Odor Characterization of Post-Consumer PP Bottles after Different Washing Processes
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The reprocessing of post-consumer plastic is of paramount importance for the preservation of our environment. Reprocessing, or recycling, can allow society to insert polymers into a circular economy, thus, consuming less raw resources and lowering the carbon footprint of plastic products (Meys et al. 2020).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The reprocessing of post-consumer plastic is of paramount importance for the preservation of our environment. Reprocessing, or recycling, can allow society to insert polymers into a circular economy, thus, consuming less raw resources and lowering the carbon footprint of plastic products (Meys et al. 2020).
Mechanical and Thermal Characterization of Multiprocessed PHBs
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
As our society is becoming more conscious and responsible collectively, EU guidelines on the Circular Economy were developed to help companies to practice the same in their industries. Bioplastics as an alternative feedstock are gaining traction as shown by the bioplastics market projection, expecting growth in production capacities from 2.41 million tonnes in 2021 to 7.59 million tonnes by 2026. (European Bioplastics e.V. 2021).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
As our society is becoming more conscious and responsible collectively, EU guidelines on the Circular Economy were developed to help companies to practice the same in their industries. Bioplastics as an alternative feedstock are gaining traction as shown by the bioplastics market projection, expecting growth in production capacities from 2.41 million tonnes in 2021 to 7.59 million tonnes by 2026. (European Bioplastics e.V. 2021).
Sustainability & Circular Economy at voestalpine High Performance
Metals Division
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Sustainability is a focus topic in the High Performance Metals (HPM) Division of the voestalpine group. Within inSPire, our sustainability framework, we are setting goals for sustainable production and reducing our carbon footprints. Circular economy is an important divisional strategic field for two years now and deals with 4 fields of action: Alternative raw material sources, Recycling of by-products, Material & scrap cycles and Zero waste. Two challenges concerning the recycling of by-products are presented in this article to show the difficulties we face when we want to recover alloy elements from our production wastes: EAF-dusts and scales. Valuable elements are lost by landfill or downcycling. Finding solutions for these challenges is part of our focus on Circular Economy in the High Performance Metals Division.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Sustainability is a focus topic in the High Performance Metals (HPM) Division of the voestalpine group. Within inSPire, our sustainability framework, we are setting goals for sustainable production and reducing our carbon footprints. Circular economy is an important divisional strategic field for two years now and deals with 4 fields of action: Alternative raw material sources, Recycling of by-products, Material & scrap cycles and Zero waste. Two challenges concerning the recycling of by-products are presented in this article to show the difficulties we face when we want to recover alloy elements from our production wastes: EAF-dusts and scales. Valuable elements are lost by landfill or downcycling. Finding solutions for these challenges is part of our focus on Circular Economy in the High Performance Metals Division.
Interrelationships between pre-processing and subsequent procedures in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is currently a very present topic in the field of research but also in the industry. New developments for the recovery of valuable metals from spent LIBs indicate a clear trend towards hydrometallurgical concepts. In this context, especially the pre-treatment plays an essential role.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is currently a very present topic in the field of research but also in the industry. New developments for the recovery of valuable metals from spent LIBs indicate a clear trend towards hydrometallurgical concepts. In this context, especially the pre-treatment plays an essential role.
The Use of Textile Waste for Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composite
Production
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The textile industry is among the top largest industries in the world, as the demand for new products proportionally increases with population growth. In 2014, 90.8 million tons of textile fibres have been produced which is expected to exceed 100 million tons by 2025. Many different types of fibres can be used for textile production, such as cotton, hemp, nylon, polyester, however, the application of synthetic fibres had become more common compared to natural fibres in the recent years (Pensupa et al. 2017).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The textile industry is among the top largest industries in the world, as the demand for new products proportionally increases with population growth. In 2014, 90.8 million tons of textile fibres have been produced which is expected to exceed 100 million tons by 2025. Many different types of fibres can be used for textile production, such as cotton, hemp, nylon, polyester, however, the application of synthetic fibres had become more common compared to natural fibres in the recent years (Pensupa et al. 2017).
