• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.143-163
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• 2023

This study aims to analyze the impact of ESG activities on the corporate performance of logistics companies in Korea. To achieve this, the study examines the factors influencing the adoption and implementation of ESG activities, assesses the extent to which ESG activities enhance corporate trust and image, and empirically analyzes the effect of ESG implementation on the corporate performance of logistics companies. An online survey was conducted using Google Forms for Korean logistics companies, and a total of 463 data sets were utilized for PLS structural equation analysis using the SmartPLS 4.0 software tools. The findings of the study are as follows: Firstly, external pressure, specifically government pressure, significantly influences environmental responsibility activities, while investor pressure significantly affects social responsibility activities and governance responsibility activities. Additionally, internal management pressures significantly impact environmental responsibility activities, and employees have a significant influence on all ESG responsibility activities. Secondly, environmental responsibility activities positively affect corporate image, whereas social and governance responsibility activities influence trust and corporate image. Thirdly, trust and corporate image demonstrate significant effects on both financial and non-financial performance. Fourthly, trust significantly mediates the relationship between social responsibility, governance responsibility, and non-financial performance, while image mediates the connection between ESG responsibility and both financial and non-financial performance. The contribution of this study lies in providing practical insights for logistics companies to actively promote ESG activities, thereby establishing a reputation for being environmentally, socially, and governance responsible and gaining customer trust. By doing so, this study aims to raise awareness of the importance of ESG activities in the logistics industry and help companies recognize their significance for sustainable management

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.10-17
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• 2023

Calcium silicate cement (CSC) is an environmentally sustainable, low-carbon cement and has garnered significant attention in recent studies. However, the pre-curing step required to activate the carbon dioxide reaction and to handle the sample. This study aimed to examine the viability of extending the application of CSC without pre-curing by enhancing initial strength by mixing calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) fast-hardening cement into CSC. The investigation assessed changes in compression strength and Q-XRD mineral characteristics concerning variations in the mixing ratio of CSC and CSA fast-hardening cement within a carbon dioxide atmosphere. The compressive strength results indicated that the 3-day and 7-day strengths were 14.18 MPa and 22.98 MPa, respectively, under the 50% CSC condition, meeting the type 1 cement KS standard. Mineral characteristics analysis revealed an increase in calcite mineral, a byproduct of the carbon dioxide reaction, contributing to strength enhancement. Even after seven days, substantial quantities of unreacted rankinitene and pseudowollastonite were observed, as well as dicalcium silicate and yeelimite, which are hydrated minerals. This observation was confirmed the possibility of strength improvement after 7 days.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.201-210
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• 2023

The Agricultural Environmental Conservation Program is a useful system for creating sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly and comfortable rural areas. However, there are still many problems and difficulties, such as the establishment of necessary activities and plans by the residents themselves, and improvements are required. The degree of importance and difficulties according to the implementation stage of each stakeholder was quantified and compared with each other, and the specific difficulties recognized by on-site support organizations were structurally analyzed. It was analyzed that the importance and difficulties of the project implementation stage for local government officials and the project implementation planning stage for on-site support organizations were very high, indicating that they perceived the most need for improvement. On the other hand, 21 specific problems and difficulties were derived based on the results of the literature survey and stakeholder interviews. As a result of the structural analysis using the DEMATEL method, the most influential factor was the low understanding of the project by residents, the most influential factor was the lack of collecting and reflecting residents' opinions, the most central factor was the lack of collecting and reflecting residents' opinions, and the most causal factor was the lack of education and promotion of the project. The results indicate that a more stable system can be established if continuous promotion and education, periodic meetings and discussions, active reflection of residents' opinions in project implementation plans, and simplification of implementation inspection and project cost execution through the implementation inspection platform are promoted. Despite the limitations, considering that no institutional analysis of agricultural environmental conservation programs has been conducted so far, the results of this study are expected to serve as a basis for the establishment of relevant policies in the future.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.39-47
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• 2024

