Technology Innovation for the Circular Economy
Description
The book comprises 56 peer-reviewed chapters comprehensively covering in-depth areas of circular economy design, planning, business models, and enabling technologies.
Some of the greatest opportunities for innovation in the circular economy are in remanufacturing, refurbishment, reuse, and recycling. Critical to its growth, however, are developments in product design approaches and the manufacturing business model that are often met with challenges in the current, largely linear economies of today's global manufacturing chains.
The conference hosted by the REMADE Institute in Rochester, NY, brought together U.S. and international researchers, industry engineers, technologists, and policymakers, to discuss the myriad intertwining issues relating to the circular economy.
This book consists of 56 chapters in 10 distinct parts covering broad areas of research and applications in the circular economy area. The first four parts explore the system level work related to circular economy approaches, models and advancements including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to guide implementation, as well as design for circularity approaches. Mechanical and chemical recycling technologies follow, highlighting some of the most advanced research in those areas. Next, innovation in remanufacturing is addressed with descriptions of some of the most advanced work in this field. This is followed by tire remanufacturing and recycling, highlighting innovative technologies in addressing the volume of end-of-use tires. Pathways to net-zero emissions in manufacturing of materials concludes the book, with a focus on industrial decarbonization.
Audience
This book has a wide audience in academic institutes, business professionals and engineers in a variety of manufacturing industries. It will also appeal to economists and policymakers working on the circular economy, clean tech investors, industrial decision-makers, and environmental professionals.
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Person
Nabil Nasr is the CEO of the REMADE Institute, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Director of the Golisano Institute of Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, USA. Dr. Nasr launched RIT's Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery (C3R®). His research focuses on sustainable manufacturing, circular economy, remanufacturing, life-cycle engineering, clean production, and sustainable product development. He is a member of the International Resource Panel of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), and serves on the board of trustees for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. He has served as a US expert and expert delegate in international forums such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, United Nations, World Trade Organization, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Content
Preface xxvii
Part 1: Circular Economy 1
1 Standards as Enablers for a Circular Economy 3
K.C. Morris, Vincenzo Ferrero, Buddhika Hapuwatte, Noah Last and Nehika Mathur
2 Circularity Index: Performance Assessment of a Low-Carbon and Circular Economy 17
Luis Gabriel Carmona, Kai Whiting and Jonathan Cullen
3 Biodegradable Polymers For Circular Economy Transitions-Challenges and Opportunities 29
Koushik Ghosh and Brad H. Jones
4 Evaluating Nationwide Supply Chain for Circularity of PET and Olefin Plastics 43
Tasmin Hossain, Damon S. Hartley, Utkarsh S. Chaudhari, David R. Shonnard, Anne T. Johnson and Yingqian Lin
5 NextCycle: Building Robust Circular Economies Through Partnership and Innovation 55
Juri Freeman
6 My So-Called Trash: Evaluating the Recovery Potential of Textiles in New York City Residential Refuse 63
Sarah Coulter, Constanza Gomez, Agustina Mir and Janel Twogood
7 When is it Profitable to Make a Product Sustainable? Insights from a Decision-Support Tool 75
Karan Bhuwalka, Jessica Sonner, Lisa Lin, Mirjam Ambrosius and A. E. Hosoi
8 Clean Energy Technologies, Critical Materials, and the Potential for Remanufacture 95
