Development of physical-biological filters for groundwater remediation of
tetrachlorethen and naphthalene
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Groundwater contamination by anthropogenic organic compounds represent a serious threat to water resources, which therefore have to be remediated to be available for future use. In addition, such remediation actions are often time and cost intensive. Hence, the overall goal of the presented project is the development of a physical-biological ex-situ filter for their effective removal.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Groundwater contamination by anthropogenic organic compounds represent a serious threat to water resources, which therefore have to be remediated to be available for future use. In addition, such remediation actions are often time and cost intensive. Hence, the overall goal of the presented project is the development of a physical-biological ex-situ filter for their effective removal.
Paradigm Shift in the plastics industry: from linear to circular
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The reliable supply of high-quality recyclate is a prerequisite for a functioning circular economy. As Borealis, we cooperate with our partners along the value chain to enable our customers and partners to achieve their circularity goals and reduce their overall carbon footprint and, at the same time, underpins our Borealis journey towards more sustainable living.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The reliable supply of high-quality recyclate is a prerequisite for a functioning circular economy. As Borealis, we cooperate with our partners along the value chain to enable our customers and partners to achieve their circularity goals and reduce their overall carbon footprint and, at the same time, underpins our Borealis journey towards more sustainable living.
Circularity Assessment of Packaging with the Packaging Cockpit
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The landscape of European Packaging legislation is steadily getting more complex. At the EU level, the European Union plans to reduce the output of greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030. To achieve that goal, the European economy has to be transformed into a circular economy so that precious resources stay as long as possible in the material stream. These undertakings heavily impact the European Packaging Industry because packaging is often used only once and for a comparatively short time. So, there is a considerable generation of packaging waste of more than 178 kg per person in the EU and growing.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The landscape of European Packaging legislation is steadily getting more complex. At the EU level, the European Union plans to reduce the output of greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030. To achieve that goal, the European economy has to be transformed into a circular economy so that precious resources stay as long as possible in the material stream. These undertakings heavily impact the European Packaging Industry because packaging is often used only once and for a comparatively short time. So, there is a considerable generation of packaging waste of more than 178 kg per person in the EU and growing.
A novel approach to environmental cleanup of inland water courses
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Despite growing awareness and improving practices, littering is a worldwide challenge with catastrophic impact on the ecosystem. Inland waters in particular represent one of the main sources of pollution for the oceans. Detecting and retrieving this waste when still in rivers is an effective and efficient way to remediate the environment before the damage spreads over large areas. Implementing barriers faces a range of technical and economic challenges, leading to long and complex project developments. For this reason, the Italian company Mold S.r.l. decided to adopt a life-cycle perspective to study potential projects with their innovative barrier River Cleaning system and focus on the most impactful. In this paper we present LCA results done on exemplary regions and derive the learnings and criteria for future market developments of the system, linking thus life-cycle thinking and business development.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Despite growing awareness and improving practices, littering is a worldwide challenge with catastrophic impact on the ecosystem. Inland waters in particular represent one of the main sources of pollution for the oceans. Detecting and retrieving this waste when still in rivers is an effective and efficient way to remediate the environment before the damage spreads over large areas. Implementing barriers faces a range of technical and economic challenges, leading to long and complex project developments. For this reason, the Italian company Mold S.r.l. decided to adopt a life-cycle perspective to study potential projects with their innovative barrier River Cleaning system and focus on the most impactful. In this paper we present LCA results done on exemplary regions and derive the learnings and criteria for future market developments of the system, linking thus life-cycle thinking and business development.
Recycling potential of recycled carbon fibers used in textile concrete from a technical and environmental point of view
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
As an important element in construction industry, cement production caused alone 2 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in Germany in 2017 and global average was even with a greater value, 8 % (WWF 2019). Considering the great impact of construction industry on the environment, Fiber reinforcement (carbon or glass) is seen as a meaningful alternative to steel reinforcement in the production of concrete. Due to their low weight, high strength and lifetime, carbon fibers have been increasingly used in construction industry. On the one hand, the use of CF reinforced concrete enables great amount of resource savings compared to conventional concrete, specifically steel reinforced concrete (Böhm et al. 2018). On the other hand, CFs have some disadvantages, such as high cost, energy intensive production process and challenging end-of-life (EOL) handling (Zhang et al. 2020).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
As an important element in construction industry, cement production caused alone 2 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in Germany in 2017 and global average was even with a greater value, 8 % (WWF 2019). Considering the great impact of construction industry on the environment, Fiber reinforcement (carbon or glass) is seen as a meaningful alternative to steel reinforcement in the production of concrete. Due to their low weight, high strength and lifetime, carbon fibers have been increasingly used in construction industry. On the one hand, the use of CF reinforced concrete enables great amount of resource savings compared to conventional concrete, specifically steel reinforced concrete (Böhm et al. 2018). On the other hand, CFs have some disadvantages, such as high cost, energy intensive production process and challenging end-of-life (EOL) handling (Zhang et al. 2020).
