Urban mining in buildings for a circular economy: Planning, process and feasibility prospects

In today’s environment, organizations need new corporate strategies and models to protect profitability and competitiveness, as well as the heritage of natural resources. A circular economy is a model of production and consumption in which all resources and products are reused in the economic cycle, which can significantly reduce waste generation and create additional economic benefits for business. This is especially important in the context of the recovery from the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Implemented quarantine restrictions have revealed how sensitive to global risks and inflexible the linear economic system is. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze ways to implement circular economy models in the corporate strategy of the organization. The objectives of the article are to study the latest publications on the definition of circular economy, corporate strategy and their relationship, description of the strategic planning process taking into account the models of circular economy, identification of basic business models of circular economy, analysis of examples of implementation of circular models conclusions. To achieve the goal of the study, the authors’ different approaches to the interpretation of the concept of “corporate strategy” and its formation within the circular economy were analyzed, the process of strategic planning was highlighted and the main types of values created by the circular economy were identified. The key circular business models and their relationship with the corporate strategy of the organization are highlighted. The main part of the article analyzes examples of implementation of the concept of circular economy in the corporate strategies of four selected Italian companies in various industries. A comparative description of the roles of the circular economy in the corporate strategy of each company and the benefits gained in the process of its implementation was carried out. Conclusions were drawn on the importance of implementing the ideas of the circular economy at the stage of forming the strategy of the enterprise to achieve economic, environmental and social benefits.

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Urban mining by flash Joule heating

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-26038-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bing Deng ◽

Duy Xuan Luong ◽

Zhe Wang ◽

Carter Kittrell ◽

Emily A. McHugh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Joule Heating ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Precious Metal ◽

Electronic Waste ◽

Precious Metals ◽

Metal Component ◽

Urban Mining ◽

Agriculture Soil ◽

Temperature Ramps

AbstractPrecious metal recovery from electronic waste, termed urban mining, is important for a circular economy. Present methods for urban mining, mainly smelting and leaching, suffer from lengthy purification processes and negative environmental impacts. Here, a solvent-free and sustainable process by flash Joule heating is disclosed to recover precious metals and remove hazardous heavy metals in electronic waste within one second. The sample temperature ramps to ~3400 K in milliseconds by the ultrafast electrical thermal process. Such a high temperature enables the evaporative separation of precious metals from the supporting matrices, with the recovery yields >80% for Rh, Pd, Ag, and >60% for Au. The heavy metals in electronic waste, some of which are highly toxic including Cr, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb, are also removed, leaving a final waste with minimal metal content, acceptable even for agriculture soil levels. Urban mining by flash Joule heating would be 80× to 500× less energy consumptive than using traditional smelting furnaces for metal-component recovery and more environmentally friendly.

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Fundamentals of Building Deconstruction as a Circular Economy Strategy for the Reuse of Construction Materials

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11030939 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 939

Author(s):

Gaetano Bertino ◽

Johannes Kisser ◽

Julia Zeilinger ◽

Guenter Langergraber ◽

Tatjana Fischer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Circular Economy ◽

Business Models ◽

Planning Process ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Early Stage ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Use Of Resources ◽

Key Points ◽

Building Components

The construction industry is one of the most environmentally detrimental industries in the world, impacting directly the use of raw materials, their determination of use involving the whole lifecycle, as well as all their surrounding environment. However, within the building sector, the transition from a linear to a circular economy is still at an early stage. Business models need to be reconsidered to include new and improved methods and innovative services that could lead to a net reduction in the use of resources and minimizing the waste disposed on landfills. In this context, an important role in buildings’ circularity is “deconstruction”, which is understood as a well-considered selective dismantlement of building components, in prevision of a future reuse, repurposing, or recycling. It represents a sustainable alternative to common demolition, which tends to be an arbitrary and destructive process, and although faster and cheaper, it typically creates a substantial amount of waste. The purpose of this article is to analyze the deconstruction potential of buildings and the strategies to apply in order to keep the impacts on the urban environment low. The article aims to facilitate the implementation of circular economy strategies for buildings by proposing common principles for deconstruction as a sustainable alternative to demolition and defining the key points to be applied during the design and planning process regardless of the type of construction system or material used.

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Site Resource Inventories – a Missing Link in the Circular City's Information Flow

Advances in Geosciences ◽

10.5194/adgeo-54-23-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 23-32

Author(s):

Gösta Baganz ◽

Gundula Proksch ◽

Werner Kloas ◽

Wolf Lorleberg ◽

Daniela Baganz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information Flow ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Information Needs ◽

Planning Process ◽

Residential Building ◽

Information Model ◽

Missing Link ◽

Use Of Resources ◽

Resource Inventory ◽

A Site

Abstract. A circular city builds upon the principles of circular economy, which key concepts of reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover lead to a coupling of resources: products and by-products of one production process become the input of another one, often in local vicinity. However, sources, types and available quantities of underutilised resources in cities are currently not well documented. Therefore, there is a missing link in the information flow of the circular city between potential users and site-specific data. To close this gap, this study introduces the concept of a site resource inventory in conjunction with a new information model that can manage the data needed for advancing the circular city. A core taxonomy of terms is established as the foundation for the information model: the circular economy is defined as a network of circular economy entities which are regarded as black boxes and connected by their material and energy inputs and outputs. This study proposes a site resource inventory, which is a collection of infrastructural and building-specific parameters that assess the suitability of urban sites for a specific circular economy entity. An information model is developed to manage the data that allows the entities to effectively organise the allocation and use of resources within the circular city and its material and energy flows. The application of this information model was demonstrated by comparing the demand and availability of required alternative resources (e.g. greywater) at a hypothetical site comprising a commercial aquaponic facility (synergistic coupling of fish and vegetables production) and a residential building. For the implementation of the information model a proposal is made which uses the publicly available geodata infrastructure of OpenStreetMap and adopts its tag system to operationalise the integration of circular economy data by introducing new tags. A site resource inventory has the potential to bring together information needs and it is thus intended to support companies when making their business location decisions or to support local authorities in the planning process.

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END OF SERVICE SCENARIO FOR UNIVERSITIES’ INFORMATIC EQUIPMENT: RECOVERY AND REPAIR AS EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH TOOL FOR CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND URBAN MINING

Detritus ◽

10.31025/2611-4135/2018.13747 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 90-97

Author(s):

Alessandra Bonoli ◽

Nicoletta Dolci ◽

Eleonora Foschi ◽

Francesco Lalli ◽

Daria Prandstraller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Circular Economy ◽

Research Tool ◽

Urban Mining

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