IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i4p1537-d1589999.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Production and Consumption in EU Member States: Achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12)

Author

Listed:
  • Daniela Firoiu

    (Department of Commerce, Economic Integration and Business Administration, Romanian-American University, 012101 Bucharest, Romania)

  • George H. Ionescu

    (Department of Finance, Credit and Accounting, Romanian-American University, 012101 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Cristian Mihai Cismaș

    (Doctoral School of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, 300223 Timisoara, Romania)

  • Melinda Petronela Costin

    (Doctoral School of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, 300223 Timisoara, Romania)

  • Laura Mariana Cismaș

    (Department of Marketing, International Business and Economics, West University of Timisoara, 300115 Timisoara, Romania)

  • Ștefan Codruț Florian Ciobanu

    (Department of Economics, Accounting and International Affairs, University of Craiova, 200585 Craiova, Romania)

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) is vital for promoting sustainable development by enhancing resource efficiency, minimizing waste, and fostering sustainable practices across supply chains. This research investigates sustainable production and consumption dynamics in European Union countries, drawing on official data from the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat). It employs the AAA (Holt–Winters) exponential smoothing algorithm to analyze trends in selected sustainability indicators. Despite notable progress, challenges such as regional disparities and economic barriers remain significant. This research provides critical insights into the evolution of responsible consumption and production across EU countries, projecting trends until 2030. The findings emphasize the need for integrated policies, sustainable practices, and collaborative efforts among stakeholders to meet the EU’s sustainability objectives. Achieving these goals is essential for realizing the 2030 sustainability targets and transitioning to a climate-neutral economy by 2050, ensuring long-term ecological and economic resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Firoiu & George H. Ionescu & Cristian Mihai Cismaș & Melinda Petronela Costin & Laura Mariana Cismaș & Ștefan Codruț Florian Ciobanu, 2025. "Sustainable Production and Consumption in EU Member States: Achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1537-:d:1589999
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1537/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1537/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Radu Lucian Pânzaru & Daniela Firoiu & George H. Ionescu & Andi Ciobanu & Dragoș Mihai Medelete & Ramona Pîrvu, 2023. "Organic Agriculture in the Context of 2030 Agenda Implementation in European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-31, July.
    2. Kulli Altin & Grzywińska-Rąpca Małgorzata & Duarte Nelson & Goci Enkelejda & Pereira Carla, 2023. "Consumption behavior towards the circular economy," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 10(57), pages 323-342, January.
    3. Miguel Ángel Canela & Inés Alegre & Alberto Ibarra, 2019. "Quantitative Methods for Management," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-17554-2, March.
    4. Łukasz Markowski & Kamil Kotliński & Aleksandra Ostrowska, 2023. "Sustainable Consumption and Production in the European Union—An Attempt to Assess Changes and Convergence from the Perspective of Central and Eastern European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Garrette Clark & Justin Kosoris & Long Nguyen Hong & Marcel Crul, 2009. "Design for Sustainability: Current Trends in Sustainable Product Design and Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-16, August.
    6. Gustavo Pineiro-Villaverde & María Teresa García-Álvarez, 2020. "Sustainable Consumption and Production: Exploring the Links with Resources Productivity in the EU-28," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-13, October.
    7. Spyros Makridakis & Evangelos Spiliotis & Vassilios Assimakopoulos, 2018. "Statistical and Machine Learning forecasting methods: Concerns and ways forward," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, March.
    8. Sadia Samar Ali & Rajbir Kaur & Shahbaz Khan, 2023. "Evaluating sustainability initiatives in warehouse for measuring sustainability performance: an emerging economy perspective," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 324(1), pages 461-500, May.