Oxide-based lithium solid-state batteries from a recycling perspective
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Access to cheap and clean energy is key to our society's prosperity (Smalley, 2005). Therefore, electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies are paramount for the energy transition to combat climate change. Ever since the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) by Sony in the 1990s (Nagaura 1990), LIBs have proven to be reliable and efficient in terms of lifetime and energy as well as power density (Janek & Zeier 2016). LIBs with intercalation cathode active material (CAM), liquid electrolyte, and graphite anode have dominated the battery market since their introduction.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Access to cheap and clean energy is key to our society's prosperity (Smalley, 2005). Therefore, electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies are paramount for the energy transition to combat climate change. Ever since the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) by Sony in the 1990s (Nagaura 1990), LIBs have proven to be reliable and efficient in terms of lifetime and energy as well as power density (Janek & Zeier 2016). LIBs with intercalation cathode active material (CAM), liquid electrolyte, and graphite anode have dominated the battery market since their introduction.
FuLIBatteR – Future Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling for Recovery of
Critical Raw Materials
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Global crises, like the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic, and dependency on the economic situation on raw material markets, as well as unexpected issues in global supply chains, such as the Suez Canal obstruction by a large container ship, intensify the efforts of local production and consequently, of sufficient raw material supply as well as regional solutions for recycling. Unfortunately, the raw materials for producing our daily life goods and things for saving the living standard are not evenly distributed worldwide (European Commission, 2022; Olivetti, Gaustad, & Fu, 2017).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Global crises, like the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic, and dependency on the economic situation on raw material markets, as well as unexpected issues in global supply chains, such as the Suez Canal obstruction by a large container ship, intensify the efforts of local production and consequently, of sufficient raw material supply as well as regional solutions for recycling. Unfortunately, the raw materials for producing our daily life goods and things for saving the living standard are not evenly distributed worldwide (European Commission, 2022; Olivetti, Gaustad, & Fu, 2017).
How will tramp elements affect future steel recycling in Europe?
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Global steel production has grown massively since the Second World War. In recent decades, however, the steel market has become saturated in affluent regions such as the US and the EU. This has resulted in stagnate steel production and increased quantities of old scrap. The increasing shares of post-consumer scrap offer the opportunity to increase the share of scrap in crude steel production.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Global steel production has grown massively since the Second World War. In recent decades, however, the steel market has become saturated in affluent regions such as the US and the EU. This has resulted in stagnate steel production and increased quantities of old scrap. The increasing shares of post-consumer scrap offer the opportunity to increase the share of scrap in crude steel production.
Digitalisation of Refuse Sorting with Image Recognition and Time Series
Analysis
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The recycling of municipal solid refuse is a major challenge on the way towards a circular economy. Although solid refuse generation is increasing in the EU, the recycling rates are still below 50% on average (Neligan 2018). Hence, innovative technologies are required to increase recycling rates and cope with the predicted amount of municipal solid refuse. The KI-Waste project researches new technologies and optimisations to increase the sorting quality and yield of municipal solid refuse, thus providing solutions to increase the recycling rates. The vision of KI-Waste is to determine the compositions of the refuse streams in a sorting facility and combine this information with telemetry data from the sorting machines.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The recycling of municipal solid refuse is a major challenge on the way towards a circular economy. Although solid refuse generation is increasing in the EU, the recycling rates are still below 50% on average (Neligan 2018). Hence, innovative technologies are required to increase recycling rates and cope with the predicted amount of municipal solid refuse. The KI-Waste project researches new technologies and optimisations to increase the sorting quality and yield of municipal solid refuse, thus providing solutions to increase the recycling rates. The vision of KI-Waste is to determine the compositions of the refuse streams in a sorting facility and combine this information with telemetry data from the sorting machines.
Pushing the limits of refractory recycling by advanced laser
characterisation
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The ReSoURCE Project Establishing a circular economy for refractory industry by extending recycling and the use of secondary raw materials is indispensable. RHI Magnesita is committed to reach ambitious sustainability goals, preserving natural resources, and reducing CO2 emissions. Circular economy will be one of the main drivers to significantly reduce CO2 in the refractory industry, as the energy-intensive primary raw material production has by far the highest impact on the product's carbon footprint.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The ReSoURCE Project Establishing a circular economy for refractory industry by extending recycling and the use of secondary raw materials is indispensable. RHI Magnesita is committed to reach ambitious sustainability goals, preserving natural resources, and reducing CO2 emissions. Circular economy will be one of the main drivers to significantly reduce CO2 in the refractory industry, as the energy-intensive primary raw material production has by far the highest impact on the product's carbon footprint.
