Search results for " CIRCULAR ECONOMY"
showing 10 items of 54 documents
Dismantling and copper recovery from Waste Printed Circuit Boards (WPCBs) using an integrated hydro-electrometallurgical approach
RIFIUTI E CITTA' STORICA. IL PAESAGGIO URBANO E L’IMPATTO DELLE SOLUZIONI TECNOLOGICHE
2019
Circular management of resource flows is an operational problem that appears with greater severity in an historical urban landscape due to the constraints generated by road fabrics and by the need to protect its values. It often happens that the degradation generated by the irresolute nature of the technical-environmental issues related to the service management, affects both the vulnerability of the historical city characters and the involvement of different actors. Here, we present the results of a research work that, through a case study, develops the experimentation of a methodology that identifies criteria for a waste collection system planning in an urban landscape of high historical …
Energy and environmental assessment of residual bio-wastes management strategies
2021
Abstract This paper assesses the potential energy and environmental impacts of an anaerobic digester coupled with a combined heat and power plant powered with bio-wastes from the agri-food sector. The analysis is carried out through the Life Cycle Assessment methodology following a “cradle-to-grave” approach and is based mostly on primary data. The anaerobic digester - combined heat and power plant is analysed considering a twofold perspective: one more energy – oriented where the main function of the system is to generate renewable electricity and a waste – oriented one in which the main function is treating bio-wastes. In addition, the environmental indirect effects related to potential c…
From waste to resource for a sustainable future
2023
Every day we produce waste that constitutes an environmental and economic problem. A quantity of this waste is recycled, reused or composted and a quantity is sent to landfills. How can we produce less waste and using waste as a resource? Reducing waste is one of the objectives of the circular economy and their recycle asks us to rethink production and consumption models, this implies that design is a strategic element. In fact, in recent years design played a key role in the transition from a linear to a circular economy with a design based on the efficient use of materials, the reduction of the amount of waste generated, intervening on durability, repairability, the possibility of updatin…
Agro-tourism Structures, SARS-CoV-2: the Role of Water
2022
The agro-tourism environmental sustainability and its circular economy approaches represent the keys for the future development of the sector and in term of tourist presences, thanks to their growing attractivity. Water is one of the most used inputs in agro-tourism structures for internal (drinking, cooking, cleaning, etc.) and outdoor use (for agriculture and green areas management). In the scientific literature, the outdoor water use was more studied with regard the agro-tourism structures. The aim of the present paper is first to check and understand how the water consumption of an agro-tourism structure is managed and to propose solutions for its reduction, all in agreement with circul…
Multiple Scenario Analysis of Battery Energy Storage System Investment: Measuring Economic and Circular Viability
2022
Circular business models for batteries have been revealed in earlier research to achieve economic viability while reducing total resource consumption of raw materials. The objective of this study is to measure the economic performance of the preferred business model by creating different scenarios comparing second life (spent) and new battery investment for seven different European regions and four energy management strategies. Findings reveal levels of economic ability for a total of 34 scenarios simulated, including direct savings per kWh, a total change in energy costs per year, battery charge/discharge cycles, and comparative breakeven analyses. Regional effects are also measured based …
Dried-fruit shell reuse in green construction and building materials
2023
Bio-architecture is a new way of designing and building in line with the European Green Deal and in light of the circular economy principles. This new green approach is guiding the entire construction life cycle toward eco-sustainability and environmental friendliness, from the beginning to the end of the building process. In addition to the use of environmentally-friendly and high-performance building and construction materials, it is necessary to use new technologies that can reduce the environmental footprint. This paper aims to examine the possible reuse of biological wastes of agricultural origin of the Mediterranean basin, whose massive production generates a number of problems for th…
Biochar Particles Obtained from Agricultural Carob Waste as a Suitable Filler for Sustainable Biocomposite Formulations
2022
In the context of sustainable and circular economy, the recovery of biowaste for sustainable biocomposites formulation is a challenging issue. The aim of this work is to give a new life to agricultural carob waste after glucose extraction carried out by a local factory for carob candy production. A pyrolysis process was carried out on bio-waste to produce biofuel and, later, the solid residual fraction of pyrolysis process was used as interesting filler for biocomposites production. In this work, biochar particles (BC) as a pyrolysis product, after fuels recovery of organic biowaste, specifically, pyrolyzed carobs after glucose extraction, were added on poly(butylene-adipate-co-terephthalat…
A Different Role of Taxation. From a One-Sided Taxation To a Circular Taxation
2020
The essay explores a possible different use of tax revenue, that is a perspective in which taxation is linked to a public choice in a circular way, thus determining a shift from the traditional “one-side taxation” process to a “circular taxation” process. Starting from the widely studied juridical phenomenon, known in Italy as regeneration of common spaces and goods or simply “regeneration”, and addressing the case of the regeneration of a brownfield, the Author argues that this phenomenon shows some common points with the so-called “circular economy”, since they are both inspired by the same principle of making resources usable in a circular context, exploiting already existing goods and r…
Obsolescenza precoce e garanzia di durabilità nella vendita di beni di consumo: note comparatistiche
2023
The essay analyses the legal guarantee of contracts for the sale of consumer goods under Directive (EU) 2019/771, which has expressly introduced durability as an objective requirement for conformity to achieve more sustainable consumption patterns and a circular economy in an increasingly digital-driven market. Such regulatory innovation, however, does not lengthen products' lifespans nor raise consumer protection against premature obsolescence. In anticipation of the revision of the directive by the first half of 2024, the Author underlines the main weaknesses of the legal guarantee of durability and, assisted by the use of a comparative method, suggests that only a pre-contractual informa…