T.E. Graedel
Part 2: Enabling a Circular Economy Through AI & Machine Learning 101
9 Towards Eliminating Recycling Confusion: Mixed Plastics and Electronics Case Study 103
Amin Sarafraz, Nicholas Alvarez, Jonas Toussaint, Felipe Rangel, Lamar Giggetts and Shawn Wilborne
10 Identification and Separation of E-Waste Components Using Modified Image Recognition Model Based on Advanced Deep Learning Tools 115
Rahulkumar Sunil Singh, Subbu Venkata Satyasri Harsha Pathapati, Michael L. Free and Prashant K Sarswat
11 Enhanced Processing of Aluminum Scrap at End-of-Life via Artificial Intelligence & Smart Sensing 129
Sean McCoy Langan, Emily Molstad, Ben Longo, Caleb Ralphs, Robert De Saro, Diran Apelian and Sean Kelly
12 Deep Learning for Defect Detection in Inspection 143
Mohammad Mohammadzadeh, Pallavi Dubey, Elif Elcin Gunay, John K. Jackman, Gül E. Okudan Kremer and Paul A. Kremer
Part 3: Design for Circularity 157
13 Calculator for Sustainable Tradeoff Optimization in Multi-Generational Product Family Development Considering Re-X Performances 159
Michael Saidani, Xinyang Liu, Dylan Huey, Harrison Kim, Pingfeng Wang, Atefeh Anisi, Gul Kremer, Andrew Greenlee and Troy Shannon
14 A Practical Methodology for Developing and Prioritizing Remanufacturing Design Rules 171
Brian Hilton
15 Recyclability Feedback for Part Assemblies in Computer-Aided Design Software 183
Bert Bras and Richard Lootens
Part 4: Systems Analysis 197
16 Preliminary Work Towards A Cross Lifecycle Design Tool for Increased High-Quality Metal Recycling 199
Daniel R. Cooper, Aya Hamid, Seyed M. Heidari, Alissa Tsai and Yongxian Zhu
17 Assessing the Status Quo of U.S. Steel Circularity and Decarbonization Options 211
Barbara K. Reck, Yongxian Zhu, Shahana Althaf and Daniel R. Cooper
18 Fiber and Fabric-Integrated Tracing Technologies for Textile Sorting and Recycling: A Review 223
Brian Iezzi, Max Shtein, Tairan Wang and Mordechai Rothschild
19 A Systems Approach to Addressing Industrial Products Circularity Challenges 239
Manish Gupta and Umeshwar Dayal
20 Environmental and Economic Analyses of Chemical Recycling via Dissolution of Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate 255
Utkarsh S. Chaudhari, Daniel G. Kulas, Alejandra Peralta, Robert M. Handler, Anne T. Johnson, Barbara K. Reck, Vicki S. Thompson, Damon S. Hartley, Tasmin Hossain, David W. Watkins and David R. Shonnard
21 Techno-Economic Analysis of a Material Recovery Facility Employing Robotic Sorting Technology 269
S.M. Mizanur Rahman and Barbara K. Reck
22 Key Strategies in Industry for Circular Economy: Analysis of Remanufacturing and Beneficial Reuse 279
Subodh Chaudhari, Sachin Nimbalkar, Bruce Lung, Marco Gonzalez, Bert Hill and Bryant Esch
23 Spatio-Temporal Life Cycle Assessment of NMC111 Hydrometallurgical Recycling in the US 297
Francis Hanna, Luyao Yuan, Calvin Somers and Annick Anctil
Part 5: Mechanical Recycling 309
24 Diverting Mixed Polyolefins from Municipal Solid Waste to Feedstocks for Automotive and Construction Applications 311
Tanyaradzwa S. Muzata, Alexandra Alford, Laurent Matuana, Ramani Narayan, Lawrence Drzal, Kari Bliss and Muhammad Rabnawaz
25 Ultrahigh-Speed Extrusion of Recycled Film-Grade LDPE and Injection Molding Characterization 321
Peng Gao, Joshua Krantz, Olivia Ferki, Zarek Nieduzak, Sarah Perry, Davide Masato and Margaret J. Sobkowicz
26 Composites from Post-Consumer Polypropylene Carpet and HDPE Retail Bags 333
Anuj Maheshwari, Mohamadreza Youssefi Azarfam, Siddhesh Chaudhari, Clinton Switzer, Jay C. Hanan, Sudheer Bandla, Ranji Vaidyanathan and Frank D. Blum
27 Upcycling of Aerospace Aluminum Scrap 343
Mohamed Aboukhatwa and David Weiss
28 Stabilization of Waste Plastics with Lightly Pyrolyzed Crumb Rubber in Asphalt 355
Yuetan Ma, Hongyu Zhou, Pawel Polaczyk and Baoshan Huang
29 Analysis and Design for Sustainable Circularity of Barrier Films Used in Sheet Molding Composites Production 365
Farshid Nazemi, Bhavik Bakshi, Jose Castro, Rachmat Mulyana, Rebecca Hanes, Saikrishna Mukkamala, Kevin Dooley, George Basile, George Stephanopoulos, Andrea Nahas, Aleen Kujur and Todd Hyche
