{"title":"Energy and resources recovery from excess sewage sludge: A holistic analysis of opportunities and strategies","authors":"Andrea G. Capodaglio, Arianna Callegari","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200184","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Wastewater treatment processes produce large amounts of excess biological sewage sludge, which disposal requires large amounts of energy and expenditure, and is not devoid of adverse environmental effects. Economic and sustainability considerations suggest that embedded resources in sludge (energy, nutrients, raw materials and process by-products) should be properly exploited to create and consolidate a virtuous wastewater-based Circular Economy cycle. This paper presents a review of sludge-to-energy and sludge-to-resources recovery routes with emphasis on recent developments, as well on the benefits and limitations of applicable technologies for ensuring sustainability and environmental efficiency through a critical analysis of current literature. In particular, improvement of anaerobic digestion final products exploitation, thermochemical technologies for sludge-embedded resources recovery, sludge biorefinery and nutrients recovery are discussed. In most cases, however, the technology readiness level (TRL) of the described technologies is still low for generalized adoption, hence, notwithstanding the excellent development prospects, it is probably still too early to predict the real impact of the many bioproducts recoverable from biological sludge on an actual global circular bioeconomy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"19 ","pages":"Article 200184"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49748248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ankita Das, Jan Konietzko, Nancy Bocken, Marc Dijk
{"title":"The Circular Rebound Tool: A tool to move companies towards more sustainable circular business models","authors":"Ankita Das, Jan Konietzko, Nancy Bocken, Marc Dijk","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200185","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Companies design circular business models through experimentation. However, most companies do not consider the environmental impact of their new business model ideas during experimentation, an iterative phase of high uncertainty. Previous research shows that companies typically use ‘rules of thumb’ to estimate environmental impact in this stage due to limited time and reliable information to guide decision-making. This might prevent innovators from detecting unintended rebound effects that offset positive environmental gains of new business models. To mitigate this and let innovators think more profoundly about rebound effects during the circular business model experimentation phase, we propose an evidence-based business model ideation tool, the Circular Rebound Tool, designed around lifecycle thinking, the zero-waste hierarchy, and increased rebound effects awareness. The tool's development follows the design science research method, undergoing continuous improvement through 15 workshops. Our tool can help business innovators gain insights into the environmental impact of their early-stage business ideas.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 200185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67739738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karina D. Véliz , Jeffrey P. Walters , Carolina Busco , Maximiliano Vargas
{"title":"Modeling barriers to a circular economy for construction demolition waste in the Aysén region of Chile","authors":"Karina D. Véliz , Jeffrey P. Walters , Carolina Busco , Maximiliano Vargas","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200145","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>An increasing rate of urbanization, lack of knowledge, low willingness to pay for sustainable waste management, and absence of legal landfills inhibit the rate at which Circular Economy (CE) is implemented. The successful CE adoption for construction and demolition waste (CE-CDW) involves navigating a complex tapestry of interconnected factors that enable or inhibit CE-CDW success. We used a participatory system thinking and modeling approach to analyze the interaction of <em>inhibiting</em> factors that impact CE-CDW in Aysén, Chile. Barriers to CE-CDW were identified in the literature and modeled in a workshop with experts from different areas of construction industry, policy, and academia. The emerging CE-CDW system model was analyzed using structural factor and network analysis techniques to identify leverage points for policy and practice. Findings pointed to limited strategic vision of policy and regulation as a key barrier impacting the necessary financial and technical elements needed to implement and scale-up CE-CDW.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49818106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zewei Lin , Peng Wang , Songyan Ren , Daiqing Zhao
{"title":"Comprehensive impact assessment of carbon neutral pathways and air pollution control policies in Shaanxi Province of China","authors":"Zewei Lin , Peng Wang , Songyan Ren , Daiqing Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200143","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Low-carbon policies will have a significant impact on air quality. This study builds an integrated assessment model to systematically assess the impacts of different carbon neutral pathways and air pollution control policies in Shaanxi province. We found that the contribution rate of low-carbon policies to air quality improvement will be greater than end-of-pipe control. Carbon neutral pathways could prevent 5 to 10 thousand premature deaths and bring 5.7 to 10.4 billion USD in environmental health benefits. From the perspective of cost-benefit, low-carbon policies can bring positive benefits of 0.27% of GDP before 2030. Carbon reduction costs will increase rapidly after 2035, and the loss of total social-economic benefits in 2060 is 3.16% to 16.57%. Achieving carbon neutrality means a disruptive technological shift, reducing the policy costs of climate governance by aggressively developing more zero-carbon and negative-carbon technologies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49858799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Harry Watt , Buick Davison , Peter Hodgson , Chris Kitching , Densley Tingley Danielle's
{"title":"What should an adaptable building look like?","authors":"Harry Watt , Buick Davison , Peter Hodgson , Chris Kitching , Densley Tingley Danielle's","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200158","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Current building design practices largely focus on operational efficiency and initial material optimisation in the pursuit of sustainable construction. These short-term carbon savings are potentially detrimental to the long-term futureproofing of a building. As such, the suggestion to design buildings for adaptability has gained traction in recent years. An adaptable building is one that could be easily modified to suit its changing requirements, allowing it to avoid premature demolition and reconstruction, and the associated carbon emissions. This paper explores what is meant by adaptability in the built environment, suggestions for design strategies and the benefits and drawbacks of each. The paper expressly emphasises the importance of balancing the needs of the present day, through upfront carbon reductions, with the consequences in the long-term, through accelerated building obsolescence, demolition and rebuild. The paper concludes with the recommendation that further research is needed into the true benefits of adaptability design strategies, factoring in the uncertainty of future predictions and the time-value of carbon.