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Prof. Phil Purnell
Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

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0 Resource recovery from waste

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Short review
Published: 22 July 2020 in Sustainable Production and Consumption
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Development and deployment of low carbon infrastructure (LCI) is essential in a period of accelerated climate change. The deployment of LCI is, however, not taking place with any obvious long term or joined up thinking in respect of life-cycle material extraction, usage and recovery across technologies or otherwise. This proposition is demonstrated through empirical quantification of selected infrastructure and a review of decommissioning plans, as exemplified by offshore wind in the United Kingdom. There is wide acknowledgment that offshore wind and other LCI are dependent on the production and use of many composite and critical materials that can and regularly do inflict high impacts on the environment and society during extraction and manufacturing. To optimise resource use from a whole system perspective, it is thus essential that the components of LCI and the materials they share and are comprised of, are designed with a circular economy in mind. As such, LCI must be designed for durability, reuse and remanufacturing, rather than committing them to sub-optimal waste management and energy recovery pathways. Beyond a promise to remove installed components, end-of-life decommissioning plans do not however provide any insight into a given operators’ awareness of the nuances of their proposed material management methods or indeed current or future management capacities. Decommissioning plans for offshore wind are at best formulaic and at worst perfunctory and provide no value to the growing movement toward a circular economy. At this time, millions of tonnes of composites, precious and rare earth materials are being extracted, processed and deployed in infrastructure with nothing in place that suggests that these materials can be sustainably recovered, managed and returned to productive use at the potential scales required to meet accelerating LCI deployment. Academic and industry literature, or lack thereof, suggest that this statement is largely reflected throughout LCI deployment and not just within the deployment of offshore wind in the UK.

ACS Style

Paul D. Jensen; Philip Purnell; Anne P.M. Velenturf. Highlighting the need to embed circular economy in low carbon infrastructure decommissioning: The case of offshore wind. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2020, 24, 266 -280.

AMA Style

Paul D. Jensen, Philip Purnell, Anne P.M. Velenturf. Highlighting the need to embed circular economy in low carbon infrastructure decommissioning: The case of offshore wind. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2020; 24 ():266-280.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paul D. Jensen; Philip Purnell; Anne P.M. Velenturf. 2020. "Highlighting the need to embed circular economy in low carbon infrastructure decommissioning: The case of offshore wind." Sustainable Production and Consumption 24, no. : 266-280.

Short communication
Published: 08 July 2020 in Energy Policy
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Energy sector policies have focused historically on the planning, design and construction of energy infrastructures, while typically overlooking the processes required for the management of their end-of-life, and particularly their decommissioning. However, decommissioning of existing and future energy infrastructures is constrained by a plethora of technical, economic, social and environmental challenges that must be understood and addressed if such infrastructures are to make a net-positive contribution over their whole life. Here, we introduce the magnitude and variety of these challenges to raise awareness and stimulate debate on the development of reasonable policies for current and future decommissioning projects. Focusing on power plants, the paper provides the foundations for the interdisciplinary thinking required to deliver an integrated decommissioning policy that incorporates circular economy principles to maximise value throughout the lifecycle of energy infrastructures. We conclude by suggesting new research paths that will promote more sustainable management of energy infrastructures at the end of their life.

ACS Style

Diletta Colette Invernizzi; Giorgio Locatelli; Anne Velenturf; Peter Ed. Love; Phil Purnell; Naomi J. Brookes. Developing policies for the end-of-life of energy infrastructure: Coming to terms with the challenges of decommissioning. Energy Policy 2020, 144, 111677 .

AMA Style

Diletta Colette Invernizzi, Giorgio Locatelli, Anne Velenturf, Peter Ed. Love, Phil Purnell, Naomi J. Brookes. Developing policies for the end-of-life of energy infrastructure: Coming to terms with the challenges of decommissioning. Energy Policy. 2020; 144 ():111677.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Diletta Colette Invernizzi; Giorgio Locatelli; Anne Velenturf; Peter Ed. Love; Phil Purnell; Naomi J. Brookes. 2020. "Developing policies for the end-of-life of energy infrastructure: Coming to terms with the challenges of decommissioning." Energy Policy 144, no. : 111677.