30 An Update on PVC Plastic Circularity and Emerging Advanced Recovery Technologies for End-of-Life PVC Materials 379
Domenic DeCaria
31 Dynamic Crosslinking for EVA Recycling 395
Kimberly Miller McLoughlin, Alireza Bandegi, Jayme Kennedy, Amin Jamei Oskouei, Sarah Mitchell, Michelle K. Sing, Thomas Gray and Ica Manas-Zloczower
Part 6: Chemical Recycling 407
32 Performing Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Glycolysis in a Torque Rheometer Using Decreasing Temperatures 409
Jonathan Hatt, Karl Englund and Hui Li
33 Sustainable Petrochemical Alternatives From Plastic Upcycling 421
Ryan A. Hackler and Robert M. Kennedy
34 PE Upcycling Using Ozone and Acid Treatments 433
Michael S. Behrendt, Brandon D. Howard, Scott Calabrese-Barton, John R. Dorgan, Samantha Au Gee and Amit Gokale
35 Enzyme-Based Biotechnologies for Removing Stickies and Regaining Fiber Quality in Paper Recycling 449
Yun Wang, Cornellius Marcello, Neha Sawant, Swati Sood, Qaseem Haider, Abdus Salam and Kecheng Li
36 Removal of Iron and Manganese Impurities from Secondary Aluminum Melts Using Microstructural Engineering Techniques 463
M.K. Sinha, B. Mishra, J. Hiscocks, B. Davi, S.K. Das, T. Grosko and J. Pickens
37 A Novel Solvent-Based Recycling Technology: From Theory to Pilot Plant 477
Ezra Bar-Ziv, Shreyas Kolapkar, George W. Huber and Reid C. Van Lehn
38 Valorization of Plastic Waste via Advanced Separation and Processing 495
Paschalis Alexandridis, Karthik Dantu, Christian Ferger, Ali Ghasemi, Gabrielle Kerr, Vaishali Maheshkar, Javid Rzayev, Nicholas Stavinski, Thomas Thundat, Marina Tsianou, Luis Velarde and Yaoli Zhao
Part 7: Innovations in Remanufacturing 507
39 Image-Based Machine Learning in Automotive Used Parts Identification for Remanufacturing 509
Abu Islam, Suvrat Jain, Nenad G. Nenadic, Michael G.Thurston, Justin Greenberg and Brad Moss
40 Image-Based Methods for Inspection of Printed Circuit Boards 527
Nicholas Gardner, Cooper Linsky, Everardo FriasRios and Nenad Nenadic
41 Effects of Ultrasonic Impact Treatment on the Fatigue Performance of the High Strength Alloy Steel 541
Joha Shamsujjoha, Shirley Garcia Ruano, Mark Walluk, Michael Thurston and M. Ravi Shankar
42 Mechanical Properties of High Carbon Steel Coatings on Gray Cast Iron Formed by Twin Wire ARC 555
K. DePalma, M. Walluk and L. P. Martin
43 Towards Development of Additive Manufacturing Material and Process Technologies to Improve the Re-Manufacturing Efficiency of Commercial Vehicle Tires 573
Yiqun Fu, Tadek Kosmal, Ren Bean, Robert Radulescu, Timothy E. Long and Christopher B. Williams
Part 8: Tire Recycling and Remanufacturing 585
44 Crumb Rubber From End-of-Life Tires to Reduce the Environmental Impact and Material Intensity of Road Pavements 587
Angela Farina, Annick Anctil and M. Emin Kutay
45 Tire Life Assessment for Increasing Re-Manufacturing of Commercial Vehicle Tires 599
Vispi Karkaria, Jie Chen, Chase Siuta, Damien Lim, Robert Radelescu and Wei Chen
46 Recycling Waste Tire Rubber in Asphalt Pavement Design and Construction 613
Dongzhao Jin and Zhanping You
47 Chemical Pre-Treatment of Tire Rubbers for Froth Flotation Separation of Butyl and Non-Butyl Rubbers 625
Haruka Pinegar and Jeffrey Spangenberger
48 Development of Manufacturing Technologies to Increase Scrap Steel Recycling Into New Tires 639
Seetharaman Sridhar, Subramaniam Rajan, Robert Radulescu and Narayanan Neithalath
Part 9: E-Scrap Recycling 651
49 Selective Leaching and Electrochemical Purification for the Recovery of Tantalum from Tantalum Capacitors 653
R. Adcock, T. Chen, N. Click, M.-F. Tseng and M. Tao
50 Recovery of Lead in Silicon Solar Modules 665
Natalie Click, Randy Adcock and Meng Tao
51 Thermolysis Processing of Waste Printed Circuit Boards: Char-Metals Mixture Characterization for Recovery of Base and Precious Metals 677
Mohammad Rezaee, Joelson P. M. Alves, Sarma V. Pisupati, Charles Ludwig, Henry Brandhorst and Ernest Zavoral
52 Circular Economy and the Digital Divide: Assessing Opportunity for Value Retention Processes in the Consumer Electronics Sector 697
