all items gave a value of 0.7, which is a clear indication of the reliability of each determinant in the formation of the hypothesis. From all eight hypotheses, H₁ (0.475), H₄ (0.217), H₆ (0.114), H₇ (0.210), and H₈ (0.149) hypotheses with size effect in parentheses were acceptable due to their positive construction with EPs, while H₂, H₃, and H₅ hypothesis did not show the significant effect with size effect values lower than 0.1. The study demonstrated that current environmental regulations and governing bodies in Pakistan are not sufficiently effective and strict to implement environmental regulations. In this regard, regulatory pressure is necessary to promote EPs along with increasing stakeholders' awareness. Overall, the implementation of EPs not only prepares construction firms to deal with the pressure exerted by regulations and customers but also enhances the environmental and economic performance of construction firms.

Environment Practices Mediating the Environmental Compliance and firm Performance: An Institutional Theory Perspective from Emerging Economies

Coercive pressure has forced firms to take up environmental measures in the last two decades in emerging economies. Under normative pressure, large firms with farsightedness take up the environmental practices as industry leaders. In a little mature emerging economy, such as India, where triple bottom line awareness is growing, the government facilitates the firms to operate in an environment-friendly ecosystem. We investigate how do environmental compliance and environmental practices influence the overall firm performance? The performance was measured in terms of financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth performance. A survey instrument was designed using well-established scales and administered to the middle to top-level corporate management executives to gather 240 data from the Indian firms. A rigorous statistical validity, diagnostics, and SEM were used to test the hypotheses. The environmental practices showed a full mediation effect on the effect of environmental compliance on performance. The examination of mediation relationships in an environmental context is limited in the reported literature. This paper is among the initial works that deal with complicated mediation relationships drawn from institutional theory propositions. The study established and argued that environmental practices' ecosystem would turn firms towards voluntary environmental compliance and eventually enjoy the long-term performance.

Factors affecting environmental practice adoption at small European airports: An investigation

The majority of the world's 3759 commercial airports handle under 5 million passengers a year and these small airports rarely employ practices to address their environmental externalities. The aim of this research is to investigate the range of environmental practices (EPs) that are employed at small European airports and identify the factors which affect their adoption. The findings of an online survey of 413 small airports in the European Common Aviation Area reveal that the EPs most commonly adopted concern waste management and noise reduction. Privately owned airports were generally more engaged with EPs than publicly owned ones. Consumer pressure, regulatory intervention, and airport size positively affected the adoption of environmental practices whereas complexity, perceived relative advantage and human resource constraints acted as barriers to adoption. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy and practice to support EP engagement and reduce the environmental impact of small airport operations worldwide.