Communication
Published: 30 November 2019 in Administrative Sciences
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A broad range of organizations, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large multi-nationals, are interested in adopting circular economy practices. A circular economy can help companies make better use of materials by minimizing the input of natural resources, reducing waste, and optimizing the economic, social, technical and environmental costs and benefits of materials and products throughout their lifecycle. Despite the interest of companies in a circular economy, only 9% of material flows in the global economy are circular. There is formal guidance for those offering business support with the aim to expedite the transition to a circular economy. However, support measures narrowly confine the role of companies and the motivations of business managers to the economic realms, assuming that companies are solely driven by monetary factors. Conversely, pluralist economic views emphasize the broader role of companies in society: for example, in respect of the well-being of their staff and the communities in which they reside. Indeed, our practical experiences of business support have brought alternative motivations to explore a circular economy to the fore. We argue that business support should stem from a broader conception of the role of business in society. The diverse motivations and willingness of business managers to engage in a circular economy should be investigated further with results feeding into broader and more inclusive business support guidelines in the future to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.

ACS Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf; Paul D. Jensen; Phil Purnell; Juliet Jopson; Norman Ebner. A Call to Integrate Economic, Social and Environmental Motives into Guidance for Business Support for the Transition to a Circular Economy. Administrative Sciences 2019, 9, 92 .

AMA Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf, Paul D. Jensen, Phil Purnell, Juliet Jopson, Norman Ebner. A Call to Integrate Economic, Social and Environmental Motives into Guidance for Business Support for the Transition to a Circular Economy. Administrative Sciences. 2019; 9 (4):92.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf; Paul D. Jensen; Phil Purnell; Juliet Jopson; Norman Ebner. 2019. "A Call to Integrate Economic, Social and Environmental Motives into Guidance for Business Support for the Transition to a Circular Economy." Administrative Sciences 9, no. 4: 92.

Discussion
Published: 27 June 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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A circular economy offers solutions for global sustainability challenges through the transition from the linear take-make-use-dispose economy to a better organisation of resources. However, realising a circular economy has ran into various biophysical constraints. Circular economy implementation is shaped by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's butterfly diagram that depicts ‘biological’ and ‘technical’ flows as separate cycles, subsequently interpreted as organic materials circulating in open loop systems via the environment and inorganic materials circulating in closed loop systems within society. Conversely, in our view, resource flows often contain tightly bound combinations of organic and inorganic materials either due to their natural composition or due to their technical design. Building on this observation, a new diagram is proposed that broadens the scope of the circular economy to cover extractive sectors and the return of materials from anthropogenic use to natural reserves, thereby reshaping the conceptual space within which solutions such as effective zero-waste-residue technologies, business models, and policies can be developed for the optimal management of integrated resources from a whole-system perspective. The diagram offers a realistic outlook on the biophysical limitations of circularity and endeavours to inspire discussion that supports the transition towards a sustainable circular economy.

ACS Style

Anne P.M. Velenturf; Sophie Alice Archer; Helena I. Gomes; Beate Christgen; Alfonso José Lag Brotons; Phil Purnell. Circular economy and the matter of integrated resources. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 689, 963 -969.

AMA Style

Anne P.M. Velenturf, Sophie Alice Archer, Helena I. Gomes, Beate Christgen, Alfonso José Lag Brotons, Phil Purnell. Circular economy and the matter of integrated resources. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 689 ():963-969.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne P.M. Velenturf; Sophie Alice Archer; Helena I. Gomes; Beate Christgen; Alfonso José Lag Brotons; Phil Purnell. 2019. "Circular economy and the matter of integrated resources." Science of The Total Environment 689, no. : 963-969.