Kyle Parnell, Constanza Berrón, Chelsea Gulliver, Michael Thurston and Nabil Nasr
Part 10: Pathways to Net Zero Emissions 713
53 Emission Reduction for an Imflux Constant Pressure Injection Molding Process 715
Birchmeier, Brandon, Lawless III, William F. and Santini, Kelly
54 Circular Economy Contributions to Decarbonizing the US Steel Sector 725
Julien Walzberg and Alberta Carpenter
55 Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) Modeling for Industrial Decarbonization Opportunity Assessment: A Circular Economy Case Study 739
Samuel Gause, Heather Liddell, Caroline Dollinger, Jordan Steen and Joe Cresko
56 Pathways to Net Zero Emissions in Manufacturing and Materials Production- HVAC OEMs Perspective 755
Deba Maitra, Swathy Ramaswamy, Cal Krause and Tiffany Waymer
Acknowledgements 764
References 764
Index 767
1
Standards as Enablers for a Circular Economy
K.C. Morris1*, Vincenzo Ferrero1, Buddhika Hapuwatte2, Noah Last3 and Nehika Mathur1
1National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA
2National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA; University of Maryland, College Park, USA
3National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA; Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA
Abstract
A successful transition to a circular economy (CE) will require global participation, but the path to that transition will follow many unique routes depending on local situations. The transition must have rigorous technical underpinnings and well-conceived social interventions. In addition to solid technical foundations, consensus will add legitimacy to new and revised business practices thereby reducing the risk in their adoption. Standards created by voluntary consensus bodies are uniquely positioned to serve these purposes. In these bodies, stakeholders from a broad spectrum of society (industry, academia, government) come together to define solutions for unique circumstances and communicate them through published standards. Standards are developed by systematically determining the scope of the work, agreeing on terminology, and building on that foundation to create detailed specifications. Early engagement in the standards bodies can position stakeholders to be leaders in the path that lies ahead.
This chapter reviews several efforts to coordinate industries to facilitate the adoption of circular practices and technologies, highlights opportunities for further development, and discusses the role of consensus-based standards in these efforts. It highlights two recent international standards activities supporting the transition to a CE in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and ASTM International, followed by an example of a carbon savings measure designed to encourage more reuse of materials. While the initial standards efforts are underway, greater participation will be needed to complete the necessary agreements to establish a successful CE. ISO Technical Committee 323 on Circular economy is developing a set of standards including terminology, fundamental principles, metrics, product circularity data sheet definitions, and documenting business models and industrial case studies. These standards will support the UN Sustainable Development Goals and hence are applicable across many levels of economic and infrastructural development. ASTM International, in contrast, focuses on specialized technical standards to be used to operationalize changes in existing practices. The ASTM Committee E60 Sustainability produces standards for operationalizing sustainability in practice and supports the work of other committees to pursue sustainability objectives. E60 recently developed a roadmap for standards to foster a CE of manufacturing materials and is initiating new work in this area. The chapter concludes with an example for incentivizing broader stakeholder participation in the transition to a CE through metrics for calculating carbon avoidance and highlights the need for standards to support the approach.
