(680c) Sustainable Waste Management Strategies and Technologies Moving Toward a Circular Economy

Sustainable waste management developed in conjunction with resource conservation, increased efficiency as supported by zero discharge and zero emission are fundamental in building environmental full stability. Our future depends upon truly and deeply developing a symbolic relationship between environment and resources. A future where products are designed through the “12 green engineering principles” for multiple cycles of use, and manufacturing cycles are carefully aligned, so that the output of one process always feeds the input of another. What is currently regarded as simply emissions and discharges, manufacturing by-products as "waste", in “circular economy” they become raw materials, nutrients in “sustainable supply chain” for new product cycles. Waste resource utilization is a powerful alternative to current "linear economy" (make, use and dispose).

Mini case-studies of such applications will demonstrate the power of full cycles extrapolated over time to reach our goal.

Key References:

Anastas, P.T. and Zimmerman, J.B. (2003). Design through the 12 Principles of Green Engineering, Engineering Science and Technology, 37(5), 94A-101A.

Das, T.K. (2005). Toward Zero Discharge: Innovative Methodology and Technologies for Process Pollution Prevention, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.

Rahimi, A. and Garcia, J.M. (2017). “Chemical Recycling of Waste Plastics for New Materials Production”, Nature Reviews Chemistry, 1, 1-11.

Das, T.K. (2020). Industrial Environmental Management: Engineering, Science and Policy, 1e, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.

Abbott, R. (2021). “Advancing a Circular Economy”, Special Issue on “Waste Plastics Recycling” in Chemical Engineering Progress, July, 25-41, New York, NY.