Journal article
Published: 13 February 2019 in Energy Policy
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The transition from coal-based electricity to ‘carbon neutral’ biofuels derived from forests has catalysed a debate largely centred upon whether woody-biofuels drive deforestation. Consequently, a crucial point is often missed. Most wood pellets used in electricity production are derived from waste-wood; a practice considered acceptable by many otherwise strongly opposed to the industry. We highlight that, precisely because waste-wood is a ‘waste’, its carbon-neutral credentials should be questioned. We then examine a parallel development occurring within the same industrial system; the recovery of electricity producers’ combustion-ash residues for concrete production. Contrasting how accounting practices allocate upstream carbon to these ‘wastes’ in the cases of wood pellets and coal-ash reveals how decisions are shaped by industry imperatives, rather than established lifecycle techniques. If the politics of emissions allocation continue to evolve in this way, it may become increasingly difficult to distinguish where progress towards a low-carbon, environmentally sustainable and circular economy is real, from where it is an artefact of biased and inconsistent accounting practices.

ACS Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins; Phil Purnell. Circulating blame in the circular economy: The case of wood-waste biofuels and coal ash. Energy Policy 2019, 129, 168 -172.

AMA Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins, Phil Purnell. Circulating blame in the circular economy: The case of wood-waste biofuels and coal ash. Energy Policy. 2019; 129 ():168-172.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins; Phil Purnell. 2019. "Circulating blame in the circular economy: The case of wood-waste biofuels and coal ash." Energy Policy 129, no. : 168-172.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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ACS Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Anne P.M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell. Quality of resources: A typology for supporting transitions towards resource efficiency using the single-use plastic bottle as an example. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 647, 441 -448.

AMA Style

Eleni Iacovidou, Anne P.M. Velenturf, Phil Purnell. Quality of resources: A typology for supporting transitions towards resource efficiency using the single-use plastic bottle as an example. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 647 ():441-448.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Anne P.M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell. 2019. "Quality of resources: A typology for supporting transitions towards resource efficiency using the single-use plastic bottle as an example." Science of The Total Environment 647, no. : 441-448.

Short communication
Published: 01 January 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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ACS Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Anne P.M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell. Quality of resources: A typology for supporting transitions towards resource efficiency using the single-use plastic bottle as an example. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 647, 1 .

AMA Style

Eleni Iacovidou, Anne P.M. Velenturf, Phil Purnell. Quality of resources: A typology for supporting transitions towards resource efficiency using the single-use plastic bottle as an example. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 647 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Anne P.M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell. 2019. "Quality of resources: A typology for supporting transitions towards resource efficiency using the single-use plastic bottle as an example." Science of The Total Environment 647, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 26 October 2018 in Global Environmental Change
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Here we investigate the increasingly complex relationship between the resource recovery practices of the UK concrete industry and ongoing low-carbon transitions taking place in electricity and steel. Reductions in UK coal-based electricity and primary steel production are reducing domestic availability of residues – coal ash and steel slag – that are used to replace cement in concrete; for decarbonisation purposes and to increase concrete quality. This is leading to an unusual mass-transportation of ‘wastes’ from the Global South to Global North. Focusing closely upon the mitigation pathways of concrete producers, we develop an inter-industry model of material flows, and a diversity of scenarios and sensitivity tests, to consider how resource recovery practices and carbon emissions of the three sectors may evolve. A continuation of domestic shortages in waste-derived cement substitutes appears inevitable and future international shortages possible. But even if foreign producers supplied enough cement substitutes to meet UK demand, the broader carbon implications of such trade may be far from benign. Using a revenue-based approach to allocate emissions to coal ash leads to a wide range of embodied carbon estimates – from relatively low (0.15 t.CO2/t.ash) to exceeding that of traditional Portland cement (1 t.CO2/t.ash). However, the carbon associated with internationally traded recovered resources currently stands behind a ‘double-blind’ system of accounting: emissions do not register in the conventional territorial accounts of the importing country and they may be hidden from its consumption-based accounts as well. The impacts of such trade and related carbon accounting conventions are unclear and we emphasise the need for further investigation. To this end, our results demonstrate the importance of incorporating highly interconnected sectors and international trade into analyses of low-carbon transitions, and highlight the challenges this presents for designing appropriate policies, accounting frameworks, and interdisciplinary impact assessment methods that look beyond sectorial and national horizons.

