Quantifying the quality loss and resource efficiency of recycling by means of exergy analysis

Amini, Shahriar; Remmerswaal, J.A.M.; Castro, María; Reuter, M.A.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2006.01.010

Cited by 105 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…How to consistently model the benefits of recycling requires tackling one of the bottlenecks of the traditional LCA modelling, i.e. that the quantification of quality degradation of metals during recycling is lacking (Amini et al 2007). The idea of introducing a downgrading factor to take into account the quality of secondary material versus primary has been introduced in the most recent EoL formula developed in the context of the PEF methodology (Allacker et al 2014).…”

Section: Limitations and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Circular economy: To be or not to be in a closed product loop? A Life Cycle Assessment of aluminium cans with inclusion of alloying elements

Niero

Olsen

2016

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

134

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Abstract:Packaging, representing the second largest source of aluminium scrap at global level, deserves a key role in the transition towards the circular economy. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of aluminium products has been typically based on one life cycle considering pure aluminium flows and neglecting the presence of alloying elements and impurities. However, this simplification undermines the potentials of using LCA to quantify the environmental performances of products in multiple loops, as required in the circular economy. This study aims to investigate the effects of including the actual alloy composition in the LCA of aluminium can production and recycling, in order to understand whether a can-to-can (i.e. closed product loop) recycling should be promoted or not. Mass balance of the main alloying elements (Mn, Si, Cu, Fe) was carried out at increasing levels of recycling rate, corresponding to a temporal interval of five years. Different aluminium packaging scrap sources were considered: mixed packaging aluminium scrap and used beverage can scrap.The outcomes of the mass balance were used to quantify the amount of Mn and primary Al that needs to be reintegrated in each scenario according to the recycling rate and this information was further used to perform an LCA of 30 loops of aluminium can production and recycling, based on the actual alloy composition. The LCA revealed that the closed product loop option (considering used beverage can scrap) has lower climate change impacts over the other recycling scenario using mixed Al packaging scrap. The main recommendation from an LCA methodological point of view is to include the idea of multiple co-functions in the functional unit definition. To further improve the environmental performances of the aluminium beverage can sector towards circular economy implementation the key actions are: to reduce the weight of the lid, to develop methods to separate the body and lid at the point of collection, and to investigate the potentials of a closed supply chain loop for aluminium cans in terms of combined environmental and economic value creation.

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Section: Limitations and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are several types of losses connected with the recycling of metals, including aluminium (Castro et al 2004;Amini et al 2007;Nakamura et al 2012;Paraskevas et al 2015): (i) material losses, i.e. physical losses during scrap preparation and separating processes and melting losses; (ii) quality losses, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular economy: To be or not to be in a closed product loop? A Life Cycle Assessment of aluminium cans with inclusion of alloying elements

Niero

Olsen

2016

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

134

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“…After grinding and sorting, alloys are mixed, for example aluminum, zinc, iron, copper alloys, etc., with the following consequences: [10] -Material property losses -Value losses: alloys have different values when they are mixed, -Resource losses due to the dilution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This indicator can be calculated with software. We can thus calculate the exergy losses due to mass loss, contamination with impurities, and dilution [10] [11] [12] [13]. In this context and using the available data, the recyclability of several products was calculated using these three indicators.…”

Section: The Property Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Analysis of Existing Recyclability Assessment Methods for New Products in Order to Define a Reference Method

Maris¹,

Frœlich²

2013

Rewas 2013

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is an open access repository that collects the work of Arts et Métiers ParisTech researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. AbstractThe designers of products subject to the European regulations on waste have an obligation to improve the recyclability of their products from the very first design stages. The statutory texts refer to ISO standard 22 628, which proposes a method to calculate vehicle recyclability. There are several scientific studies that propose other calculation methods as well.

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“…Similarly to the WF and since exergy efficiency is the ratio of the total outgoing 1 exergy flow to the total incoming exergy flow during a process (Amini, 2007) In this paper a study on the exergetic efficiency of a proposed wind farm and PV park Air density losses were included in the used software which was used to produce the 5 power density maps. Air density varies from site to site (because of altitude changes 6 within the proposed WF) which has an effect on the WF productivity.…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the exergetic capacity factor of a wind – solar power generation system

Xydis

2013

Journal of Cleaner Production

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Please cite this article as: Xydis G, On the exergetic capacity factor of a wind -Solar power generation system, Journal of Cleaner Production (2012), doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.07.014. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. In the recent years, exergy analysis has become a very important tool in the evaluation 12 of systems' efficiency. It aims on minimizing the energy related-system losses and 13 therefore maximizing energy savings and helps society substantially to move towards 14 sustainable development and cleaner production. In this paper, a detailed exergetic 15 analysis aiming to identify the overall Exergetic Capacity Factor (ExCF) for a wind - M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

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Quantifying the quality loss and resource efficiency of recycling by means of exergy analysis

Cited by 105 publications

References 6 publications

Circular economy: To be or not to be in a closed product loop? A Life Cycle Assessment of aluminium cans with inclusion of alloying elements

Circular economy: To be or not to be in a closed product loop? A Life Cycle Assessment of aluminium cans with inclusion of alloying elements

Critical Analysis of Existing Recyclability Assessment Methods for New Products in Order to Define a Reference Method

On the exergetic capacity factor of a wind – solar power generation system

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