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Title Fitness of product and service design for closed-loop material recycling: A framework and indicator
ID_Doc 6077
Authors Hummen, T; Sudheshwar, A
Title Fitness of product and service design for closed-loop material recycling: A framework and indicator
Year 2023
Published
DOI 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106661
Abstract Material recycling is the most common strategy in various circular economy concepts. However, material quality generally degrades during recycling because materials get contaminated or some substances dissipate. This translates to that materials are instead recycled in an open loop, or in other words, in a cascade. Current quantitative performance measurement approaches insufficiently address a clear distinction between closed-loop and open-loop recycling. To effectively preserve material quality, a different measurement approach is required to assess the ability of product and service design to retain material quality during material recycling. Such a metric is introduced here with the fitness for closed-loop material recycling indicator Theta. This kind of quality assessment requires a criterion based on the elemental composition of the materials. The concept is illustrated in a case study on metals embodied in a residential gas heating appliance showing that the closed-loop recycling potential of such an appliance is only 1%.
Author Keywords Recycling; Material quality; Contamination; Dilution; Closed loop; Circular economy
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000913219900002
WoS Category Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences
Research Area Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
PDF https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106661
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