ACS Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins; Oliver Zwirner; Phil Purnell; Costas A. Velis; Eleni Iacovidou; Andrew Brown. Resource recovery and low carbon transitions: The hidden impacts of substituting cement with imported ‘waste’ materials from coal and steel production. Global Environmental Change 2018, 53, 146 -156.

AMA Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins, Oliver Zwirner, Phil Purnell, Costas A. Velis, Eleni Iacovidou, Andrew Brown. Resource recovery and low carbon transitions: The hidden impacts of substituting cement with imported ‘waste’ materials from coal and steel production. Global Environmental Change. 2018; 53 ():146-156.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins; Oliver Zwirner; Phil Purnell; Costas A. Velis; Eleni Iacovidou; Andrew Brown. 2018. "Resource recovery and low carbon transitions: The hidden impacts of substituting cement with imported ‘waste’ materials from coal and steel production." Global Environmental Change 53, no. : 146-156.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2018 in Journal of Environmental Management
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The exploitation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for tracking and archiving the properties of structural construction components could be a potentially innovative disruption for the construction sector. This is because RFID can stimulate the reuse of construction components and reduce their wastage, hence addressing sustainability issues in the construction sector. To test the plausibility of that idea, this study explores the potential pre-conditions for RFID to facilitate construction components reuse, and develops a guidance for promoting their redistribution back to the supply chain. It also looks at how integrating RFID with Building Information Modelling (BIM) can possibly be a valuable extension of its capabilities, providing the opportunity for tracked components to be incorporated into new structures in an informed, sound way. A preliminary assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the RFID technology is presented in order to depict its current and future potential in promoting construction components' sustainable lifecycle management, while emphasis has been laid on capturing their technical, environmental, economic and social value. Findings suggest that the collection of the right amount of information at the design-construction-deconstruction-reuse-disposal stage is crucial for RFID to become a successful innovation in the construction sector. Although a number of limitations related to the technical operability and recycling of RFID tags seem to currently hinder its uptake for structural components' lifecycle management, future technological innovations could provide solutions that would enable it to become a mainstream practice. Taken together these proposals advocate that the use of RFID and its integration with BIM can create the right environment for the development of new business models focused on sustainable resource management. These models may then unlock multiple values that are otherwise dissipated in the system. If the rapid technological development of RFID capability can be allied to policy interventions that control and manage its uptake along the supply chain, the sustainable lifecycle management of construction components could be radically enhanced.

ACS Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Phil Purnell; Ming K Lim. The use of smart technologies in enabling construction components reuse: A viable method or a problem creating solution? Journal of Environmental Management 2018, 216, 214 -223.

AMA Style

Eleni Iacovidou, Phil Purnell, Ming K Lim. The use of smart technologies in enabling construction components reuse: A viable method or a problem creating solution? Journal of Environmental Management. 2018; 216 ():214-223.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Phil Purnell; Ming K Lim. 2018. "The use of smart technologies in enabling construction components reuse: A viable method or a problem creating solution?" Journal of Environmental Management 216, no. : 214-223.

Journal article
Published: 02 May 2018 in Sustainability
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The United Kingdom’s (UK) economy is overly reliant on unsustainable production and consumption practices that deplete finite resources at rates that will increase production costs, business risk, and economic instability; it also produces emissions and waste that cause climate change and environmental degradation, impacting on well-being in the UK and beyond. The Resource Recovery from Waste programme (RRfW) promotes a transition towards waste and resource management in a circular economy that restores the environment, creates societal benefits, and promotes clean growth by engaging relevant actors in academia, government, and industry to co-produce a shared vision and approach that will realise such a transition. Sharing the RRfW’s government engagement results, this article presents a positive outlook for changing the UK economy and society through waste and resource management practices that maximise the values of materials by circulating them in the economy for as long as possible. Key themes, regulatory instruments, a stable policy framework, and an approach for effective academic–government collaboration are proposed. Comparing the results to government plans in four UK nations shows great differences in progress towards realising a circular economy. The article concludes with recommendations to capitalise on opportunities for growth, innovation, and resilient infrastructure whilst contributing to quality jobs and welfare throughout the UK.

