Helmut Rechberger

Practical handbook of material flow analysis

The first-ever book on this subject establishes a rigid, transparent and useful methodology for investigating the material metabolism of anthropogenic systems. Using Material Flow Analysis (MFA), the main sources, flows, stocks, and emissions of man-made and natural materials can be determined. By demonstrating the application of MFA, this book reveals how resources can be conserved and the environment protected within complex systems. The fourteen case studies presented exemplify the potential for MFA to contribute to sustainable materials management. Exercises throughout the book deepen comprehension and expertise. The authors have had success in applying MFA to various fields, and now promote the use of MFA so that future engineers and planners have a common method for solving resource-oriented problems.

The contemporary European copper cycle: waste management subsystem

Abstract A comprehensive copper mass balance for waste management in Europe has been carried out, including municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, wastes from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and end-of-life vehicles (ELV). The recycling efficiency of the current waste management system in Europe was quantified and the sources of copper scrap used for secondary copper production were determined. Additionally, an assessment of copper losses to the environment from incinerators and landfills was undertaken. As a final step, select parameters were varied to test the sensitivity of copper waste generation results to the uncertainties in the data. The total flows of copper into the European waste management system consists of 920 Gg/y domestic copper waste and of 300 Gg/y imported old scrap, of which 740 Gg/y are recycled and 480 Gg/y are landfilled. In Europe 2 kg per capita of copper waste is generated annually. WEEE and ELV are the most important domestic waste streams from the perspective of copper contents. They contain 67% of the total copper throughput, but only make up 4% of the mass of total waste generation. Because WEEE is the fastest growing waste category, this finding emphasizes the need for efficient WEEE recycling strategies. The overall recycling efficiency for Europe for copper in all types of waste, excluding prompt scrap and scrap imports, is 48%, with a range of 5–58% depending on the country. This shows further potential for increased recycling activities in the future. Emissions of copper to the environment are under 5 Gg/y but several new sources for emissions are not yet quantified. Uncertainties in waste generation rate and composition for some waste categories (WEEE, C&D) are high, and additional analysis is needed to confirm the above findings.

Determination of biogenic and fossil CO2 emitted by waste incineration based on 14CO2 and mass balances

A field application of the radiocarbon ((14)C) method was developed to determine the ratio of biogenic vs. fossil CO(2) emissions from waste-to-energy plants (WTE). This methodology can be used to assign the Kyoto relevant share of fossil CO(2) emissions, which is highly relevant for emission budgets and emission trading. Furthermore, heat and electricity produced by waste incinerators might be labelled depending on the fossil or biogenic nature of the primary energy source. The method development includes representative on-site CO(2) absorption and subsequent release in the laboratory. Furthermore, a reference value for the (14)C content of pure biogenic waste (f(M,bio)) was determined as 1.130+/-0.038. Gas samples for (14)CO(2) analysis were taken at three WTEs during one month each. Results were compared to an alternative approach based on mass and energy balances. Both methods were in excellent agreement and indicated a fraction of biogenic CO(2) slightly above 50%.

The contemporary European copper cycle: 1 year stocks and flows

Abstract Substance flow cycles can provide a picture of resource uses and losses through a geographic region, allowing us to evaluate regional resource management and estimate gross environmental impacts. This paper traces the flow of copper as it enters and leaves the European economy over 1 year and provides the numerical accounting of copper flows that are further analyzed in a companion paper in this issue. We examine the major flows of copper from ore, as it is extracted from the earth, transformed into products, and discarded or recycled. A regional material flow model was developed to estimate patterns of copper use in the early 1990s in select European countries. Successive mass balance calculations were used to determine copper flows, including the amount of metal that enters use in society and is deposited in waste repositories. A database that records temporal and spatial boundary conditions and data quality was developed for continental substance flow analysis. The majority of copper is mined, smelted, and refined outside of Europe. Across the life cycle, a net total of 1900 Gg/year of copper is imported into Europe. About 40% of cathode copper produced within the system is made from old and new scrap. It is estimated that approximately 8 kg of copper per person enters use in society, largely in infrastructure, buildings, industry, and private households. The majority of copper in finished products is contained in pure form (70%), the remainder in alloy form. The waste management system in Europe recycles about 60% of the copper from waste. The copper discard flow from post-consumer waste is roughly five times higher than that from copper production waste. This ratio would decrease if we consider production wastes generated outside of the European system boundary. The net addition of copper to the stock in society in the system is about 6 kg/person. Given the in-service lifetime of the applications of copper identified in this model, most of the copper processed during the last few decades still resides in society, mostly in non-dissipative uses.