In this study, the environmental implications of electric arc furnace steel slag, commonly used in road construction and soil reinforcement, were examined. Experiments were conducted to assess the leaching of heavy metals based on particle size and to investigate ion leaching from specimens with varying mixtures of steel slag and clay. The official waste test revealed no detectable heavy metals in the sample items. However, when subjected to leaching experiments and analyzed using ICP-OES, certain heavy metals were found. The reaction of steel slag with water, facilitated by free CaO within the slag, was identified as the cause of leaching. Results showed that aluminum, exhibiting the highest leaching rate, displayed an inverse relationship with particle size. In mixed soil containing steel slag and clay, higher steel slag content resulted in increased aluminum leaching. Nonetheless, the quantity of leached aluminum was notably lower in mixed soil compared to pure steel slag. Furthermore, leaching of other heavy metals remained within acceptable limits. These findings suggest that recycling mixed soil of steel slag and clay for road construction or soil stabilization presents reduced environmental risks compared to using steel slag alone. Utilizing such mixtures could offer an environmentally sustainable and safe alternative.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.157-167
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• 2024

Background: Several previous studies have shown that commuting is a source of stress for undergraduate students. However, few studies have investigated the effect of commuting on academic stress among undergraduate students, and there has been little awareness of the environmental impact of commuting. Objectives: To evaluate the associations between commute type and/or time and academic stress among undergraduate students in South Korea, focusing on environmental sustainability. Methods: We conducted an online survey and obtained information on commute types, commute times, and academic stress from 510 undergraduate students aged ≥19 years. Academic stress was comprised of five sub-categories of stress, and total academic stress ranged from 5 to 25 points. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the associations between commute type and commute time and academic stress. Furthermore, the students were grouped into 21 categories based on their transportation mode for commuting. CO₂ emission factors per each commuting category were calculated using the transportation type's CO₂ emission data from previous studies. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to confirm the correlation between CO₂ emission factors and total academic stress. Results: Students using home-to-school transportation without transfers (vs. walking) showed a significantly higher total academic stress of 2.19 points (95% CI: 0.58, 3.80). In contrast, students using school-to-home transportation without transfers (vs. walking) showed a significantly lower total academic stress of 1.96 points (95% CI: -3.55, -0.38). Moreover, students using transportation with lower CO₂ emission factors had lower academic stress scores (home-to-school: correlation coefficient = 0.507, p<0.001; school-to-home: correlation coefficient = 0.491, p<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both commute type and time are significantly associated with academic stress among South Korean undergraduate students. When students select environmentally-friendly transportation, they may not only improve their mental health but also improve climate resilience.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.244-260
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• 2024

Purpose: With the 2021 revision of dietary guidelines in Korean emphasizing environmentally sustainable dietary practices, this study attempted to develop an evaluation tool to comprehensively evaluate the degree of practice and compliance with food and nutrient intake, dietary habits, and dietary culture guidelines based on the revised dietary guidelines. Methods: The candidate evaluation items were collected by reviewing 934 literature reviews on domestic and foreign dietary evaluations. Fifty-nine candidate items were derived by selecting the items corresponding to dietary guidelines. The content validity ratio (CVR) cutoff point evaluation was conducted with 11 experts to delete 11 items that did not meet the CVR standard. Fifty-five pilot survey candidate items were selected through revision and additional process according to expert opinion. Seventy final candidate items were selected by adding 15 questions for validity verification and reference. A pilot survey was conducted online and offline on 332 adults aged 19-64 in Seoul and the metropolitan area, and exploratory factor analysis was used to verify the construct validity of the evaluation items. Through exploratory factor analysis, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, Bartlett's sphericity test, variance explained, and Cronbach's alpha criteria were confirmed in each process. Results: Exploratory factor analyses derived three criteria: food and nutrient intakes (11 items), eating behaviors (9 items), and dietary culture (14 items), consisting of 34 evaluation items. Conclusion: The present scale was validated and can be used for comprehensive evaluations of the dietary guidelines for Korean adults in a simple way.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.43-58
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• 2015