Performance of European biogas plants towards methane emissions
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Biogas or biomethane, resulting from the biological treatment of organic matter by anaerobic digestion, is a renewable energy source used for electricity production, heating and in transportation and can substitute fossil gas. Therefore, biogas production is described as a sustainable strategy for reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG). However, the positive environmental impact depends in particular on emissions that might occur within the biogas production and utilization chain. Although numerous scientific studies investigated CH4 emissions from biogas plants, there is still a lack of reliable and representative emission data. As stated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the member countries are obliged to report their national GHG inventories according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Biogas or biomethane, resulting from the biological treatment of organic matter by anaerobic digestion, is a renewable energy source used for electricity production, heating and in transportation and can substitute fossil gas. Therefore, biogas production is described as a sustainable strategy for reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG). However, the positive environmental impact depends in particular on emissions that might occur within the biogas production and utilization chain. Although numerous scientific studies investigated CH4 emissions from biogas plants, there is still a lack of reliable and representative emission data. As stated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the member countries are obliged to report their national GHG inventories according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines.
On the road to 2050: The path to achieving a circular economy for mobility
and renewable energy
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Climate change is one of the biggest crises humanity is facing at this time (Zwane E. M. 2019). Two of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the mobility (14% of global GHG emissions in 2018) and energy (34%) sector (Lamb et al. 2021), which require a major shift towards renewable energy and alternative fuel systems to succesfully contribute to GHG emission goals (O’Neill et al. 2018). However, this transition comes with its own set of challenges, in particular an increased resource intensity, its dependence on critical minerals and metals, as well as sustainability challenges in the technologies’ supply chains (Mancini & Nuss 2020, Wang et al. 2020). These challenges highlight the need for more sustainable resource management from mining, to consumption, to reuse and recycling, and progress towards a clean and circular economy (Smol et al. 2020).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Climate change is one of the biggest crises humanity is facing at this time (Zwane E. M. 2019). Two of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the mobility (14% of global GHG emissions in 2018) and energy (34%) sector (Lamb et al. 2021), which require a major shift towards renewable energy and alternative fuel systems to succesfully contribute to GHG emission goals (O’Neill et al. 2018). However, this transition comes with its own set of challenges, in particular an increased resource intensity, its dependence on critical minerals and metals, as well as sustainability challenges in the technologies’ supply chains (Mancini & Nuss 2020, Wang et al. 2020). These challenges highlight the need for more sustainable resource management from mining, to consumption, to reuse and recycling, and progress towards a clean and circular economy (Smol et al. 2020).
Metrology for the Recycling of Technology Critical Elements to Support Europe’s Circular Economy
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Technology critical elements (TCEs) are vastly used throughout societal consumer products; including phones, computers, and renewable energy products, such as solar panels and wind turbines. These elements are deemed critical due to their economic importance and supply risk. However, dwindling supplies of TCEs threaten to disrupt such technology production worldwide, which is especially concerning given a recent drive for more renewable energy sources as part of the European Green Deal. Thus, there is a drive for the European Union (EU) to strive for a circular economy approach that reduces dependence on imports of such raw materials. To provide a more secure supply of TCEs, the EU promotes more efficient recycling through the Waste Framework Directive (2018/851/EU).
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
Technology critical elements (TCEs) are vastly used throughout societal consumer products; including phones, computers, and renewable energy products, such as solar panels and wind turbines. These elements are deemed critical due to their economic importance and supply risk. However, dwindling supplies of TCEs threaten to disrupt such technology production worldwide, which is especially concerning given a recent drive for more renewable energy sources as part of the European Green Deal. Thus, there is a drive for the European Union (EU) to strive for a circular economy approach that reduces dependence on imports of such raw materials. To provide a more secure supply of TCEs, the EU promotes more efficient recycling through the Waste Framework Directive (2018/851/EU).
Experimental Methods to Assess the Thermal Stability of Reactive Chemical Waste stored in Large Waste Tanks
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The storage of a reactive chemical waste in large storage tanks can lead to a thermal explosion, as was the case recently in July 2021 at Currenta in Leverkusen-Bürrig (Germany) (Currenta 2022). In addition to considerable property damage, 7 people were killed and 31 injured. Therefore, the thermal risk for the storage of reactive waste must be assessed in advance and appropriate risk-minimizing measures must be taken.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
The storage of a reactive chemical waste in large storage tanks can lead to a thermal explosion, as was the case recently in July 2021 at Currenta in Leverkusen-Bürrig (Germany) (Currenta 2022). In addition to considerable property damage, 7 people were killed and 31 injured. Therefore, the thermal risk for the storage of reactive waste must be assessed in advance and appropriate risk-minimizing measures must be taken.
Analysis of different polypropylene waste bales – evaluation of the source
material for polypropylene recycling
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
In 2020 Polypropylene (PP) accounted for almost 20% of the plastic consumption in Europe, making it the second most used plastic (Plastics Europe 2021). Due to the high volume of PP used as packaging material (Plastics Europe 2021), large amounts of PP waste are generated every year. Therefore, mechanical recycling of PP waste is a crucial step towards a circular economy. Although there are already some well-established recycling techniques, the lower quality of recyclates compared to virgin materials still poses an obstacle for their use in more demanding applications. Improvements of every step of the whole recycling value chain could solve this problem, with proper and more accurate sorting techniques being particularly crucial.
© Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft der Montanuniversität Leoben (11/2022)
In 2020 Polypropylene (PP) accounted for almost 20% of the plastic consumption in Europe, making it the second most used plastic (Plastics Europe 2021). Due to the high volume of PP used as packaging material (Plastics Europe 2021), large amounts of PP waste are generated every year. Therefore, mechanical recycling of PP waste is a crucial step towards a circular economy. Although there are already some well-established recycling techniques, the lower quality of recyclates compared to virgin materials still poses an obstacle for their use in more demanding applications. Improvements of every step of the whole recycling value chain could solve this problem, with proper and more accurate sorting techniques being particularly crucial.