ACS Style

Anne Velenturf; Phil Purnell; Mike Tregent; John Ferguson; Alan Holmes. Co-Producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1401 .

AMA Style

Anne Velenturf, Phil Purnell, Mike Tregent, John Ferguson, Alan Holmes. Co-Producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (5):1401.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne Velenturf; Phil Purnell; Mike Tregent; John Ferguson; Alan Holmes. 2018. "Co-Producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners." Sustainability 10, no. 5: 1401.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2018 in Waste Management
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The power plant sector is adopting the co-firing of biomass and solid recovered fuel (SRF) with coal in an effort to reduce its environmental impact and costs. Whereas this intervention contributes to reducing carbon emissions and those of other pollutants related with the burning of fossil fuel, it may also result in hidden impacts that are often overlooked. When co-firing, the physical and chemical properties of the mixed fuels and the subsequent technical implications on the process performance and by-products are significant. Interconnections between multiple values nested within four domains of value, i.e. environmental, economic, technical and social, mean that changes in the one domain (in the co-firing case, the technical one) can have considerable implications in the other domains as well. In this study, using a systematic and flexible approach to conceptualising multi-dimensional aspects associated with the co-firing of biomass and SRF with coal, we unveil examples of such interconnections and implications on overall value delivered through the use and recovery of waste resources. Such an analysis could underpin the selection of useful metrics (quantitative or semi-quantitative descriptors) for enabling a systemic multi-dimensional value assessment, and value's distribution amongst interconnected parts of resource recovery systems; key in enabling sound analysis and decision-making.

ACS Style

Eleni Iacovidou; John Hahladakis; Innes Deans; Costas Velis; Phil Purnell. Technical properties of biomass and solid recovered fuel (SRF) co-fired with coal: Impact on multi-dimensional resource recovery value. Waste Management 2018, 73, 535 -545.

AMA Style

Eleni Iacovidou, John Hahladakis, Innes Deans, Costas Velis, Phil Purnell. Technical properties of biomass and solid recovered fuel (SRF) co-fired with coal: Impact on multi-dimensional resource recovery value. Waste Management. 2018; 73 ():535-545.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eleni Iacovidou; John Hahladakis; Innes Deans; Costas Velis; Phil Purnell. 2018. "Technical properties of biomass and solid recovered fuel (SRF) co-fired with coal: Impact on multi-dimensional resource recovery value." Waste Management 73, no. : 535-545.

Preprint
Published: 05 February 2018
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The UK economy is overly reliant on unsustainable production and consumption practices, depleting finite resources at rates that will increase production costs, business risk and economic instability. This over-consumption produces emissions and waste that cause climate change and environmental degradation, impacting on the wellbeing of people in the UK and beyond. The Resource Recovery from Waste programme (RRfW) promotes a transition towards waste and resource management in a circular economy that restores the environment, creates societal benefits and promotes clean growth by engaging relevant actors in the transition process. RRfW collaborates with academia, government, and industry to co-produce a shared vision and approach to realise such a transition. Reflecting insights from RRfW’s government engagement, this article presents a positive outlook for changing the UK economy and society. It envisions a long-term future for waste and resource management that maximises the value of materials by circulating them in the economy for as long as possible. Four themes and an approach are proposed, including recommendations for regulatory instruments and a stable policy framework. It recommends further collaborative research to capitalise on opportunities for economic growth, innovation and resilient infrastructure whilst contributing to quality jobs and welfare in all four UK nations.

ACS Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell; Mike Tregent; John Ferguson; Alan Holmes. Co-producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners. 2018, 1 .

