Innovated re-claimed communal water - Benefits and challenges

• Author: Kostandin Kristo
• Position: University of Tirana
• Pages: 215-220

Vol. 4 No. 1

March, 2018

ISSN 2410-3918

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

215

Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

Innovated re-claimed communal water - Benefi ts and challenges

PhD (C.) Kostandin Kristo

University of Tirana

Abstract

The drought regarding a climate forecast in Albanian departments that have marked the past

three months were the result of winter rainfall that was insu cient for replenishing water

tables this year and before. It is o en said that water shortages are not a threat for Albania

due to plenty water sources. It’s possible to think of this compared to other countries. Still in

some Albanian regions the availability of water resources is becoming an urgent problem,

even more so if we link this to the di erent scenarios tied to climate change. Each basin has

specifi cities, but some general evolutions should be planned for the increase in water demand

due to the rise of temperatures causing an increase in the price of water.

This paper aims to introduce the benefi ts and challenges of applying at homes or communal

buildings an Eco-innovation through developing a new inside distribution of wastewater so

that it concludes into sustainable development of communal water distribution, therefore

recycling in houses. Another objective of the study is to make evident the cost - e ciency

importance of these re-distribution systems and how they a ect improvement in water needs

sector, highlighting the defi ciencies that cause their not fully-e cient re-use of grey inside

water and the positive impact on potable water saving.

Keywords: reclaimed water. Sustainable development. Eco-innovation. technological change.

JEL Classifi cation: O30, O31, O32, O33.

Introduction

The idea of eco-innovation is fairly recent. One of the fi rst appearances of the concept

of eco-innovation in the literature is in the book by Claude Fussler and Peter James. In a

subsequent article, Peter James defi nes eco-innovation as “new products and processes

which provide customer and business value but signifi cantly decrease environmental

impacts”. Klaus Rennings introduces the term eco-innovation addressing explicitly

three kinds of changes towards sustainable development: technological, social and

institutional innovation.

As a technological term

Many industries have been developing innovative technologies in order to work

towards sustainability.

As a social process

Eco-innovations should also bring greater social and cultural acceptance. In this view,

this “social pillar” added to James’s defi nition is necessary because it determines

learning and the e ectiveness of eco-innovations.

Di usion

Literature in the fi eld of eco-innovations o en focuses on policy, regulations,

technology, market and fi rm specifi c factors rather than di usion. However,

understanding of di usion of eco-innovation recently has gained more importance