Emerging anthropogenic circularity science: Principles, practices, and challenges

Zeng, Xianlai; Li, Jinhui

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102237

Cited by 37 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 94 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…As such, since deposits of natural chromium is highly geographically concentrated (USGS National Minerals Information Center, 2020), such a framework could also be applied by other countries heavily depending on minerals imports so that they can seek potential recycling opportunities and achieve sustainable resource management. From the interdisciplinary perspective (Zeng & Li, 2021), future research may focus on how to link resource management with circular economy so that the overall resource efficiency can be further improved by implementing the principles of circular economy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution of the anthropogenic chromium cycle in China

Gao

Geng

Zeng

et al. 2021

J of Industrial Ecology

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Chromium (Cr) is a critical metal due to its essential economic importance and potential supply risk in contemporary society. Recycling of secondary chromium metals is a desirable sustainable strategy in responding to the soaring demand, but existing literatures have limitations in capturing the anthropogenic chromium cycle and thus fail to address the availability of such secondary resources. Under such a circumstance, this study aims to uncover China's chromium dynamic flows and stocks for the period of 2000–2019. The results show that China's chromium demand increased more than tenfold from 2000 to 2019 due to the rapid development of the stainless‐steel industry. The net Cr import to apparent Cr consumption (includes old scrap recycling) reached 94% in 2019, in which 69% of purchased virgin materials were imported from the African region (e.g., South Africa). The generation of end‐of‐life flows has been accelerating since 2000 and reached approximately 1,400 Gg in 2019, indicating more available secondary Cr resource and great recycling potential. However, the end‐of life recycling ratio (EOL‐RR) fluctuated during 2011–2015 and decreased to about 17% (uncertainty ranging from 7% to 24%) in 2019. Such findings reflect the unstable demand for old scrap and call for an integrated management of both primary and secondary chromium resources, with a special focus on accurate planning for scrap utilization. Possible solutions include the reengineering of sorting and processing for stainless‐steel scrap, the development of secondary resource markets, economic incentives for secondary resources, and the increased imports of secondary stainless‐steel materials.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is critical to encourage sustainable use of not only primary metals but also secondary metals as alternative resources (UNEP–International Resource Panel, 2011). In this regard, anthropogenic circularity science can facilitate a smooth transition to a circular society (Zeng & Li, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of the anthropogenic chromium cycle in China

Gao

Geng

Zeng

et al. 2021

J of Industrial Ecology

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“…The notion of industrial ecology was put forward in the late 1980s [38] for the first time. It originates from natural ecosystems, aiming to transfer it from a linear to a closed loop system [39]. The central tenet of industrial ecology is to fully understand the circulation of materials and energy flow [40].…”

Section: Industrial Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing a Framework for Materials Flow by Integrating Circular Economy Principles with End-of-Life Management Strategies

et al. 2022

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Circular economy is an upward trending notion that has drawn worldwide attention of policymakers, industry administrators, environmentalist as well as academic researchers. Though there are several tools developed for monitoring the material recovery, a very few number of research have been conducted to integrate circular economy principles with end-of-life (EOL) management strategies. This paper proposes an EOL-driven circular economy framework for the management of materials flow so as to extend the lifetime of materials through improved durability as well as to provide more social, economic and environmental benefits through less material waste. A case study from the agricultural waste industry is presented in order to test the model and validate its performance. The results show that the proposed framework has a good potential for small and medium enterprises (SME) advances.

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“…Primary and secondary metals must be viewed as parts of a same system that must be fully comprehended (Bloodworth, 2014). Driven by the concept of recycling, anthropogenic circularity (see the definition in Appendix A) science is an emerging area from the interdisciplinary development of earth science, technology science, and management science (Zeng and Li, 2021). Only a few works mentioned the circularity and carbon neutrality (Al-Obaidy et al, 2021;Mangold and von Vacano, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Win-Win: Anthropogenic circularity for metal criticality and carbon neutrality

Zeng

2022

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

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Resource depletion and environmental degradation have fueled a burgeoning discipline of anthropogenic circularity since the 2010s. It generally consists of waste reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, and recovery. Circular economy and “zero-waste” cities are sweeping the globe in their current practices to address the world’s grand concerns linked to resources, the environment, and industry. Meanwhile, metal criticality and carbon neutrality, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, denote the material’s feature and state, respectively. The goal of this article is to determine how circularity, criticality, and neutrality are related. Upscale anthropogenic circularity has the potential to expand the metal supply and, as a result, reduce metal criticality. China barely accomplished 15 % of its potential emission reduction by recycling iron, copper, and aluminum. Anthropogenic circularity has a lot of room to achieve a win-win objective, which is to reduce metal criticality while also achieving carbon neutrality in a near closed-loop cycle. Major barriers or challenges for conducting anthropogenic circularity are deriving from the inadequacy of life-cycle insight governance and the emergence of anthropogenic circularity discipline. Material flow analysis and life cycle assessment are the central methodologies to identify the hidden problems. Mineral processing and smelting, as well as end-of-life management, are indicated as critical priority areas for enhancing anthropogenic circularity.

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Emerging anthropogenic circularity science: Principles, practices, and challenges

Cited by 37 publications

References 94 publications

Evolution of the anthropogenic chromium cycle in China

Evolution of the anthropogenic chromium cycle in China

Designing a Framework for Materials Flow by Integrating Circular Economy Principles with End-of-Life Management Strategies

Win-Win: Anthropogenic circularity for metal criticality and carbon neutrality

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