This volume models a 21st century supply chain: one that uses technology that leads to the power of the individual, not larger organizations. Author Jack Buffington explains how in the near future, each of us will be a prosumer in a peer-based economy of micro-level manufacturing with little waste and infinite customization. There are two primary schools of thought in regard to the world economy of the future; from one side is a belief that economic growth can continue in perpetuity, driven upon a cheap and plentiful energy supply. From the other point of view is a perspective that economic growth will soon end has due to a lack of cheap and plentiful oil, too much financial debt, and a damaged environment that cannot withstand more growth. Frictionless Markets proposes a third way: a 21st century model based upon an economic calculus that does assume that fossil fuels are rapidly depleting and the environment is being damaged, but does not assume that this means an end to growth, but rather, a beginning of opportunities. Frictionless Markets tells the story of why and how frictionless markets will exist by the year 2030.

This book states the harsh truth: that despite best intentions, our current environmental practices are doing more harm than good, and that the solution lies in creating supply chains of the future that design, produce, consume, and reuse materials in a manner that is balanced economically and environmentally. One billion beverage containers are used on a daily basis in the United States, with at least 600 million of them ending up in landfills. Even the 400 million that are recycled—at a great cost—are not accomplishing the task of helping the environment. This economic and environmental catastrophe cannot be solved by recycling programs. From his experience as a leader in the American consumer beverage industry and a researcher in Sweden, author Jack Buffington has developed a transformational solution that seeks to not just mitigate the environmental damage but jumpstart the economy while actually achieving zero waste. The Recycling Myth tells the story of how our current environmental practices are unintentionally doing more harm than good and how we need to create a radically different supply chain of the future that must, as best as possible, copy the natural system of growth, decay, and regrowth, and discontinue a disastrous pattern of material design and use. Backed by irrefutable evidence, the book destroys our comfortable notions of the recycling status quo; explains why recycling will never work in the United States, despite decades of attempts; and introduces a new system that will actually work—without asking consumers to consume less.

Corrugated package designers are focused on balancing the need for product protection, material use efficiency and the packaging material's impact on the environment in the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual sustainable packaging model that integrates the variables of technical design, supply chain systems and environmental factors and then use the model to identify to improve upon corrugated container design. A model was developed, from the extant literature, and a case study was performed on a corrugated container. This is believed to be a unique integrated model of most relevant agents related to the design and implementation of a corrugated box through a supply chain from design to potential post-consumer reuse. From this study, we found opportunities to improve the environmental design of the corrugated container through four ex ante design stages, and two ex post facto supply chain stages. Further, research can evaluate and refine this model via a 'live supply chain' for use in guiding corrugated box material selection design and reuse/recycling. Integration of the design criterion for a unit load in the supply chain creates opportunity to observe the packaging system holistically. Waste in the manufacturing process and CO<inf>2</inf> emissions are traced along the material flow until the end of its useful life to provide an overall picture of the packaging system.

The concept of a voluntaiy deposit system is developed and modeled in this paper in comparison to the current state of a voluntary non-deposit (R 1) and mandatory refund-deposit (R2) hybrid system in the U.S. The R3 model is found to be optimal in comparison through an increase in the recycling rate, a reduction in operating costs, and the creation of a larger surplus to be used to pay for an IT-based tracking system and research grants to enable future innovations in the collection and processing of recyclables. In the R3 model, consumers are only burdened if they choose to not recycle, or they wish to have the convenience of curbside pick-up. Copyright

The concept of a voluntary deposit system is developed and modeled in this paper in comparison to the current state of a voluntary non-deposit (R1) and mandatory refund-deposit (R2) hybrid system in the U.S. The R3 model is found to be optimal in comparison through an increase in the recycling rate, a reduction in operating costs, and the creation of a larger surplus to be used to pay for an IT-based tracking system and research grants to enable future innovations in the collection and processing of recyclables. In the R3 model, consumers are only burdened if they choose to not recycle, or they wish to have the convenience of curbside pick-up.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a supply chain material flow analysis (MFA) for the U.S. aluminum can market, consistent with studies conducted for the overall worldwide aluminum industry. A technical definition of the use of alloys 5182 and 3104 is conducted by metallurgists for use in the "aluminum can" MFA. Four propositions are created: technical, economic, and supply chain factors are as important to secondary aluminum recycling in an aluminum can as higher recycling rates (P-1); the development of a unialloy aluminum can will increase reuse rates, but recycling rates must increase for this to happen (P-2); a closed-loop aluminum can supply chain is not able to be fully realized in today's environment but is very useful for understanding improvement through both supply and demand (P-3); and UBC supply can improve through a "voluntary deposit-refund system" approach (P-4).

The purpose of this research is to analyze why recycled content is low (33-50%) in the aluminum can in the United States when it is technically possible to have a product that is made from 100% recycled material. A comprehensive literature review is conducted, followed by identification of five propositions determined with respect to the research problem. With respect to aluminum can recycling (and its research), there is a greater focus on the role of the consumer than the producer in the aluminum can supply chain system, which may impact on the role of innovation in addressing the problem. The upstream primary aluminum supply chain is vertically integrated and efficient within itself, but not integrated with the downstream secondary aluminum can market. Given the importance of the secondary aluminum market in the United States, there are significant recycling/efficiency/sustainability opportunities to address. As opposed to a dominant focus on consumers and their recycling habits, this study focuses on the aggregate aluminum can supply chain to apply innovation to the solution.