AMA Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf, Phil Purnell, Mike Tregent, John Ferguson, Alan Holmes. Co-producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners. . 2018; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell; Mike Tregent; John Ferguson; Alan Holmes. 2018. "Co-producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners." , no. : 1.

Review
Published: 01 February 2018 in Journal of Hazardous Materials
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Over the last 60 years plastics production has increased manifold, owing to their inexpensive, multipurpose, durable and lightweight nature. These characteristics have raised the demand for plastic materials that will continue to grow over the coming years. However, with increased plastic materials production, comes increased plastic material wastage creating a number of challenges, as well as opportunities to the waste management industry. The present overview highlights the waste management and pollution challenges, emphasising on the various chemical substances (known as "additives") contained in all plastic products for enhancing polymer properties and prolonging their life. Despite how useful these additives are in the functionality of polymer products, their potential to contaminate soil, air, water and food is widely documented in literature and described herein. These additives can potentially migrate and undesirably lead to human exposure via e.g. food contact materials, such as packaging. They can, also, be released from plastics during the various recycling and recovery processes and from the products produced from recyclates. Thus, sound recycling has to be performed in such a way as to ensure that emission of substances of high concern and contamination of recycled products is avoided, ensuring environmental and human health protection, at all times.

ACS Style

John N. Hahladakis; Costas A. Velis; Roland Weber; Eleni Iacovidou; Phil Purnell. An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2018, 344, 179 -199.

AMA Style

John N. Hahladakis, Costas A. Velis, Roland Weber, Eleni Iacovidou, Phil Purnell. An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2018; 344 ():179-199.

Chicago/Turabian Style

John N. Hahladakis; Costas A. Velis; Roland Weber; Eleni Iacovidou; Phil Purnell. 2018. "An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling." Journal of Hazardous Materials 344, no. : 179-199.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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This paper presents an integrated modelling approach for value assessments, focusing on resource recovery from waste. The method tracks and forecasts a range of values across environmental, social, economic and technical domains by attaching these to material-flows, thus building upon and integrating unidimensional models such as material flow analysis (MFA) and lifecycle assessment (LCA). We argue that the usual classification of metrics into these separate domains is useful for interpreting the outputs of multidimensional assessments, but unnecessary for modelling. We thus suggest that multidimensional assessments can be better performed by integrating the calculation methods of unidimensional models rather than their outputs. To achieve this, we propose a new metric typology that forms the foundation of a multidimensional model. This enables dynamic simulations to be performed with material-flows (or values in any domain) driven by changes in value in other domains. We then apply the model in an illustrative case highlighting links between the UK coal-based electricity-production and concrete/cement industries, investigating potential impacts that may follow the increased use of low-carbon fuels (biomass and solid recovered fuels; SRF) in the former. We explore synergies and trade-offs in value across domains and regions, e.g. how changes in carbon emissions in one part of the system may affect mortality elsewhere. This highlights the advantages of recognising complex system dynamics and making high-level inferences of their effects, even when rigorous analysis is not possible. We also indicate how changes in social, environmental and economic 'values' can be understood as being driven by changes in the technical value of resources. Our work thus emphasises the advantages of building fully integrated models to inform conventional sustainability assessments, rather than applying hybrid approaches that integrate outputs from parallel models. The approach we present demonstrates that this is feasible and lays the foundations for such an integrated model.

ACS Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins; Jonathan Busch; Phil Purnell; Oliver Zwirner; Costas A. Velis; Andrew Brown; John Hahladakis; Eleni Iacovidou. Fully integrated modelling for sustainability assessment of resource recovery from waste. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 612, 613 -624.

AMA Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins, Jonathan Busch, Phil Purnell, Oliver Zwirner, Costas A. Velis, Andrew Brown, John Hahladakis, Eleni Iacovidou. Fully integrated modelling for sustainability assessment of resource recovery from waste. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 612 ():613-624.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Joel Millward-Hopkins; Jonathan Busch; Phil Purnell; Oliver Zwirner; Costas A. Velis; Andrew Brown; John Hahladakis; Eleni Iacovidou. 2018. "Fully integrated modelling for sustainability assessment of resource recovery from waste." Science of The Total Environment 612, no. : 613-624.

