The World Bank released its first comprehensive report on the circular economy, highlighting that decoupling economic growth from resource use in Europe is achievable within a decade. The report emphasizes the shift from the “take-make-use-waste” linear model to a more sustainable circular model, showcasing global potential for similar transformations
Read the full article at: www.worldbank.org
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short time ago very first wind power turbines were dismantled. Much of the material is easy to recycle – mostly steel. But the blades are made with thermoset FRPs that have so far been considered unrecyclable. A short time ago, Finland’s very first wind power turbines were dismantled after nearly 30 years in service. Much of the material is easy to recycle – it’s mostly steel. But the blades, the largest up to 90 meters long and close to 10 tonnes in weight, are made with thermoset FRPs that have so far been considered unrecyclable.Markku Vilkki, CEO of Conenor and demonstration manager for the H2020 project Ecobulk, wants to demonstrate that it is not only possible, but also profitable.“ This is not just a problem for turbine blades. Composite materials are a fast-growing choice for many applications due to the excellent weight to strength ratios, excellent durability, and highly flexible moulding and manufacturing techniques,” he explained. “The analysts of Ceresana expect the global market for C-FRP and G-FRP to increase to a volume of over 9.98 million tons by 2024. But they very difficult, and in some cases considered impossible, to recycle,” Vilkki continued. According to the CEO most end up in landfills – and that’s something that needs to be resolved. “As this is great obstacle not only to the circular economy but also to more widespread use of these materials that otherwise can have great environmental benefits – for example in vehicles, a 10% reduction in weight can result in 6-8% reduction in fuel consumption,” he said. Together with the Ecobulk partners, the possibilities of re-using and recycling bulky composite products are being explored.
At Delft University of Technology (TUDelft), Professor Ruud Balkenende and his team of researchers, are experimenting with a large sample of wind turbine waste that was supplied by project partner Virol. So far their approach is to use the waste to build new products, and through this experience learn how we can improve the original materials for better and easier re-use at the first end-of-life stage. In his labs in Conenor, Vilkki has already produced samples of wood composite extrusion profiles containing 20% FRP waste from wind turbines. While these still need more thorough testing, early results show that these could well be used in lightweight construction applications.
Read the full article at: livecircular.com
Plastics can accelerate their contribution to the European Circular Economy objectives of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, higher resource effciency and job creation, according to a new report from EuPC and 4 other partners. ‘Plastics Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda in a Circular Economy’ was developed in cooperation with SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry; CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council; PlasticsEurope; and ECP4, the European Composites, Plastics and Polymer Processing Platform. The report presents a shared vision, demonstrates how collaboration within the plastic value chain will be a driving force for change, and outlines the future research needs required to fulfil the objectives of the European Plastic Strategy. The technology solutions described are part of an integral approach to make the entire plastics production more circular. To achieve an overall increased circularity, the report identified a number of key factors: Design materials with enhanced separation and recycling properties, Design articles/products to encourage reuse, Develop repair solutions that extend the lifetime of plastic articles, Innovate advanced recycling technologies to increase the value retrieved from plastic waste, Incorporate alternative feedstocks in the production of plastics – feedstocks that take waste or by-products from other sectors and processes, such as biological feedstock from the agricultural industry, carbon-based feedstock from the chemical industry and chemical and secondary plastics from the plastic industry.
Read the full article at: waste-management-world.com
The potential of oil & gas exporters to contribute to global decarbonization is vastly underappreciated. In the article linked below, I summarize our recent peer-reviewed paper showing how Norway (as an energy exporter) can help Germany (as an energy importer) to decarbonize rapidly, practically, and economically while maintaining attractive profit margins. The key is to develop a local CCS industry (basically just oil & gas extraction in reverse) using the vast pool of relevant local expertise, and export a diversified mix of decarbonized energy products. Electricity and hydrogen can be exported to neighbouring countries, and a wide range of other easily tradeable and storable industrial products (exemplified by steel in our study) can access global markets, reducing risks from uneconomical green technology-forcing policies in neighbouring countries.
The report states that of the 92.8 billion tonnes of exploited resources in 2015 (which equates to 34.4kg of raw materials per person per day, excluding water), only 8.4 billion tonnes was recycled. This equates to just 9.1% of all resources. The Dutch think-tank Circle Economy made the most of the annual meeting of world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos to publish its first report on the circular economy, titled the Circularity Gap Report. If 21.5 billion tonnes of raw material are put into long-term stock, notably in construction, the remaining 51.9 billion tonnes are transformed into short-lived products and are assumed to be scattered in the environment. Of the 19.4 billion tonnes of materials turned into waste only 46% is recycled, according to the report, whose main objective is to develop a method and indicative references to measure the world economy’s progress towards a more circular economic model. Pressure on natural resources decreased by 28%. This waste completely goes against the environmental commitments discussed by governments and corporation at the COP21. The extraction of natural resources multiplied by twelve between 1900 and 2015 and should double once again by 2050. But a fully circular economy would decrease pressure on natural resources by 28%, the report calculated. Indeed, 67% of greenhouse gases are emitted by the exploitation of natural resources. A fully circular economy would enable us to cut these emissions by 72%, according to the report. A crucial contribution if you take into account the UN’s last Emissions Gap Report published in October, which served as a reference to the Circularity Gap Report. According to the UN report, even if all participating states of the Paris Agreement were to keep to their commitments, the global temperature would most likely rise by 3-3,2°C before 2100. Therefore the agreement’s goal of keeping the global temperature rising above 2°C would not be reached. On 22 January France’s Environment Minister Nicholas Hulot revealed that France had failed to meet its 2016 carbon emission targets by 3.6%.
Read the full article at: www.euractiv.com
Unilever is working toward a self-imposed goal to be, by 2025, using plastic packaging only if it is designed to be fully reusable, recyclable, or compostable. And since recyclables are only ever actually recycled if there’s a lucrative market for the resulting material, the multinational has also pledged to use 25% recycled material in its packaging by that same deadline. According to the media release, “Veolia will work with Unilever to implement used packaging collection solutions, add recycling capacity and develop new processes and business models through this partnership in various countries.” The partnership will begin with material collection projects in India and Indonesia. From there, presumably, the companies will build on their learnings and expand collection and recycling efforts accordingly. “The scale of the plastic waste issue is getting worse, not better, with the production of plastics expected to double over the next two decades,” acknowledges Marc Engel, Unilever’s chief supply chain officer. “We all have a lot more to do to address this critical issue and we hope that by partnering with Veolia, a world leader in waste management, we can take meaningful strides towards a circular economy.”
Read the full article at: www.cosmeticsdesign.com