The omnivorous diet of modern technology

Greenfield, Aaron; Graedel, T. E.

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.02.010

Cited by 89 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…By exploring metals typically used by the products listed in Table 2, our data (details in SI Appendix , Table S10) demonstrate the following phenomena. (i) Increasing types and numbers of materials have been used in new products developed in different periods, such as the Al, Mg, Ti, and Be used in aircraft after the 1920s and the >36 metals used in computers after the 1980s (33).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

Chen

Graedel

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

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In-use stock of a product is the amount of the product in active use. In-use product stocks provide various functions or services on which we rely in our daily work and lives, and the concept of inuse product stock for industrial ecologists is similar to the concept of net manufactured capital stock for economists. This study estimates historical physical in-use stocks of 91 products and 9 product groups and uses monetary data on net capital stocks of 56 products to either approximate or compare with in-use stocks of the corresponding products in the United States. Findings include the following: (i) The development of new products and the buildup of their in-use stocks result in the increase in variety of in-use product stocks and of manufactured capital; (ii) substitution among products providing similar or identical functions reflects the improvement in quality of in-use product stocks and of manufactured capital; and (iii) the historical evolution of stocks of the 156 products or product groups in absolute, per capita, or per-household terms shows that stocks of most products have reached or are approaching an upper limit. Because the buildup, renewal, renovation, maintenance, and operation of in-use product stocks drive the anthropogenic cycles of materials that are used to produce products and that originate from natural capital, the determination of in-use product stocks together with modeling of anthropogenic material cycles provides an analytic perspective on the material linkage between manufactured capital and natural capital.in-use stocks | manufactured capital | industrial ecology | sustainability

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

Chen

Graedel

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

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“…greatly in excess of bio-capsity), concentric environmental impacts (i.e., altered land-use and bio-chemical cycles) and embedded dependencies on other cities and regional hinterlands for the supply of materials, energy and for the disposal of waste [256,257]. However, cities are being re-conceptualised as a critical locus of future resilience and sustainability, through for example, the potential of "urban harvesting"/"above ground mining" to recirculate the globally significant reservoirs/sinks and flows of secondary resources embodied in the dynamic of cites [256,[258][259][260].…”

Section: Conclusion: Zero Waste and The Design Of Future Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Phenomenon of Zero Waste and Future Cities

Hannon

Zaman

2018

Urban Science

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Abstract:The evolving phenomenon of zero waste encompasses the theory, practice, and learning of individuals, families, businesses, communities, and government organisations, responding to perceptions of crisis and failure around conventional waste management. The diverse and growing body of international zero waste experience, can be portrayed as both, an entirely new and alternative waste management paradigm, and or, interpreted as overlapping, extending, and synergetic with a general evolution towards more sustainable waste/resource management practices. Combining the terms zero and waste provokes creative, intellectual, and pragmatic tensions, which provide a contemporary axis for necessary debate and innovation in this sphere of resource management. This commentary draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and utilises some elements of the critique of zero waste, as a lens to examine and better understand this heterogeneous global community of practice. In particular, how the concept and implementation of a zero waste goal can increase community engagement and be a catalyst for the design and management of a more circular urban metabolism and hence, more adaptive, resilient, and sustainable future (zero waste) cities.

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“…Electronics Goes Green 2016+ Berlin, September 7 -9, 2016 every list, including those that apply to the electronics industry [9,10].…”

Section: Critical Materials In the Palette Of Electronic Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

When agendas align: Critical materials and green electronics

King

2016

2016 Electronics Goes Green 2016+ (EGG)

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Modern electronic devices are constructed using a large palette of materials, some of which are considered "critical," meaning that their supply-chains are tenuous to some degree and they cannot easily be substituted. The rare earth crisis of 2010-'11 brought worldwide attention to the challenge of dealing with critical materials, and resulted in several research programs being created, world wide, to find technological solutions to shortages of essential materials. Some of the approaches used to ensure the supply chains of critical materials are consistent with making electronics greener, some are neutral, and some can run counter to the greening of information devices. Some of the approaches applied to critical materials can also be applied to anacritical materials which are the opposite of critical materials in a particular sense: they are materials that need to be removed from production or eliminated from waste because they are oversupplied or have undesirable traits such as toxicity or contamination of recycle streams. We describe where critical materials strategies and greening strategies coincide, and evaluate the most significant roadblocks to success. KeywordsGreen products, Recycling, Consumer electronics, Production, Neodymium, Magnetic separation, Industries AbstractModern electronic devices are constructed using a large palette of materials, some of which are considered "critical," meaning that their supply-chains are tenuous to some degree and they cannot easily be substituted. The rare earth crisis of 2010-'11 brought worldwide attention to the challenge of dealing with critical materials, and resulted in several research programs being created, world wide, to find technological solutions to shortages of essential materials. Some of the approaches used to ensure the supply chains of critical materials are consistent with making electronics greener, some are neutral, and some can run counter to the greening of information devices. Some of the approaches applied to critical materials can also be applied to anacritical materials which are the opposite of critical materials in a particular sense: they are materials that need to be removed from production or eliminated from waste because they are oversupplied or have undesirable traits such as toxicity or contamination of recycle streams. We describe where critical materials strategies and greening strategies coincide, and evaluate the most significant roadblocks to success.

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The omnivorous diet of modern technology

Cited by 89 publications

References 9 publications

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

Exploring the Phenomenon of Zero Waste and Future Cities

When agendas align: Critical materials and green electronics

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