Review
Published: 08 December 2017 in Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure
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ACS Style

Phil Purnell. On a voyage of recovery: a review of the UK’s resource recovery from waste infrastructure. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure 2017, 4, 1 -20.

AMA Style

Phil Purnell. On a voyage of recovery: a review of the UK’s resource recovery from waste infrastructure. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. 2017; 4 (1):1-20.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Phil Purnell. 2017. "On a voyage of recovery: a review of the UK’s resource recovery from waste infrastructure." Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure 4, no. 1: 1-20.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2017 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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ACS Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Costas A. Velis; Phil Purnell; Oliver Zwirner; Andrew Brown; John Hahladakis; Joel Millward-Hopkins; Paul T. Williams. Metrics for optimising the multi-dimensional value of resources recovered from waste in a circular economy: A critical review. Journal of Cleaner Production 2017, 166, 910 -938.

AMA Style

Eleni Iacovidou, Costas A. Velis, Phil Purnell, Oliver Zwirner, Andrew Brown, John Hahladakis, Joel Millward-Hopkins, Paul T. Williams. Metrics for optimising the multi-dimensional value of resources recovered from waste in a circular economy: A critical review. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2017; 166 ():910-938.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Costas A. Velis; Phil Purnell; Oliver Zwirner; Andrew Brown; John Hahladakis; Joel Millward-Hopkins; Paul T. Williams. 2017. "Metrics for optimising the multi-dimensional value of resources recovered from waste in a circular economy: A critical review." Journal of Cleaner Production 166, no. : 910-938.

Article
Published: 08 September 2017 in Sustainability
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Current societal patterns of production and consumption drive a twin environmental crisis of resource scarcity and waste overload. Positioning waste and resource management in the context of ecosystem stewardship, this article relates increasing resource demand and waste production to the violation of planetary boundaries and human rights. We argue that a transition towards a circular economy (CE) that contributes to a resilient environment and human well-being is necessary to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The transition requires scientific and technological progress, including the development of low-energy biogeochemical technologies for resource recovery, and multi-dimensional value assessment tools integrating environmental, social, and economic factors. While the urgency to adopt a CE is well-recognised, progress has been slow. Coordinated change is required from multiple actors across society. Academia can contribute through participatory action research. This article concludes with the participation strategy of the Resource Recovery from Waste programme, aiming for changes in mentality, industry practices, and policies and regulations in the waste and resource management landscape in the UK.

ACS Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell. Resource Recovery from Waste: Restoring the Balance between Resource Scarcity and Waste Overload. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1603 .

AMA Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf, Phil Purnell. Resource Recovery from Waste: Restoring the Balance between Resource Scarcity and Waste Overload. Sustainability. 2017; 9 (9):1603.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne P. M. Velenturf; Phil Purnell. 2017. "Resource Recovery from Waste: Restoring the Balance between Resource Scarcity and Waste Overload." Sustainability 9, no. 9: 1603.

Conference paper
Published: 01 May 2017 in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management
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ACS Style

Chris D. F. Rogers; Dexter V. L. Hunt; Joanne M. Leach; Phil Purnell; Katy E. Roelich. Briefing: Resource scarcity and resource security – a suppressed civil engineering challenge. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management 2017, 170, 49 -52.

AMA Style

Chris D. F. Rogers, Dexter V. L. Hunt, Joanne M. Leach, Phil Purnell, Katy E. Roelich. Briefing: Resource scarcity and resource security – a suppressed civil engineering challenge. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management. 2017; 170 (2):49-52.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chris D. F. Rogers; Dexter V. L. Hunt; Joanne M. Leach; Phil Purnell; Katy E. Roelich. 2017. "Briefing: Resource scarcity and resource security – a suppressed civil engineering challenge." Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management 170, no. 2: 49-52.

