URBAN MINING, A SUSTAINABLE BUT CHALLENGING SOURCE OF RAW MATERIAL

URBAN MINING, A SUSTAINABLE BUT CHALLENGING SOURCE OF RAW MATERIAL

9^th International Conference on CHEMISTRY AND EURO GREEN CHEMISTRY
May 22-23, 2019 | Rome, Italy

Christer Forsgren

Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

Abstract:

In a more circular economy the products of today should be part of the raw material for the products of tomorrow. To reach this we need to overcome a number of obstacles: Product design needs to take into account reuse, repair and recycling. Present Extended producer responsibility legislation does not give enough incentives; classification of waste is based on contamination content, should be based on risk; monopolies that only focus on reducing cost/maximize profit. Products and material that has been used in society one time, often loses all of its value when it becomes waste. In average <3% of the value is left. There are many reasons for this, fashion and legislation, to avoid extreme down-grading of waste by treating using energy recovery or landfilling, technologies like feed-stock-recycling needs to be applied. In most applications biodegradable plastics are non-sustainable; bio based in most cases the opposite. If a carbon atom is “black” or “green” does not make a big difference if it is circulated in society, but the possibilities to do so are today very limited.

Biography:

Christer Forsgren has a background in Chemical Engineering and has been working as a Manager in different recycling companies for 30 years. He is Adjunct Professor in Industrial Material Recycling at Chalmers Technical University, Sweden. He holds the Chair in the Taskforce, Waste and Chemicals in the European Branch Organization for Recyclers, EuRIC.

E-mail: christer.forsgren@stenametall.se

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