The contemporary European copper cycle: The characterization of technological copper cycles

Abstract Copper is an example of an anthropogenically utilized material that is of interest to both resource economists and environmental scientists. It is a widely employed industrial metal, and one that in certain forms and concentrations is moderately biotoxic. It is also one that may be potentially supply-limited. A comprehensive accounting of the anthropogenic mobilization and use of copper must treat a series of life stages: mining and processing, fabrication, utilization, and end of life. Reservoirs in which copper resides include the lithosphere, ore and ingot processing facilities, fabricators, at least a dozen major uses, several intentional and default stockpiles, landfills, and the environment. The flow rates among those reservoirs constitute the cycle. If a non-global cycle is being constructed, imports to and exports from the region of interest must also be included. In this paper we discuss the characteristics of each of the components of anthropogenic copper cycles, as well as generic approaches to the acquisition and evaluation of data over space and time. Data quality and data utility are evaluated, noting that information relevant to technology and resource policy is easier to acquire than is information relevant to human health and ecosystem concerns, partly because the spatial scale required by the latter is considerably smaller and the flow rates rarely analyzed and reported. Despite considerable data limitations, we conclude that information is sufficiently available and the data sufficiently accurate to characterize copper cycles at a variety of spatial scales.

The characterization of technological zinc cycles

A comprehensive accounting of the anthropogenic mobilization of zinc must treat a series of life stages: mining and processing, fabrication, utilization, and end of life. Reservoirs in which zinc resides include the lithosphere, ore and ingot processing facilities, at least a dozen major uses, several intentional and default stockpiles, landfills, and the environment. The flow rates among those reservoirs constitute the technological cycle. If a non-global cycle is being constructed, imports to and exports from the region of interest must also be included. In this paper we discuss generic approaches to the acquisition and evaluation of data for each of the components of anthropogenic zinc cycles over space and time. Data quality and data utility are evaluated, noting that information relevant to technology and resource policy is easier to acquire than is information relevant to human health and ecosystem concerns, partly because the spatial scale required by the latter is considerably smaller and the flow rates rarely analyzed and reported. Despite considerable data limitations, we conclude that information is sufficiently available and accurate to permit reasonably quantitative zinc cycles to be characterized at a variety of spatial scales.

Heavy metal removal from municipal solid waste fly ash by chlorination and thermal treatment

Municipal solid waste (MSW) fly ash is classified as a hazardous material because it contains high amounts of heavy metals. For decontamination, MSW fly ash is first mixed with alkali or alkaline earth metal chlorides (e.g. calcium chloride) and water, and then the mixture is pelletized and treated in a rotary reactor at about 1000 degrees C. Volatile heavy metal compounds are formed and evaporate. In this paper, the effect of calcium chloride addition, gas velocity, temperature and residence time on the separation of heavy metals are studied. The fly ash was sampled at the waste-to-energy plant Fernwärme Wien/Spittelau (Vienna, Austria). The results were obtained from batch tests performed in an indirectly heated laboratory-scale rotary reactor. More than 90% of Cd and Pb and about 60% of Cu and 80% of Zn could be removed in the experiments.