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200158"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49869094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Grey energy impact of building material recycling – a new assessment method based on process chains","authors":"Karin Gruhler, Georg Schiller","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200139","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The manufacture of building materials consumes vast quantities of raw materials and accounts for a large proportion of global material flows and GHG emissions. Recycling demolition waste is thus a useful and practical way to conserve resources in the construction sector. For climate protection, it is important to investigate the material-induced grey energy of the recycling process. In this study we ask how grey energies induced by construction products based on secondary differ from equivalent products based on virgin materials. To evaluate this, we use a novel multi-stage assessment method presented in this paper. With this method, for the first time, we are able to calculate grey energy of entire recycling process chains starting from construction and demolition waste and ending with the new secondary material based building product, taking into account all the adjustments necessary to guarantee its functional equivalence to primary material based products. In 15 of the 19 process chains analysed, the use of RC material leads to in part rather significant positive grey energy impacts i.e. energy savings. In nine cases, the savings are over 50%, in six cases they are lower. The most important influential factors is the quality of both, the initial demolition material and the final construction product, defined by the product requirements. Furthermore, we conclude that an integrated recycling system is essential to ensure the recycling of co-products discharged during individual processing steps and provide evidence for further scientific discussion on how recycling can contribute to climate-neutral construction.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200139"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49818101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Menegaldo , L. Pizzol , A. Tinello , P. Scanferla , A. Zabeo , S. Breda , A. Marcomini , S.A. Frisario , L. Zaninetta , G. Bonfedi , F. Villani , E. Semenzin
{"title":"Identification of most relevant variables and processes to assess the environmental impacts of remediation technologies along their life cycles: Focus on the waste management scenarios","authors":"M. Menegaldo , L. Pizzol , A. Tinello , P. Scanferla , A. Zabeo , S. Breda , A. Marcomini , S.A. Frisario , L. Zaninetta , G. Bonfedi , F. Villani , E. Semenzin","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to remediation technologies is still not a consolidated practice and it is especially lacking in the assessment of the environmental impacts associated to the management of the waste produced during remediation. This study aims at addressing these methodological gaps by identifying the typologies of waste typically generated during the remediation of a contaminated site and classifying them according to the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes. Thereafter, the following steps are: (i) the identification of the waste management scenarios (WMSs) applicable to the identified waste typologies, (ii) the selection of Life Cycle Assessment processes that can be used to assess the impacts of the different WMSs and (iii) the quantification and comparison of the environmental impacts caused by the different WMSs applied considering hazardousness levels to which the same waste may belong in relation to its contamination levels and characteristics: inert, non-hazardous and hazardous waste (Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC). As results, a matrix reporting the classes and typologies of waste, their EWC codes, their different WMSs and the suitable LCA processes from the Ecoinvent database that can be applied to each EWC within a specific WMS, has been developed. Additionally, the comparative assessment of the impacts caused by the Ecoinvent processes applicable to the same waste typology within the same WMS has been performed to support the selection of the most appropriate WMS case by case.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200155"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49818108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recycled plastics and rubber for green roads: The case study of devulcanized tire rubber and waste plastics compounds to enhance bitumen performance","authors":"Haider Ibrahim , Stefano Marini , Luca Desidery , Michele Lanotte","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200157","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Devulcanized rubber (DVR) and waste plastics have been studied separately as bitumen modifiers, but their individual drawbacks prevent full implementation in the field. In this paper, two pelletized composites produced by coupling DVR with waste low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) were investigated. Linear viscoelastic properties, rutting, and fatigue cracking performance were evaluated, and results were compared to those obtained on neat and polymer-modified bitumen with high styrene-butadiene-styrene content (HiPMB). The non-recoverable creep compliance was reduced with the increasing addition of DVR with either LDPE or PP, and the modified bitumen can be classifiable as “E” grade like the common HiPMB. Bitumen modified with DVR-LDPE compounds showed the best fatigue cracking performance overall, and can fully replace the industrial HiPMB. The implications of these results go beyond the sole performance improvement since these compounds can significantly reduce the environmental impact of road construction by using two waste materials simultaneously.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49818110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elizabeth L. Hewitt, Yiyi Wang, Alexandra (Sasha) Eck, David J. Tonjes
{"title":"Keeping up with my neighbors: The influence of social norm feedback interventions on recycling behavior in urban multifamily buildings","authors":"Elizabeth L. Hewitt, Yiyi Wang, Alexandra (Sasha) Eck, David J. Tonjes","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2023.200156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Existing research indicates comparative social norm feedback can be influential in nudging recycling in more sustainable directions, but little work has explored this mechanism in urban multifamily buildings. This research builds upon existing work in this area by conducting 12 weeks of interventions in two multifamily buildings in New York City, in which one building (n=372) received weekly comparative feedback <em>comparing their building's recycling to neighbors</em> and another building (n=602) received weekly non-comparative feedback data about <em>their building only.</em> Two main findings emerged: (1) Data indicate increased recycling by bag weight (interpolated for a one-year period from the weights of waste samples) in the intervention period in both buildings, pointing to effectiveness in increasing recycling from social norm feedback, and (2) the <em>comparative feedback mechanism</em> appears to be a stronger driver of behavior change. Takeaways from this work can inform urban policy and property manager decision-making for solid waste management.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 200156"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49818112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}