The greenhouse gas emission caused by rapid economic growth and population is increasing in Korea. Also, climate change from greenhouse gases emission is accelerated. IPCC(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report projects an increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from the year 2000 to 2030(SRES, 2000). Within this context, establishing countermeasures on climate adaptation and mitigation is becoming increasingly important to reduce the negative effect of climate change at a global level. Along with global efforts to tackle climate change, Korean government has incorporated 'Low Carbon Green Growth'strategies into its national policy agenda. Local governments have also conducted a number of studies to devise plans for environmentally friendly and sustainable city development. In this paper, the land-use equilibrium model, which reflects economic and geographical characteristics, is used to analyze the change in residential land use and population density. The target area for study is Jeju island in Korea. With an application of land use equilibrium model, it derived three types of scenarios of the land use change: (1) dispersion scenario-reflecting present-day conditions (2) adaptation scenario-applying adaptation measures to climate change and (3) combined scenario-integrating both adaptation and mitigation measures in model to climate change. By applying dispersion to combined scenario, the general trend shows a downward shift in population density. Subsequently, energy consumption and expected cost associated with casualties were calculated on the basis of the findings of respective scenario. The results show a descending trend in energy consumption and expected casualtie. Therefore, understanding for residential land use and population density of each scenario that analyzed land use equilibrium model in the study is expected to devise a environmental city plan for climate change stabilization and climate adaptation and mitigation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2016

This paper emphasized the necessity of the marine spatial planning (MSP) through the analysis of the major developmental projects which could make a contradiction based on the adequacy of the site selection and environmental impacts. The conflicting affairs between space utilization and management plan happen in the following ways: marine renewable energy development, sand mining, reclamation, construction of golf course in coastal area, thermal effluent and waste heat, erosion causing port development. The conflict of stakeholder continues caused by the accumulated environmental impact. For the reasons mentioned above, we found two things. First, it is necessary to comprehend the fact of developmental planning and MSP. Second, it is still unsatisfactory to connect the relevance of laws related to the spatial planning. For the reinforcement of marine environmental policy management, it is necessary to consolidate the property of site selection and assessment of developmental scale. Especially, while the strategic environmental assessment is in progress based on site selection and property of scale, consistent diagnosis is needed in the following concerns: the fact of the marine spatial planning, the relevance between national developmental plan and regional developmental plan, fisheries regulation, marine protected animals. For the environmentally sound and sustainable development (ESSD), MSP should have to be prepared based in a way of top-down including coastal and EEZ plan, relevance of ocean-use zoning and sector planning, 3-D spatial information. And also integrated information system have to be prepared through high-tech marine spatial information. In conclusion, consistent and relevant strategy for MSP should have to include the whole information related to the maritime affairs such as harbor, fishing port, fishing ground, coastal management, marine ecosystem generally.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.239-246
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• 1995

