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The health and environmental hazards associated with synthetic dyes have led to a revival of natural dyes that are non-toxic, environmentally benign and coupled with various functions. The study aims to investigate and develop the potentiality of a popular herb called Chromolaena odorata (C. odorata) as a sustainable and stable dyestuff in textiles.

Natural colorant extracted from C. odorata leaves is used to dye the worsted fabric, which is one of the premier end-use of wool in fashion, via the padding method associated with pre-, simultaneous and post-mordanting with chitosan, tannic acid and copper sulfate pentahydrate. The effects of extraction, dyeing and mordanting processes on fabric’s color strength K/S and color difference ΔE_CMC are investigated via International Commission on Illumination’s L*a*b* color space, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, color fastness to washing, rubbing, perspiration and light.

The results obtained indicate extraction with ethanol 90% with a solid/liquid ratio of 1:5 within 1 h, and coloration with a liquor ratio of 1:5 (pH 5) within 2 h under padding pressure of 0.3 MPa are the most effective for coloring worsted fabric.

The C. odorata’s application as a highly effective dyestuff possessing good colorimetric effectiveness has expanded this herb's economic potential, contributing partly to economic growth and adding value to wool in global supply chain.

C. odorata dyestuff has prevailed over other natural colorants because of its impressive color fastness against washing, rubbing, perspiration and especially color stability for pH change.

The growing concern for food safety and quality, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic and the new normal situation, motivates governments and private sectors to improve consumers’ confidence in food systems by adopting certifications and traceability systems. The recent emergence of diverse food labeling schemes in food systems in emerging countries has sparked questions about consumers’ valuation of such labels. Nonetheless, little is known about how familiarity with, trust in and knowledge of these food labels affect consumers’ utility. This study aims to reveal consumers’ preferences for agrifood assurance to accelerate food safety practices. Specifically, we examine in what ways agrifood attributes (traceability, certification, selling places and price) impact consumers’ selection.

Data were gathered from surveying 1,365 consumers and then discrete choice experiment methodology was applied to measure consumers’ willingness to pay for safety attributes displayed on food labels in different market outlets.

Empirical evidence shows that certification is the most preferred safety attribute, with the highest level of WTP hovering around 50% more for both USDA and VietGap certificates. The second rank belongs to the traceability system, where consumers express particular interest in farming and processing information rather than more complicated information. Meanwhile, the food purchasing venue has less effect on consumers’ WTP for a certain food label. Consumers’ demographic factors, familiarity, knowledge and trust also play an important role in explaining their heterogeneity.

The findings may not be generalizable because the current study only included data from Vietnamese consumers.

Our findings provide managerial implications for food policymakers and providers in governing the food market to restore consumer confidence.

Of critical concern to the world is the need to reduce consumption and waste of natural resources. This study provides a multi-level exploration of the ways situational and transformational links between levels and challenges are related to the adoption and utilization of material flow cost accounting in Vietnam, to encourage green productivity.

Based on triangulation of public documents at different institutional levels and a set of semi-structured interviews, situational and transformational links and challenges for material flow cost accounting in Vietnam are examined using purposive and snowball sampling of key actors.

Using a multi-level framework the research identifies six situational and transformational barriers to implementation of material flow cost accounting and suggests opportunities to overcome these. The weakest links identified involve macro-to meso-situational and micro-to macro-transformational links. The paper highlights the dominance of meso-level institutions and lack of focus on micro transformation to cut waste and enable improvements in green productivity.

The paper identifies ways for companies in Vietnam to reduce unsustainability and enable transformation towards sustainable management and waste reduction.

The paper is the first to develop and use a multi-level/multi-time period framework to examine the take-up of material flow cost accounting to encourage transformation towards green productivity. Consideration of the Vietnamese case builds understanding of the challenges for achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 12, to help enable sustainable production and consumption patterns.