A framework of actions for strong sustainability

Abstract Strong sustainability (SS) aims for the maintenance of economic, environmental, and social capital through an efficient use of resources and by replacing non-renewable natural resources with renewable ones. Despite this, there is still a grey area the academic literature and managerial practice regarding the existence of specific actions to promote SS. Therefore, the objective of this study is to advance the development of a framework of specific actions and recommendations to assist the adoption of SS by companies. A content analysis of articles included in the Special Volumes of the Journal of Cleaner Production (SVJCP) derived from the International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production (IWACP), and interviews conducted with experts. The study revealed that only 5% of the articles sampled are related to SS. In this context, the proposed framework of specific actions for SS contributes to the theory by proposing actions that ensure the functioning of ecological systems while promoting sustainable development. The actions identified can also be used in multi-criteria analysis and for the development of sustainability indicators. The practical contributions of this study come from suggesting the application of the actions by organizations to promote the following: (i) increasing the efficiency of resource consumption; (ii) harvesting renewable resources limited by their regeneration rates; (iii) reducing greenhouse gas emissions; (iv) reusing wastes as input in other processes; (v) replacing toxic inputs with organic ones; (vi) replacing energy from non-renewable sources with that from renewable ones; (vii) increasing affordability; and (viii) increasing sustainable manufacturing.