lives (B) or for a cascade of products (C) of decreasing value. The (B) case is
relevant to those products that can play the same function n-times: this is the case of
metals and some colored glasses (white glass requires the sorting of colored glasses), and carbon as well.
Case (C) is relevant to those goods that with recycling do not recover the original
properties (this is the case of plastics or paper: plastic used for food packaging will
not recover the required properties and will be used for making goods with lesser
purity requirements; recycled document white paper will be used for making
common writing paper, or newspaper paper or cardboards because recycled fibers
do not have the resistance and quality of the original material, neither the same
white color). Water can be in principle recycled n-times, but for reaching the grade
of drinking water requires numerous treatments that must guarantee the absence of
toxic products and dangerous microorganisms. Most recycled water is used for
watering or for domestic (non-drinking) and industrial uses.
In several cases, recovery of goods and recycling is less expensive (economically and energetically) than using fresh raw materials. Therefore, recovery and
recycling of goods meet the sustainability principles, extend the availability of
natural resources, produce less waste, lower the environmental burden of our
anthropic activities and may sustain the development of our society without (or with
much less) damages to our Planet.
The circular economy will bring our society attitude back by a few decades to
the style of the agricultural society: a used good is not a waste, it is a source of
materials that still can be used. Used goods are not dead bodies to throw away, they
are precious donors of working parts. The most difficult part of the job is now to
educate people to change their attitude from consumerism to saving and having care
of goods, to move from use-once-and-throw-away to use-take care-store-reuse, to
consider any good as long-lasting more than just made for one or few days life: a
longer life is a work opportunity for all those active in the maintenance sector. If we
want to save resources, we have to target longevity of produced goods and
re-circulation of their usable parts at the end of their life. This new attitude is
already producing changes in our world. As an example, we consider worthwhile
reporting the change that is going on in the IT market which must obey a number of
“sustainability oriented” criteria that cover all phases of the product life cycle:
material sourcing and manufacturing; use and reuse; recovery and recycling. Such
criteria impose that (i) IT products must have replaceable batteries, to avoid that a
good is disposed just because the battery is off; (ii) reusability of devices must be
assured; (iii) spare parts must be available even three years after the product is off
production; (iv) products must be upgradable; (v) parts of a device must be recyclable and interchangeable; (vi) used products must be returned to the factory
instead of being disposed. These directions go opposite the one we have been
stepping through until now!
As discussed in Chap. 1, recycling of water, metals, plastics, paper, and cardboard has become more and more popular with time. Some goods (metals) are
recovered at interesting rates (50
+
%), other much less. Recycling carbon is actually
around 230 Mt/y, a large value per se (it is practiced at the industrial level since
142
9 Circular Economy and Carbon Dioxide Conversion
relevant to those products that can play the same function n-times: this is the case of
metals and some colored glasses (white glass requires the sorting of colored glasses), and carbon as well.
Case (C) is relevant to those goods that with recycling do not recover the original
properties (this is the case of plastics or paper: plastic used for food packaging will
not recover the required properties and will be used for making goods with lesser
purity requirements; recycled document white paper will be used for making
common writing paper, or newspaper paper or cardboards because recycled fibers
do not have the resistance and quality of the original material, neither the same
white color). Water can be in principle recycled n-times, but for reaching the grade
of drinking water requires numerous treatments that must guarantee the absence of
toxic products and dangerous microorganisms. Most recycled water is used for
watering or for domestic (non-drinking) and industrial uses.
In several cases, recovery of goods and recycling is less expensive (economically and energetically) than using fresh raw materials. Therefore, recovery and
recycling of goods meet the sustainability principles, extend the availability of
natural resources, produce less waste, lower the environmental burden of our
anthropic activities and may sustain the development of our society without (or with
much less) damages to our Planet.
The circular economy will bring our society attitude back by a few decades to
the style of the agricultural society: a used good is not a waste, it is a source of
materials that still can be used. Used goods are not dead bodies to throw away, they
are precious donors of working parts. The most difficult part of the job is now to
educate people to change their attitude from consumerism to saving and having care
of goods, to move from use-once-and-throw-away to use-take care-store-reuse, to
consider any good as long-lasting more than just made for one or few days life: a
longer life is a work opportunity for all those active in the maintenance sector. If we
want to save resources, we have to target longevity of produced goods and
re-circulation of their usable parts at the end of their life. This new attitude is
already producing changes in our world. As an example, we consider worthwhile
reporting the change that is going on in the IT market which must obey a number of
“sustainability oriented” criteria that cover all phases of the product life cycle:
material sourcing and manufacturing; use and reuse; recovery and recycling. Such
criteria impose that (i) IT products must have replaceable batteries, to avoid that a
good is disposed just because the battery is off; (ii) reusability of devices must be
assured; (iii) spare parts must be available even three years after the product is off
production; (iv) products must be upgradable; (v) parts of a device must be recyclable and interchangeable; (vi) used products must be returned to the factory
instead of being disposed. These directions go opposite the one we have been
stepping through until now!
As discussed in Chap. 1, recycling of water, metals, plastics, paper, and cardboard has become more and more popular with time. Some goods (metals) are
recovered at interesting rates (50
+
%), other much less. Recycling carbon is actually
around 230 Mt/y, a large value per se (it is practiced at the industrial level since
142
9 Circular Economy and Carbon Dioxide Conversion