Implementing the Results of Material Flow Analysis

Binder, Claudia R.; Voet, Ester van der; Rosselot, Kirsten Sinclair

doi:10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00182.x

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Within the research field of industrial ecology there is also a tradition of studying large technical systems, primarily in order to specify the material flows related to human activities (e.g., Binder et al, 2009;Mao and Graedel, 2009). Initially, emphasis was often on identifying sources of environmental pollution (e.g., van der Voet et al, 2000;Bergbäck et al, 2001;Lindqvist and Eklund, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To prospect an urban mine – assessing the metal recovery potential of infrastructure “cold spots” in Norrköping, Sweden

Wallsten

Anderzén‐Carlsson

Frändegård

et al. 2013

Journal of Cleaner Production

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To prospect an urban mine -assessing the metal recovery potential of infrastructure "cold spots" in Norrkoping, Sweden, 2013, Journal of Cleaner Production, (55) AbstractIn conventional mining, prospecting methods are used to increase the degree of certainty with regard to the stock of metals. Similarly, prospecting in terms of "urban mining" aims to increase the information about metal stocks available for recovery in the built environment. Infrastructure systems, such as for power supply and heating, are rich in copper, aluminum and iron (including steel). For a number of reasons, pipes and cables remain in the ground after being taken out of use or disconnected. This is also true for entire obsolete systems. In this paper, these infrastructures "cold spots" are viewed as hibernating stock with a significant potential for urban mining.The infrastructure systems for AC and DC power, telecommunication, town gas and district heating in the city of Norrköping, Sweden, have been quantified and spatially allocated with a GIS-based approach of Material Flow Analysis (MFA). About 20% of the total stock of aluminum and copper in these systems is found to be in hibernation. The findings also indicate that cables have been disconnected to a larger extent than pipes. As an example, cables for DC power, taken out of use in the late 1930s yet still in the ground, consist of 230 tonnes of copper. The results illustrate a clear tendency for larger stocks of hibernating copper and aluminum to be found in the central rather than the outer parts of the city. A reverse, ring-like pattern is true for iron, mostly because the central parts of the town gas pipes are used for fiber optics.Particular focus has been placed on the industrial area of Södra Butängen, which is slated for redevelopment and re-zoning from industrial to residential. Since the ground will be dug up for sanitation purposes anyway, the entire metal stock can be taken into prospecting consideration. Analysis shows that the chances of finding aluminum here are 28 times higher than in the rest of the city.We argue for an increased MFA focus on the heterogeneous complexity found in the details of the specific locale, rather than striving for generalized assumptions about the broader picture. In doing so, MFA could very well provide a tool for a future business line of urban mining of hibernating metal stocks.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To prospect an urban mine – assessing the metal recovery potential of infrastructure “cold spots” in Norrköping, Sweden

Wallsten

Anderzén‐Carlsson

Frändegård

et al. 2013

Journal of Cleaner Production

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a result of the highly aggregated scale at which data is typically available (i.e., spatial scales above the prefectural administrative boundary), as well as the general unavailability of data, the application of a topdown approach using I-O tables, as generally used in the field of industrial ecology (Binder et al 2009), to the urban fringe of Asian cities is unrealistic. Therefore, we examined bioresource flows by combining field-investigated minimum-unit (households and agricultural fields) input/ output data and GIS-based extrapolation toward urbanrural land-use mixed area using detailed digital vector maps.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed land-use planning on the periphery of large Asian cities: the case of Nonthaburi Province, Thailand

et al. 2010

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Throughout Asia, rapid and uncontrolled urbanization has created serious environmental problems, and the development of sustainable urban-rural planning methods is of critical importance. To improve our understanding of mixed urban-rural land uses and provide future practical visions for regional planning, we conducted a case study of the urban fringe of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand. After identifying local irrigation districts as the basic spatial unit for resource circulation, we quantified current material flows of organic wastes generated by households within each district. We then developed two different land-use scenarios for 2020: (1) a high-rise compact and (2) a low-story sprawl development scenario. These scenarios were compared in terms of efficiency of material flows and energy consumption. We found that, based on current infrastructure and technology, the latter scenario was more advantageous in terms of both material input and energy consumption than the former, thereby, identifying positive aspects of urban-rural land-use mixture. Based on these results, we propose that planners should focus on density control measures that take into account bioresource circulation within irrigation districts rather than simply drawing arbitrary land-use zoning lines. To this end, we suggest that the division between agricultural and urban planning departments must be bridged, and that research should take an interdisciplinary approach.

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“…Papers on MFA such as Binder et al [131], Georgiadis and Besiou [132] and Schmidt [133] have their niche role to play. However, in the end system and simulation models must be able to predict outcomes that pin-point the reasons for losses from the recycling system and must also be able to feed back the reason for this to the product designer, legislator, mangers of take-back systems etc.…”

Section: Life Cyclementioning

confidence: 98%

Limits of Design for Recycling and “Sustainability”: A Review

Reuter

2011

Waste Biomass Valor

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Metals and materials play a pivotal role in society as their properties impart unique functionality to engineered structures and consumer products. Metals are theoretically infinitely recyclable; however, the functionality and design of consumer product complicate recycling due to their ever more complex structures producing unliberated low grade and complex recyclates. Metallurgical smelting ingenuity, good technology and intelligent use of thermodynamics and transfer processes gets metallurgists and recyclers a far way down the path of creating high recycling rates from a large range of primary concentrates and recyclates. However, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics teaches us the practical limits of recycling in terms of entropy creation, which is determined by the complexity of the recyclates and hence to the economics of processing/ technology and metal/energy recovery. The usual simple accounting type tools do not rise to the challenge. Therefore, a key issue for the creation of ''sustainable systems'' and hence the minimization of waste (or in other words achieve high recycling rates) is the creation of optimal industrial ecological systems with optimally linked Best Available Techniques (BAT). This must maximize the recovery of materials from ores and recyclates within the boundaries of consumer behaviour, product design/functionality, thermodynamics, legislation, technology and economics. Examples will show how recyclate quality/grade predicted by recycling models affects entropy creation, while also reviewing various published methodologies. This paper shows that simulation models are a prerequisite to designing ''sustainable'' systems as these can predict recyclate grade/ quality/losses/toxicity of streams, the link to entropy and economics and the realization of company ideals and mission statements in this regard. In other words, to dematerialize society requires detail input by engineers, their predictive tools and economic based design approaches to engineer a sustainable future.

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Implementing the Results of Material Flow Analysis

Cited by 29 publications

References 33 publications

To prospect an urban mine – assessing the metal recovery potential of infrastructure “cold spots” in Norrköping, Sweden

To prospect an urban mine – assessing the metal recovery potential of infrastructure “cold spots” in Norrköping, Sweden

Mixed land-use planning on the periphery of large Asian cities: the case of Nonthaburi Province, Thailand

Limits of Design for Recycling and “Sustainability”: A Review

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