The contemporary European copper cycle: statistical entropy analysis

Abstract The copper flows and stocks of the European economy are investigated and evaluated over a 1-year period in the early 1990s. The method applied is statistical entropy, which quantifies the distribution pattern of a substance (e.g. copper) caused by a system (e.g. political economy). Contemporary copper management can be defined as a simple chain of four processes: production of refined copper from ore; manufacture and fabrication of products and goods; consumption, utilization and storage (infrastructure) of goods; and separation of copper from waste for recycling and finally, landfilling (waste management). Relevant recycling streams (new and old scrap) within or between production, manufacture, and waste management processes also characterize the system. Throughout the life cycle of copper the statistical entropy varies considerably among the above-mentioned processes and covers about 50% of the possible range between total dissipation and maximal concentration of the total throughput of copper. Nevertheless, present copper management does not show a clear entropy trend across its life cycle. The system as a whole neither dissipates nor concentrates copper significantly with regard to the original ore. Even a more optimized waste management system with higher recycling efficiency could not significantly change this finding since todays copper flows into waste management are small compared to the consumption of copper. The relatively limited impact on the entropy trend of contemporary waste management may increase in the future because the infrastructure, which has been established over the last few decades, will be continuously renewed and replaced. As a result of these larger waste streams, decreasing overall entropy trends will be realizable, provided efficient recycling technologies are applied. This indicates the possibility for long-term feasible (perhaps sustainable) copper management. The entropy approach improves our understanding of industrial metabolism and is a useful decision support and design tool, since complex systems can thereby be quantified by a single metric per substance.

Comparative goal-oriented assessment of conventional and alternative sewage sludge treatment options

Phosphorous (P) is a limited and non-substitutable resource. Sewage sludge contains significant amounts of P and is therefore a widely applied fertilizer. Due to its organic and inorganic contaminants, sewage sludge is also combusted in industrial facilities as well as in waste incinerators. This study compares five common methods and one novel alternative based on a thermo-chemical process to treat and dispose of sewage sludge with regard to environmental impact, resource recovery, and materials dissipation. The comparison is based on material flow analysis, energy balances, selected LCA impact analysis, and statistical entropy analysis. This work shows that the novel technology combines both advantages of the established practices: organic and inorganic pollutants are either destroyed or removed from the P containing material, and the P returned to the soil exhibits high plant-availability. The novel method also has low emissions. The additional energy requirements should be reduced. However, with regards to sewage sludge P recovery is more important than energy recovery.

Phosphorus recovery from municipal wastewater: An integrated comparative technological, environmental and economic assessment of P recovery technologies

Phosphorus (P) is an essential and limited resource. Municipal wastewater is a promising source of P via reuse and could be used to replace P derived from phosphate rocks. The agricultural use of sewage sludge is restricted by legislation or is not practiced in several European countries due to environmental risks posed by organic micropollutants and pathogens. Several technologies have been developed in recent years to recover wastewater P. However, these technologies target different P-containing flows in wastewater treatment plants (effluent, digester supernatant, sewage sludge, and sewage sludge ash), use diverse engineering approaches and differ greatly with respect to P recycling rate, potential of removing or destroying pollutants, product quality, environmental impact and cost. This work compares 19 relevant P recovery technologies by considering their relationships with existing wastewater and sludge treatment systems. A combination of different methods, such as material flow analysis, damage units, reference soil method, annuity method, integrated cost calculation and a literature study on solubility, fertilizing effects and handling of recovered materials, is used to evaluate the different technologies with respect to technical, ecological and economic aspects. With regard to the manifold origins of data an uncertainty concept considering validity of data sources is applied. This analysis revealed that recovery from flows with dissolved P produces clean and plant-available materials. These techniques may even be beneficial from economic and technical perspectives under specific circumstances. However, the recovery rates (a maximum of 25%) relative to the wastewater treatment plant influent are relatively low. The approaches that recover P from sewage sludge apply complex technologies and generally achieve effective removal of heavy metals at moderate recovery rates (~40-50% relative to the WWTP input) and comparatively high costs. Sewage sludge ash is the most promising P source, with recovery rates of 60-90% relative to the wastewater P. The costs highly depend on the purity requirements of the recycled products but can be kept comparatively low, especially if synergies with existing industrial processes are exploited.