Search results for " Circular Economy"

Grounds and Challenges for Implementing a Circular Economy in the European Road transport Sector

2017

Environmental challenges, especially in the form of resource depletion, pollution and greenhouse gas emission, are very important challenges for the socio-economic development. For this reason, the concept of a circular economy has been developed and is being implemented in different areas. In 2015, the European Union adopted the Circular Economy Package consisting of an “EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy”, presenting a set of actions aimed at achieving objectives of the circular economy in Europe. The goal of the paper is to describe and discuss key challenges facing implementation of the concept of the circular economy in the European road transport sector. First, the concept of a c…

Challenges and opportunities for citrus wastewater management and valorisation: A review.

2022

Citrus wastewaters (CWWs) are by-products of the citrus fruit transformation process. Currently, more than 700 million of m³ of CWWs per year are produced worldwide. Until nowadays, the management of CWWs is based on a take-make-use-dispose model. Indeed, after being produced within a citrus processing industry, CWWs are subjected to treatment and then discharged into the environment. Now, the European Union is pushing towards a take-make-use-reuse management model, which suggests to provide for the minimization of residual pollutants simultaneously with their exploitation through a biorefinery concept. Indeed, the recovery of energy nutrients and other value-added products held by CWWs may…

Alkali-activated mortars for sustainable construction material: effects of binder-to-aggregate ratio and curing conditions

2019

Valorisation and reuse of industrial wastes has become a worldwide compelling topic to improve the sustainability of processes and materials. This paper discusses an alternative way to recycle the biomass fly ash, generated by the kraft pulp industry, to manufacture novel geopolymeric mortars intended for applications in construction. Biomass fly ash was used as a raw material, in partial substitution of the commonly used metakaolin, natural siliceous sand as aggregate. The followed manufacture process is highly simple and reproducible. Various proportions binder to aggregate were tested to study the effect on the final mortars properties. The mortars mechanical resistance was also studied …

ALKALI-ACTIVATED MORTARS FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL: EFFECTS OF BINDER-TO- AGGREGATE RATIO AND CURING CONDITION

2019

Valorisation and reuse of industrial wastes has become a worldwide compelling topic to improve the sustainability of processes and materials. This paper discusses an alternative way to recycle the biomass fly ash, generated by the kraft pulp industry, to manufacture novel geopolymeric mortars intended for applications in construction. Biomass fly ash was used as a raw material, in partial substitution of the commonly used metakaolin, natural siliceous sand as aggregate. The followed manufacture process is highly simple and reproducible. Various proportions binder to aggregate were tested to study the effect on the final mortars properties. The mortars mechanical resistance was also studied …

A feasibility study of table salt production from seawater reverse osmosis brine

2022

Design e ficodindia : per uno sviluppo locale sostenibile

2017

L’articolo descrive il rapporto tra il design e un prodotto dell’agroalimentare siciliano, il ficodindia di Roccapalumba, per uno sviluppo economico e territoriale nel rispetto dell’ambiente. A tal fine il ficodindia è considerato risorsa in grado di avviare delle innovazioni, come la valorizzazione degli scarti e la relazione tra gli attori locali. Nell’articolo, per generare una seconda vita agli scarti, si è studiato il ciclo di vita del ficodindia e tra i vari output si è considerato la potatura dei cladodi da cui si è ricavato una fibra, utilizzata in modo innovativo e secondo una visione locale, puntando sul patrimonio culturale e sulle tradizioni. The article describes the relationsh…

Design and Agrifood for new sustainable local development

2019

This paper is about the relationship between design and the prickly pear of Roccapalumba (Sicily), a product of the agrifood chain, considering it as a resource able to start innovative strategies for waste recycling and for a sustainable local economy. The study examines the entire life cycle of prickly pear and, among the various outputs, considers the cladodes to obtain cellulosic fibres, mucilage for cosmetics and for restoration of cultural heritage, the flowers for infusions and the fruit seeds for an oil with nutraceutical properties to generate a second life of the prickly pear. This will lead to economic and environmental benefits in the territory, creating a network of companies w…

Silver based sensors from CD for chloride ions detection

2021

This preliminary work shows a new and innovative way to produce silver based electrodes from compact discs and its application towards the detection of chloride ions. A complete sensor was obtained from the compact discs with working, reference and counter electrode made of silver. Chloride ions were detected by exploiting the high affinity of silver with this anion to produce silver chloride. This electrochemical oxidation of silver can be monitored by using an electrochemical technique such as linear scan voltammetry. Indeed, during linear scan voltammetry the oxidation of silver to silver chloride lead to a peak current that increases linearly with chloride concentration. Using this tech…

An exploratory study for analyzing the energy savings obtainable by reshaping processes of sheet metal based components

2017

Abstract Producing materials causes about 25% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Reshaping could be one of the most efficient strategy to foster material reuse and lower the environmental impact due to material production. Sheet metal forming processes can be applied to reshape sheet metal based component. This research field is still almost unexplored and the actual environmental impact saving potential has not been quantified. The present paper aims at starting to cover this research gap, a modeling effort to quantify the environmental impact saving of reshaping is proposed. Primary energy demand for conventional recycling and reshaping are quantified and compared. Primary energy savings…

Optimizing the Methodology of Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in EU under a Circular Economy Perspective

2017

Abstract The methodology for the characterization of residual municipal solid waste (RMSW) is available since decades. Some modifications have been introduced in order to modernize it. Now, in order to take into account the targets of the circular economy, an additional effort must be made to be sure of generating the right information suitable for the optimization of municipal solid waste in that frame. In that perspective, the Authors present a few proposals in order to avoid mistakes and to deepen the reliability of the data generated during the analysis performed to classify the residual municipal solid waste in fractions. A new model of characterization is thus proposed, suitable for p…