Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal

Establishing sustainability policies and business strategies involves mapping environmental, economic, and social factors in an integrative way. In the academic literature, environmentally extended input-output tables have been employed to analyse the relationship between economic flows and their im...

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Main Authors: Jabier Retegi, Dorleta Ibarra, Juan Ignacio Igartua
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2024.2448010
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author Jabier Retegi
Dorleta Ibarra
Juan Ignacio Igartua
author_facet Jabier Retegi
Dorleta Ibarra
Juan Ignacio Igartua
author_sort Jabier Retegi
collection DOAJ
description Establishing sustainability policies and business strategies involves mapping environmental, economic, and social factors in an integrative way. In the academic literature, environmentally extended input-output tables have been employed to analyse the relationship between economic flows and their impacts on sustainability. These methodologies require advanced mathematical expertise and do not easily provide a graphical representation to facilitate their interpretation. To fill this gap, this paper develops a unique approach using Power Query that integrates economic, environmental, and employment data to create value chain maps. It also provides examples of the insights gained by applying the method to 12 European countries. The resulting 240 industrial value chain maps represent 94.41% of the industrial emissions in the surveyed countries. This novel and comprehensive methodology for mapping and characterising industrial sustainability in European industrial value chains (including Scope 3 emissions) provides valuable knowledge for researchers, business representatives, and policymakers to design effective sustainable strategies.
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publisher Taylor & Francis Group
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series Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal
spelling doaj-art-0f491457df3a45bd99ac2262d0629d5d2025-01-02T06:46:34ZengTaylor & Francis GroupProduction and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal2169-32772025-12-0113110.1080/21693277.2024.2448010Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposalJabier Retegi0Dorleta Ibarra1Juan Ignacio Igartua2Mechanical and Industrial Production Department, Mondragon University, Mondragon, SpainMechanical and Industrial Production Department, Mondragon University, Mondragon, SpainMechanical and Industrial Production Department, Mondragon University, Mondragon, SpainEstablishing sustainability policies and business strategies involves mapping environmental, economic, and social factors in an integrative way. In the academic literature, environmentally extended input-output tables have been employed to analyse the relationship between economic flows and their impacts on sustainability. These methodologies require advanced mathematical expertise and do not easily provide a graphical representation to facilitate their interpretation. To fill this gap, this paper develops a unique approach using Power Query that integrates economic, environmental, and employment data to create value chain maps. It also provides examples of the insights gained by applying the method to 12 European countries. The resulting 240 industrial value chain maps represent 94.41% of the industrial emissions in the surveyed countries. This novel and comprehensive methodology for mapping and characterising industrial sustainability in European industrial value chains (including Scope 3 emissions) provides valuable knowledge for researchers, business representatives, and policymakers to design effective sustainable strategies.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2024.2448010Mappingvalue chainEuropesustainabilitytriple bottom line
spellingShingle Jabier Retegi
Dorleta Ibarra
Juan Ignacio Igartua
Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal
Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal
Mapping
value chain
Europe
sustainability
triple bottom line
title Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal
title_full Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal
title_fullStr Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal
title_short Assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in Europe: a mapping method proposal
title_sort assessing the sustainability of industrial value chains in europe a mapping method proposal
topic Mapping
value chain
Europe
sustainability
triple bottom line
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2024.2448010
work_keys_str_mv AT jabierretegi assessingthesustainabilityofindustrialvaluechainsineuropeamappingmethodproposal
AT dorletaibarra assessingthesustainabilityofindustrialvaluechainsineuropeamappingmethodproposal
AT juanignacioigartua assessingthesustainabilityofindustrialvaluechainsineuropeamappingmethodproposal