This research aimed at the contribution to obtaining the scientifical data which were required for planning she environmentally sound and sustainable management, particularly in the field of the logging road construction. Main natural environmental variables including natural vegetation, rainfall, soil runoff were measured in the logging road on-sites and analysed. This project was carried out at the (mt.)Paekunsan Research sorest of Seoul National University, located in Gwangyang, Chollanam-do in southern part of Korea, from 1993 to 1994. 1. The explanatory variables for erosion and sedimentation on logging road surface were accumulated rainfall, erosion distance, cross-sectional gradient, and soil hardness. The erosion and sedimentation on logging road was increasing positively in proportion to the accumulated rainfall, soil distance from starting point of the logging road, and cross-sectional gradient. 2. On cut-slope of logging road, cut-slope shape, part of the slope, plant coverage, soil hardness, sand content, accumulated rainfall, clay content, and silt content were effective factors. Cut-slope erosion and sedimentation on logging roam increased as with the lower plant coverage, the lower accumulated rainfall, the high sand content in the soil. 3. On fill-slope of logging road, there were three significant variables such as total rainfall and number of rainfall-storm. Fill-slope erosion and sedimentation had a positive correlation with the amount of rainfall, the number of rainfall, the soil hardness. 4. The total erosion and sedimentation on logging road were $5.04{\times}10^{-2}m^2/m^2$ in logging road construction year, $7.37{\times}10^{-2}m^2/m^2$ in next year. The erosion and sedimentation on logging road surface were 32.7% of total erosion and sedimentation on Logging road in construction year, and 57.1% in next year, respectively. The erosion and sedimentation on cut-slopes were 30.4% on logging road in construction year, fill-slopes of total erosion and sedimentation and 21.0% in next year, respectively. The erosion and sedimentation on fill-slopes were 36.9% on logging road in construction year, 21.9 in next year. To decrease the erosion and sedimentation at the logging road from the beginning stage of construction, the effective revegetation works should be implemented on the cut-slope and fill slopes, and erosion control measures such as optima. road design must be constructed on read surface.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.33-41
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyse the state of the energy industry and to determine the efficiency of its functioning on the basis of energy conservation principle and application of innovative technologies aimed at improving the ecological modernisation of agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan. The research methodology is based on an integrated approach of financial and economic evaluation of the effectiveness of the investment project, based on calculation of elasticity, total costs and profitability, as well as on comparative, graphical and system analysis. The current stage is characterised by widely spread restructuring processes of electric power industry in many countries through introduction of new technical installations of energy facilities and increased government regulation in order to enhance the competitive advantage of electricity market. Electric power industry features a considerable value of creating areas. For example, by providing scientific and technical progress, it crucially affects not only the development but also the territorial organisation of productive forces, first of all the industry. In modern life, more than 90% of electricity and heat is obtained by Kazakhstan's economy by consuming non-renewable energy resources: different types of coal, oil shale, oil, natural gas and peat. Therefore, it is significant to ensure energy security, as the country faces a rapid fall back to mono-gas structure of fuel and energy balance. However, energy resources in Kazakhstan are spread very unevenly. Its main supplies are concentrated in northern and central parts of the republic, and the majority of consumers of electrical power live in the southern and western areas of the country. However, energy plays an important role in the economy of industrial production and to a large extent determines the level of competitive advantage, which is a promising condition for implementation of energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies. In these circumstances, issues of modernisation and reforms of this sector in Kazakhstan gain more and more importance, which can be seen in the example of economically sustainable solutions of a large local monopoly company, significant savings in capital investment and efficiency of implementation of an investment project. A major disadvantage of development of electricity distribution companies is the prevalence of very high moral and physical amortisation of equipment, reaching almost 70-80%, which significantly increases the operating costs. For example, while an investment of 12 billion tenge was planned in 2009 in this branch, in 2012 it is planned to invest more than 17 billion. Obviously, despite the absolute increase, the rate of investment is still quite low, as the total demand in this area is at least more than 250 billion tenge. In addition, industrial infrastructure, including the objects of Kazakhstan electric power industry, have a tangible adverse impact on the environment. Thus, since there is a large number of various power projects that are sources of electromagnetic radiation, the environment is deteriorated. Hence, there is a need to optimise the efficiency of the organisation and management of production activities of energy companies, to create and implement new technologies, to ensure safe production and provide solutions to various environmental aspects. These are key strategic factors to ensure success of the modern energy sector of Kazakhstan. The contribution of authors in developing the scope of this subject is explained by the fact that there was not enough research in the energy sector, especially in the view of ecological modernisation. This work differs from similar works in Kazakhstan in the way that the proposed method of investment project calculation takes into account the time factor, which compares the current and future value of profit from the implementation of innovative equipment that helps to bring it to actual practise. The feasibility of writing this article lies in the need of forming a public policy in the industrial sector, including optimising the structure of energy disbursing rate, which complies with the terms of future modernised development of the domestic energy sector.