A multi-dimensional indicator for material and energy circularity: Proof-of-concept of exentropy in Li-ion battery recycling.

Recycling processes are an important stage in the raw material life cycle, as it enables the transition from a linear economy into a circular one. However, the currently available indicators of productivity in recycling technologies respond to the needs of a linear economy. In this work, a parameter called "exentropy" is proposed, offering the possibility to simultaneously account for mass preservation and the energy efficiency of transformative stages. As a proof-of-concept of this indicator, the analysis of a lithium-ion battery recycling process under various concentrations of a leaching reagent (i.e., 0.1M, 1M, and 2M) is presented. It is shown that, when the energy or mass dimensions are considered independently, the processes considered optimal may have conflicting characteristics. In contrast, the multi-dimensional analysis identified the process option offering the best compromise for both material and energy preservation, an aspect closer to the goals of the circular economy.

Informal electronic waste recycling: a sector review with special focus on China.

Informal recycling is a new and expanding low cost recycling practice in managing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE or e-waste). It occurs in many developing countries, including China, where current gaps in environmental management, high demand for second-hand electronic appliances and the norm of selling e-waste to individual collectors encourage the growth of a strong informal recycling sector. This paper gathers information on informal e-waste management, takes a look at its particular manifestations in China and identifies some of the main difficulties of the current Chinese approach. Informal e-waste recycling is not only associated with serious environmental and health impacts, but also the supply deficiency of formal recyclers and the safety problems of remanufactured electronic products. Experiences already show that simply prohibiting or competing with the informal collectors and informal recyclers is not an effective solution. New formal e-waste recycling systems should take existing informal sectors into account, and more policies need to be made to improve recycling rates, working conditions and the efficiency of involved informal players. A key issue for China's e-waste management is how to set up incentives for informal recyclers so as to reduce improper recycling activities and to divert more e-waste flow into the formal recycling sector.

Modeling the combustion behavior of hazardous waste in a rotary kiln incinerator.

Hazardous wastes have complex physical forms and chemical compositions and are normally incinerated in rotary kilns for safe disposal and energy recovery. In the rotary kiln, the multifeed stream and wide variation of thermal, physical, and chemical properties of the wastes cause the incineration system to be highly heterogeneous, with severe temperature fluctuations and unsteady combustion chemistry. Incomplete combustion is often the consequence, and the process is difficult to control. In this article, modeling of the waste combustion is described by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Through CFD simulation, gas flow and mixing, turbulent combustion, and heat transfer inside the incinerator were predicted and visualized. As the first step, the waste in various forms was modeled to a hydrocarbon-based virtual fuel mixture. The combustion of the simplified waste was then simulated with a seven-gas combustion model within a CFD framework. Comparison was made with previous global three-gas combustion model with which no chemical behavior can be derived. The distribution of temperature and chemical species has been investigated. The waste combustion model was validated with temperature measurements. Various operating conditions and the influence on the incineration performance were then simulated. Through this research, a better process understanding and potential optimization of the design were attained.

Aluminium recycling and environmental issues of salt slag treatment.

Environmental friendly recycling is the trend toward total recycling of aluminium metal. In the secondary aluminium industry, due to the complexity of compositions and contaminants in the various types of aluminium scraps, an understanding of the behavior of different scraps during melting is crucial in the recycling process. Salt slags are the byproducts of the secondary aluminium industry, which should be recycled and processed in a proper way by taking the environmental impact into consideration. This article provides qualitative assessment on 10 different commercial aluminium scraps for their relative recyclability via well-designed and controlled laboratory experiments. It confirms that more nonmetallic contaminants, smaller size, and higher ratio of surface area to body volume generally lead to a lower metal recovery. Recycling the scraps with lower recyclability normally generates more salt slags. High slag viscosity leads to more fine aluminum metal entrapped in the salt slag and thus increases the load of salt slag recycling. It was found that viscosity of the salt flux is increased with the amount of entrapped nonmetallic components, which affect the settling of heavier materials. In addition, the slag samples from the melting tests were leached and analyzed to evaluate the behavior of carbon containing scrap. The elevated carbon content in the scrap resulted in more carbide formation in salt slags and thus more methane generation in salt slag recycling with a higher environmental impact.