    9. Agata Mesjasz-Lech, 2024. "Trends of Industrial Waste Generation in Manufacturing Enterprises in the Context of Waste Prevention—Shift-Share Analysis for European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniela Firoiu & George H. Ionescu & Cerasela Pîrvu & Ramona Pîrvu & Cristian Mihai Cismaș & Melinda Petronela Costin, 2024. "The Road to 2030: Evaluating Europe’s Progress on Sustainable Ecosystem Protection and Restoration," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Smyl, Slawek, 2020. "A hybrid method of exponential smoothing and recurrent neural networks for time series forecasting," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 75-85.
    3. Hewamalage, Hansika & Bergmeir, Christoph & Bandara, Kasun, 2021. "Recurrent Neural Networks for Time Series Forecasting: Current status and future directions," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 388-427.
    4. Spiliotis, Evangelos & Makridakis, Spyros & Kaltsounis, Anastasios & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios, 2021. "Product sales probabilistic forecasting: An empirical evaluation using the M5 competition data," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    5. Miroslav Navratil & Andrea Kolkova, 2019. "Decomposition and Forecasting Time Series in the Business Economy Using Prophet Forecasting Model," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2019(4), pages 26-39.
    6. Joel A. Martínez-Regalado & Cinthia Leonora Murillo-Avalos & Purificación Vicente-Galindo & Mónica Jiménez-Hernández & José Luis Vicente-Villardón, 2021. "Using HJ-Biplot and External Logistic Biplot as Machine Learning Methods for Corporate Social Responsibility Practices for Sustainable Development," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(20), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Tom Wilson & Irina Grossman & Monica Alexander & Phil Rees & Jeromey Temple, 2022. "Methods for Small Area Population Forecasts: State-of-the-Art and Research Needs," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 865-898, June.
    8. Huber, Jakob & Stuckenschmidt, Heiner, 2020. "Daily retail demand forecasting using machine learning with emphasis on calendric special days," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1420-1438.
    9. Laura Virta & Riikka Räisänen, 2021. "Three Futures Scenarios of Policy Instruments for Sustainable Textile Production and Consumption as Portrayed in the Finnish News Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Mehmet Çağlar & Cem Gürler, 2022. "Sustainable Development Goals: A cluster analysis of worldwide countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 8593-8624, June.
    11. Pannee Suanpang & Pitchaya Jamjuntr, 2024. "Machine Learning Models for Solar Power Generation Forecasting in Microgrid Application Implications for Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-29, July.
    12. Weronika Ormaniec & Marcin Pitera & Sajad Safarveisi & Thorsten Schmidt, 2022. "Estimating value at risk: LSTM vs. GARCH," Papers 2207.10539, arXiv.org.
    13. Uttaran Dutta, 2019. "Design Engagements at the Margins of the Global South: De-Centering the “Expert” Within Me," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    14. Mariale Moreno & Carolina De los Rios & Zoe Rowe & Fiona Charnley, 2016. "A Conceptual Framework for Circular Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-15, September.
    15. Costa, Marcelo Azevedo & Ruiz-Cárdenas, Ramiro & Mineti, Leandro Brioschi & Prates, Marcos Oliveira, 2021. "Dynamic time scan forecasting for multi-step wind speed prediction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 584-595.
    16. Vaia I. Kontopoulou & Athanasios D. Panagopoulos & Ioannis Kakkos & George K. Matsopoulos, 2023. "A Review of ARIMA vs. Machine Learning Approaches for Time Series Forecasting in Data Driven Networks," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-31, July.
    17. Van Belle, Jente & Guns, Tias & Verbeke, Wouter, 2021. "Using shared sell-through data to forecast wholesaler demand in multi-echelon supply chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(2), pages 466-479.
    18. Yaolin Wang & Chenyang Liu & Xi Zhang & Shaoting Zeng, 2023. "Research on Sustainable Furniture Design Based on Waste Textiles Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    19. Mei-Li Shen & Cheng-Feng Lee & Hsiou-Hsiang Liu & Po-Yin Chang & Cheng-Hong Yang, 2021. "An Effective Hybrid Approach for Forecasting Currency Exchange Rates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-29, March.
    20. Stefano Poponi & Andrea Colantoni & Sirio R.S. Cividino & Enrico Maria Mosconi, 2019. "The Stakeholders’ Perspective within the B Corp Certification for a Circular Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1537-:d:1589999. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.