Keywords: Circular economy, standards, ASTM, ISO, carbon avoidance, sustainable manufacturing, smart manufacturing
1.1 Introduction
Facilitating the transition from a linear (take-make-use-dispose) economy to a circular one requires that we reevaluate our relationship with products, the materials and processes we use to make them, and our attitudes about them once they reach the end of their useful life. This requires that we see both the trees and the forest-i.e., take a systems-level perspective in which we zoom in on individual product life cycle stages while understanding how the materials and information flowing in and out of those stages influences the entire product life cycle. Due to its role in the transformation of materials into products and the generation of economic activity, the manufacturing sector is a major stakeholder in the transition to a circular economy (CE). In fact, the CE shows great promise for manufacturers to fulfill sustainability goals in part because they can view it through the lenses of both sustainability and economics. In terms of sustainability, a CE promotes the efficient use/reuse and equitable allocation of resources. If successfully implemented, a CE will reduce our reliance on the extraction of non-renewable resources [1], decrease environmental damage from resource extraction [2], and promote manufacturing and better waste management [3]. From a purely economic lens, a CE for materials and products challenges us to build a hyper-efficient closed-loop economic system in which waste and products at their end-of-life are seen as a resource instead of a burden [4, 5].
The transition to this more sustainable and economically attractive system of material use and product creation has already begun, but it remains a patchwork of initiatives and policies [6, 7]. To solve this patchwork problem, broad coordination is needed among local and federal governments, international governing bodies, manufacturers themselves, financial institutions, and consumers. Standards are a key tool for creating this coordination. First, foundational standards create a consensus around, for example, terminology (e.g., an agreed upon definition of a CE), practice methods (e.g., establishing best practices for measuring, predicting, and reducing environmental impacts.), and reporting standards (e.g., the Greenhouse Gas Protocol). Standards also build trust among consumers to have faith that products are designed for circularity, made of post-consumer materials, and can satisfy claims of environmental quality [8]. In addition, because the improvements can be difficult to implement, especially for small- and medium-sized firms, standards can decrease the barriers that organizations face when adapting and improving their practices [9]. Finally, while most standards are voluntary, meaning firms can choose to adhere to them, the fact that they are developed through consensus by a diversity of relevant stakeholders means that they are often widely implemented in practice and can be contractually relied on and used to develop and adhere to regulations [10].
Standards may be key to coordinating stakeholders in the transition to a CE, but identifying the standards that are needed and determining the best way to create them is a daunting task. A successful CE will require three categories of overlapping standards: 1) shared goals, 2) management standards, and 3) measurement standards (Figure 1.1) [6, 9]. Shared goals involve initiatives that direct broad standards efforts, like the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) guidance, which incorporates metrics for 77 different industries. Management standards specify how organizations should manage themselves and their supply chains, for instance, to reduce negative impacts on the environment and human health and safety; the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) gathers representatives from different countries to create international standards that help bring consistency and quality to management practices worldwide. Finally, the measurement category involves standards for material quality/ performance, communicating technical specifications, testing, and process improvements; ASTM International contributes heavily to this area.
Figure 1.1 Types of standards needed to transition to a circular economy (CE).
Along with broad standards initiatives, circular business models are needed to transition to a CE [11-13]. Companies are increasingly making ESG (environmental, social, governance) commitments in response to consumer and shareholder demands, regulations, and planning for longevity. However, the types and scopes of commitments being made need to be balanced across a circular system that extends beyond the efforts and interests of individual organizations. Mechanisms are needed to incentivize companies to make their own operations more circular, and in doing so strengthen the larger value chains. For instance, large organizations are seeking means to account for the impacts of their supply chains in addition to their own individual contributions. From there, they are reporting these impacts, reduction goals, and progress towards those goals through reporting standards (e.g., SASB; the Global Reporting Initiative). These industries and their consumers, shareholders, and governments are increasingly desiring metrics for measuring progress towards these goals that are traceable and transparent.
This chapter reviews three initiatives-two standards efforts and one metric-based approach to incentivize firms-to coordinate manufacturers to operationalize circularity and further the transition to a CE. The first is ISO Technical Committee (TC) 323 on Circular economy, a technical committee established in 2018 to work on management standards. The second is ASTM International's Committee E60 on Sustainability, which is creating operational measurement standards to support the transition to a CE. Finally, we describe a research effort to calculate carbon avoidance to measure the impacts of material reuse. We show how metrics such as the carbon avoidance measurement can be used to incentivize participation in a CE and the need for standards and policies to exploit this type of measurement.
