{"title":"Cutting-edge techniques and environmental insights in recycled concrete aggregate production: A comprehensive review","authors":"Ram Prasad Neupane , Ningombam Reena Devi , Thanongsak Imjai , Abhishek Rajput , Takafumi Noguchi","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid growth of urban infrastructure has led to a substantial rise in construction and demolition waste (C&DW), causing environmental issues like overflowing landfills and depletion of natural resources. Recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) offer a sustainable alternative to natural aggregates (NA), helping reduce landfill use and energy consumption by up to 85 % and lowering CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by 90 %, providing significant environmental and economic benefits. However, untreated RCA exhibits lower strength and durability due to adhered mortar and impurities. This review delves into novel and advanced RCA treatment methods and production techniques that enhance RCA's properties. These methods achieve up to 42 % improvement in compressive strength and a 27 % reduction in water absorption. Researchers have found that impact crushers produce higher-quality aggregates compared to jaw or cone crushers. Treatments like acid washing and carbonation enhance particle density and reduce water absorption by 17.5 %. Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) produced from treated RCA can reach 87 % of the compressive strength of natural aggregate concrete (NAC), with certain combined treatments achieving results close to NAC. Inconsistencies in RCA properties due to various treatments emphasise the need for standardised production and testing guidelines. This review underscores RCA's role in promoting sustainable construction and its potential to significantly mitigate CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, encouraging further research to refine these methods for long-term environmental gains.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 200241"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143090606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aleksander Hejna , Mateusz Barczewski , Joanna Aniśko , Adam Piasecki , Roman Barczewski , Paulina Kosmela , Jacek Andrzejewski , Marek Szostak
{"title":"Upcycling of medium-density fiberboard and polyurethane foam wastes into novel composite materials","authors":"Aleksander Hejna , Mateusz Barczewski , Joanna Aniśko , Adam Piasecki , Roman Barczewski , Paulina Kosmela , Jacek Andrzejewski , Marek Szostak","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2025.200244","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2025.200244","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While plastic and e-waste dominate public discourse, municipal waste, particularly bulky wastes pose a significant challenge due to their large-scale generation aligning with the enrichment of society. Their efficient collection and keeping in a loop should be considered among the priorities of municipal waste management. Herein, the presented work presents novel composite materials obtained from flexible polyurethane foams used as mattresses and medium-density fiberboards applied in furniture products. Composites have been prepared using compression molding, with the addition of an innovative binder composed of a diisocyanate and inorganic salt, whose in situ decomposition led to the gas generation providing the porous structure and strengthening the interfacial bonding inside the material. The impact of changes induced by the chemical interactions on the appearance, morphology, mechanical, thermal, acoustic and insulation performance of composites has been evaluated. Observed changes pointed to the auspicious conclusions on the further applications of the examined binder composition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 200244"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143090605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biochar in cementitious composites: A comprehensive review of properties, compatibility, and prospect of use in sustainable geopolymer concrete","authors":"Seemab Tayyab , Wahid Ferdous , Weena Lokuge , Rafat Siddique , Allan Manalo","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200242","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200242","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Geopolymer concrete (GPC) finds great potential in reducing global warming emissions from the construction sector. The conventional GPC precursor binders (fly ash, slag, metakaolin, silica fume, etc.) and alkaline activators are expensive, pollution-causing, and insufficient to meet the global requirement of concrete. Biochar (BC), agricultural waste produced through pyrolysis has rapidly been employed in cementitious composites since last decade because of its low cost, low carbon footprint, and ecological advantages. This paper presents a detailed review of the compatibility of BC with GPC, the properties (physical, chemical, and mechanical) in cementitious composites, and the chemical suitability of BC with GPC. The physical and chemical properties of BC can be controlled and highly depend on its production method (temperature, pressure, heating rate, resident time). The BC rich in silica and alumina is a feasible alternative to the solid precursor in geopolymer composites by controlling the particle size and mix design. The formation of a highly alkaline BC with water ensured its compatibility as an alkaline activator solution. They revealed comparable strength to GPC produced using conventional activators. Future studies are needed to investigate BC's experimental and practical applications as a precursor and alkaline activator in geopolymer composites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 200242"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143091888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Agata Szczeszak , Ayush Agarwal , Laura Torrent , Albert J. Schuler , Tomasz Grzyb , Dominika Przybylska , Christian Ludwig , Ajay B. Patil