Review
Published: 01 July 2016 in Science of The Total Environment
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Construction is the most resource intensive sector in the world. It consumes more than half of the total global resources; it is responsible for more than a third of the total global energy use and associated emissions; and generates the greatest and most voluminous waste stream globally. Reuse is considered to be a material and carbon saving practice highly recommended in the construction sector as it can address both waste and carbon emission regulatory targets. This practice offers the possibility to conserve resources through the reclamation of structural components and the carbon embedded in them, as well as opportunities for the development of new business models and the creation of environmental, economic, technical and social value. This paper focuses on the identification and analysis of existing interventions that can promote the reuse of construction components, and outlines the barriers and opportunities arising from this practice as depicted from the global literature. The main conclusions that derive from this study are that the combination of incentives that promote reuse of construction components and recycling of the rest of the construction materials with the provision of specialised education, skills and training would transform the way construction sector currently operates and create opportunities for new business development. Moreover, a typology system developed based on the properties and lifetime of construction components is required in order to provide transparency and guidance in the way construction components are used and reused, in order to make them readily available to designers and contractors. Smart technologies carry the potential to aid the development and uptake of this system by enabling efficient tracking, storage and archiving, while providing information relevant to the environmental and economic savings that can be regained, enabling also better decision-making during construction and deconstruction works. However, further research is required in order to investigate the opportunities and constraints of the use of these technologies.

ACS Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Phil Purnell. Mining the physical infrastructure: Opportunities, barriers and interventions in promoting structural components reuse. Science of The Total Environment 2016, 557-558, 791 -807.

AMA Style

Eleni Iacovidou, Phil Purnell. Mining the physical infrastructure: Opportunities, barriers and interventions in promoting structural components reuse. Science of The Total Environment. 2016; 557-558 ():791-807.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eleni Iacovidou; Phil Purnell. 2016. "Mining the physical infrastructure: Opportunities, barriers and interventions in promoting structural components reuse." Science of The Total Environment 557-558, no. : 791-807.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2016 in Magazine of Concrete Research
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The global cement industry is responsible for 7% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and, as such, has a vital role to play in the transition to a low carbon dioxide economy. In recent years, this has been achieved by technological advances and increased use of supplementary cementitious materials, but the authors have recently shown that there are other means of achieving comparable carbon dioxide savings, for example, by reducing workability. However, price remains a considerable barrier to the widespread implementation of low carbon dioxide concrete. Using the same model for concrete mix design as was used to determine embodied carbon dioxide (ECD), variations in the cost of the components of concrete have now been considered. Considering 24 different mix designs, each spanning a range of characteristic strengths from 20 to 100 MPa, measures to reduce the carbon dioxide footprint were also found to reduce the material cost of the concrete. As such, it may be considered that the construction industry is already encouraged to reduce its ‘carbon footprint’. However, the concept of the carbon footprint was then considered in a more nuanced fashion, considering the ECD per unit strength. On such a basis, the cheapest mixes did not have the lowest ECD. Therefore, the impact of levying a charge on the carbon footprint was considered. To ensure low carbon dioxide concrete is also the cheapest, carbon dioxide emissions would have to be priced approximately one to two orders of magnitude higher than current market value. This would become the dominant factor in construction, with serious consequences for the industry. Furthermore, such charges may pose ethical problems, being viewed as a ‘licence to pollute’ and therefore undermining society's efforts to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the construction industry.

ACS Style

Leon Black; Phil Purnell. Is carbon dioxide pricing a driver in concrete mix design? Magazine of Concrete Research 2016, 68, 561 -567.

AMA Style

Leon Black, Phil Purnell. Is carbon dioxide pricing a driver in concrete mix design? Magazine of Concrete Research. 2016; 68 (11):561-567.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Leon Black; Phil Purnell. 2016. "Is carbon dioxide pricing a driver in concrete mix design?" Magazine of Concrete Research 68, no. 11: 561-567.