Substance flows through the economy and environment of a region

Summary Copper (Cu) is an essential but supply‐restricted resource in China. Characterization of in‐use stocks can provide useful instruction for the future recycling of copper. This article attempts to estimate copper in‐use stocks in a Chinese city. To this purpose, an extensive bottom‐up estimate of copper stocks in use in Nanjing in the year 2009 was conducted. The results are a total stock estimate of 295 gigagrams (Gg) of copper or 46.9 kilograms (kg) of copper per capita for 2009. Infrastructure, equipment, and buildings contain 42.0%, 26.1%, and 28.1% of the total stock, respectively, indicating that these three categories are principal potential reservoirs of a secondary copper resource. The copper in transportation amounts to only about 3.7% of the total amount. The per capita stock was compared with similar studies carried out in other regions of the world, and the results show that the Nanjing level is significantly lower than developed countries. On the whole, our results show that electric power transmission and distribution systems, buildings, household durables, and industrial equipment are the four largest potential reservoirs of copper scrap.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Copper In‐use Stocks in Nanjing, China

Zhang¹,

Yuan

2011

“…For a successful SFA, three steps have to be completed (Van der Voet et al. ; Udo de Haes et al. ): (1) The spatial and temporal boundaries of the study system have to be defined; (2) the inflows, stocks, and outflows have to be quantified for the substance of interest; and (3) the results have to be interpreted.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring Urban Copper Flows in Stockholm, Sweden: Implications of Changes Over Time

Amneklev

Augustsson

Sörme

et al. 2016

In this study, a substance flow analysis (SFA) for copper (Cu) was conducted, in which the inflow, stock, and outflow (in the form of diffuse emissions to soil and water) for Stockholm were estimated for 2013 and compared with a previous study from 1995, hence allowing a discussion on changes over time. A large number of applications containing Cu were analyzed (including power cables, copper alloys, heavy electrical equipment, tap water systems, roofs, cars, various consumer electronics, wood preservatives, and contact cables for the railroad). The results show that the inflow of Cu to Stockholm has increased between 1995 and 2013, both in total and per person, mainly as the result of an increase in heavy electrical equipment, power cables, and cars. The stock remains relatively unchanged, whereas the outflow has increased. For the outflow, the emission increase from brake linings is of greatest quantitative importance, with an estimated 5.8 tonnes annual emission of Cu to the environment of Stockholm in 2013 compared to 3.9 tonnes in 1995. Given that increasing inflows of limited resources drive the global demand, continuous monitoring of flows through society and management of outflow routes are crucial, including improvement of national legislation and regional environmental plans as well as efforts to increase resource-use efficiency and recycling.

“…SFA is a method commonly used to map the flows and stocks of different substances in, for example, an urban area (Brunner ; Eriksson et al ; Månsson et al ; Van der Voet et al ). This study follows SFA methodology, where three kinds of common cosmetic products were analyzed to determine whether they may provide a notable source of Bi and Ag in our society and environment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bismuth and Silver in Cosmetic Products: A Source of Environmental and Resource Concern?

Amneklev

Augustsson

Sörme

et al. 2015

Bismuth (Bi) and silver (Ag) are used in increasing amounts and are consequently being emitted from various sources and showing high accumulation rates in soils when sewage sludge is applied on arable land. This study aimed to analyze the amounts of Bi and Ag in three cosmetic products (foundation, powder, and eye shadow) in order to study the flows in urban wastewater in Stockholm, Sweden. Analyses showed that Bi was present in very high concentrations (7,000 to 360,000 milligrams per kilogram) in one third of the analyzed foundation and powder samples, whereas Ag concentrations all were below the detection limit. These cosmetic products explained approximately 24% of the measured total Bi amounts per year reaching the WWTP (wastewater treatment plant), making cosmetics a major Bi source, whereas for Ag the corresponding contribution was <0.1% of the measured annual Ag amounts. The results were roughly adapted for Europe and the United States, estimating the Bi flows from cosmetics to WWTPs. On a global scale, these flows correspond to a non-negligible part of the world Bi production that, every year, ends up in sewage sludge, limiting the reuse of a valuable metal resource. From an environmental and resource perspective, foundations and powder products should be considered as significant sources of measured Bi amounts in sludge. This large Bi flow must be considered as unsustainable. For Ag, however, the three analyzed cosmetic products are not a significant source of the total Ag load to WWTPs. Keywords:bismuth cosmetics industrial ecology sewage sludge silver substance flow analysis Supporting information is available on the JIE Web site