{"title":"Recycling rare earth metals from luminescent fibers by solvent extraction","authors":"Agata Szczeszak , Ayush Agarwal , Laura Torrent , Albert J. Schuler , Tomasz Grzyb , Dominika Przybylska , Christian Ludwig , Ajay B. Patil","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2025.200251","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2025.200251","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rare earth elements (REEs) are known for their specialized optical and electronic properties that have led to their use in a wide range of applications, such as luminescent fibers employed in security papers (e.g., bank notes). Most of the security documents are disposed at the end of their life, losing the raw materials. Considering REEs are listed as critical raw materials, adoption of sustainable recycling and circular economy practices are imperative for ensuring supply chains in the future and aligning with United Nations sustainable development goals. In this contribution, a recycling method consisting of leaching and solvent extraction-based separation for recovering REEs from luminescent fibers is presented. An optimization of the separation method for extracting the metals of interest (Er, Y, La, Gd, Yb, Ho, Tm, Tb, and Eu) was carried out by assessing selective extractants (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) and <em>N</em>-methyl-<em>N,N,N</em>-trioctylammonium chloride (Al336)), the ligand concentration and the acid concentration. The former showed high selectivity and extractive performance for most of the heavy REEs (>95 %) by using the HDEHP ligand (1.0 mol/L) and adjusting the acid concentration of the aqueous solution at 0.01 mol/L with hydrochloric acid. The developed extractive metallurgy process was applied to doped REE cellulose fibers after performing a digestion, showing impressive extraction profiles in most cases (>80 %). The solvent separation method presented in this work can be employed for other classes of doped fibers after a proper optimization process and can make security fiber industry circular with its resources use.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 200251"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143418866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kelvin Adrian Sanoja-López , Jeffrey Saúl Cedeño-Muñoz , Bryan Fernando Rivadeneira-Mendoza , Arnaldo Vergara-Romero , Rafael Luque , Joan Manuel Rodríguez-Díaz
{"title":"Agricultural residues to high-value nanomaterials: Pathways to sustainability","authors":"Kelvin Adrian Sanoja-López , Jeffrey Saúl Cedeño-Muñoz , Bryan Fernando Rivadeneira-Mendoza , Arnaldo Vergara-Romero , Rafael Luque , Joan Manuel Rodríguez-Díaz","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2025.200243","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2025.200243","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agriculture plays an essential role in sustaining society, yet the substantial waste produced during agricultural processes presents a major challenge for waste management. Often, agricultural waste is simply burned, posing environmental concerns. To address these issues, the revalorisation of agricultural waste by converting it into high-value nanomaterials offers a promising approach. This work reviews recent advances in the synthesis of nanomaterials from agricultural waste, focusing on materials such as carbonaceous compounds, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), polymers, and silica-based nanomaterials. It also explores their applications in key sectors, including agriculture, water treatment, and medicine. A feasibility analysis assessed both economic viability and environmental impact, demonstrating that polymeric, carbon-based, and siliceous nanomaterials are particularly cost-effective and environmentally beneficial. This revalorization process not only generates commercially valuable nanomaterials but also promotes sustainable waste management practices. The study underscores the significant potential of agricultural waste as a resource for producing nanomaterials, aligning with both waste reduction and the generation of marketable products.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 200243"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143090604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On statistical entropy measures in material flow analysis and their common framework","authors":"Oliver Cencic, Helmut Rechberger","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200237","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200237","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Statistical entropy (SE) is a method to quantify distributions of any metric. In material flow analysis, SE was initially applied to examine the distribution of a single chemical element over a set of material flows. This made it possible to quantify the entropy change caused by a process with respect to a single substance. However, using Shannon's SE equation in another way, SE can also be applied to the distribution of all substances within one specific material flow. This paper presents how these two approaches are actually connected and how the first can be derived from the second in a mathematically sound, straightforward way. Finally, we show how to compute the combined SE for a set of material flows with respect to several selected substances.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"24 ","pages":"Article 200237"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143180127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jule Jeschonowski-Papstein , Lukas Gast , Markus Binding , Martin Faulstich
{"title":"Improving the recycling of plastic parts in household appliances–a review","authors":"Jule Jeschonowski-Papstein , Lukas Gast , Markus Binding , Martin Faulstich","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200235","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200235","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Household appliances account for a large proportion of the e-waste generated worldwide each year. Up to 75 % of this waste is currently incinerated or landfilled. The recycling industry focuses on harvesting valuable parts, like metals; however, household appliances are not only made of metals, but also recyclable plastics. This article reviews how the recycling of these plastics has developed since 2014 and which new approaches, such as ecodesign, currently are being pursued to promote the recycling of (plastic parts in) household appliances in the future. The findings of the present review paper show that the consideration of recycling is extending to the life cycle of products over time; however, a holistic approach is still lacking, and although problems such as the recycling of plastics containing flame retardants are known, the latter are still not being considered in the product development phase. Other challenges, which already existed 10 years ago, such as those posed by the illegal sector, are still in focus today. Conversely, there are many ideas, like material tracking, incentive systems or microfactory treatment, on how the recycling of (plastic from) household appliances can be improved in the future, which necessitate further research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"24 ","pages":"Article 200235"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143105044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unraveling economic-environmental coupling in China's petrochemical industry towards carbon peaking","authors":"Yingjie Liu , Hanbo Gao , Haoge Xu , Jinping Tian , Lyujun Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200236","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200236","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The petrochemical industry is a (key pillar) of chemical production and has relatively stable product demand in a long term, but it faces great decarbonization challenges due to the high energy consumption and complex industrial structure. To tackle this, a flow-land-infrastructure-petrochemical (FLIP) multi-factor model is developed with integration of material and energy flow analysis and decoupling assessment, targeting industrial carbon peaking via industrial structure upgrading and production efficiency improvement of four-digit level petrochemical sub-sectors. A nationally leading petrochemical industrial park was then selected to validate the model's effectiveness and robustness. Through the model optimization, the park could achieve 19 % and 30 % of CO<sub>2</sub>e emission reductions in 2025 and 2030 respectively, compared with emissions in the scenario without intervention. The overall carbon productivity could rise by 89 % with a decoupling index of -0.15 between economic growth and carbon emissions during 2020–2030, showing a feasible carbon peaking pathway. Infrastructure with lock-in emissions needs energy system transformation and adjacent industrial symbiosis from a regional perspective, while promotion targets and entry thresholds of carbon productivity should be individually tailored for each stock and incremental manufacturing sub-industry. The model could be extended to other petrochemical clusters and emission-intensive industries, synergistically addressing the effects of structure upgrading and efficiency progress to support practical and economically sustainable carbon peaking pathway formulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"24 ","pages":"Article 200236"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142744323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Attitudes and preferences of the Chinese public towards products made from recycled materials: A text mining approach","authors":"Heng Xu, Chong Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200234","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200234","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Products made from recycled materials, as an environmentally friendly option, have attracted public attention. Understanding public attitudes and preferences towards such products is crucial for their market development. In order to explore the Chinese residents’ attitude and emotional tendency, we analyzed public discussions and topics on products made from recycled materials from Sina Weibo. Meanwhile, LDA and BERT deep learning models were employed to assess the level of public attention, hot topics, and sentiment tendencies in China. Results show a significant upward trend in public interest in products made from recycled materials. Although the fact that most people have a positive attitude towards the environmental concept of products made from recycled materials and support such products, there is not a significant demand for products made from recycled materials, i.e., there is a green attitude-behaviour gap. Results further reveal that factors such as the price of products made from recycled materials, branding, and public skepticism about the sustainability of the products are the main reasons for the gap between environmental awareness and consumer behaviour. By analyzing the public's cognitive structure and psychological characteristics regarding products made from recycled materials through social media data, this paper can help recycling manufacturers understand consumers' needs and expectations, as well as assist policymakers in formulating better circular economy policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"24 ","pages":"Article 200234"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142540362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building sustainable community: Insight from successful waste management initiative","authors":"Unruan Leknoi , Pisut Painmanakul , Nattawin Chawaloesphonsiya , Wuthiwong Wimolsakcharoen , Chadalak Samritthinanta , Annop Yiengthaisong","doi":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200238","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200238","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global waste situation presents a significant challenge worldwide, especially in developing countries experiencing rapid economic development and urban growth. Waste separation for recycling is a recognized sustainable management method that overcomes budget limitations and the lack of advanced technology. However, promoting waste separation remains a challenging issue that requires learning from successful lessons to advance this agenda. This study examines a successful waste management initiative started by a community in response to a significant waste issue. It's a case study of a low-income community near Bangkok, Thailand. The study uses the theory of change to understand the community's success and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to evaluate the sustainability of the waste management efforts. The study highlights how the community effectively addressed a significant waste problem that was negatively impacting water sources and causing pollution. The leadership of the community leader played a crucial role in implementing successful strategies, including developing diverse participation approaches to meet the needs of various community members. The community utilized the PDCA (Plan Do Check Act) cycle to drive progress, and the task force operated on a foundation of equality, fostering horizontal relationships, and distribute of incentives. The process of effecting change was described in line with the theory of change, resulting in a successful outcome. Ultimately, this study will offer valuable insights for low-income communities worldwide, empowering them to tackle waste issues and foster sustainability within their neighborhoods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74689,"journal":{"name":"Resources, conservation & recycling advances","volume":"24 ","pages":"Article 200238"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143105135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}