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Making the most of industrial wastes: strengthening resource security of valuable metals for clean growth in the UK

Authors:
Rachel Marshall at Lancaster University
Rachel Marshall
Anne Velenturf at University of Leeds
Anne Velenturf
Juliet Jopson at University of Leeds
Juliet Jopson
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Abstract

Industrial wastes from the mining and manufacturing sectors contain metals such as vanadium, cobalt, lithium and rare-earth elements. Many of these are currently 100% imported and also necessary for clean technologies including wind turbines, solar panels, energy storage and a multitude of electronics. Recovering these resources from industrial wastes has the potential to contribute towards the UK’s ambition for clean growth, resource security and reducing carbon emissions. However, the current regulatory framework for industrial wastes was not designed with the circular economy in mind and policies will need to become more integrated in order to unlock the potential of resource recovery to contribute to clean growth, create social benefits and maintain environmental protection.
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Making the most of industrial wastes:
strengthening resource security of
valuable metals for clean growth in the UK
Industrial wastes have the potential to
contribute towards the UK’s ambition for clean
growth. This policy note will highlight where
policy intervention can promote circular
economy approaches in industrial waste
management.
Overarching
recommendation
The UK Government should aim to develop
integrated policies that unlock the potential of
resource recovery to contribute to clean
growth, create social benefits and maintain
environmental protection. The current
regulatory framework for industrial wastes was
not designed with the circular economy in mind.
In order to design policy and regulation that
enables the potential for resource recovery
from such wastes, better collaboration between
policy makers, industry and academia is
essential.
§In order to work towards the aims set out in the
Industrial and Clean Growth strategies the UK
needs to reduce its reliance on finite resources
and those from politically sensitive areas. The
UK government has committed to clean growth
and decarbonisation of the energy system,
requiring development and growth of the green
technology sector . The Industrial and Clean
1,2
Growth strategies aim to see the UK maximise
capabilities in the design, development and
manufacture of electric vehicles, offshore wind
and batteries. These technologies require
supplies of metals including lithium, rare-earth
metals, vanadium, cobalt – many of which we
currently 100% import . Also the global output of
3
these critical metals is concentrated in only a
number of countries; for instance, China
produces 90% of rare earth metals and over 50%
of cobalt is produced in Congo . This has given
4
rise to concerns over the potential for resource
nationalism restricting supply of crucial
materials .
5Extraction of metal resources from
industrial wastes in the UK can contribute to a
more secure and sustainable source of these
valuable materials6(Table 1).
§A shift to renewable energy will be associated
with a shift from one non-renewable resource
(fossil fuels) to another (metals and minerals) .
7
In addition to less common metals highlighted
above, low carbon infrastructure will require large
quantities of materials such as iron, copper, zinc
and aluminium. The negative environmental and
social impacts of acquiring the materials required
for clean growth infrastructure must be
minimised in order to realise the benefits of a
transition to low carbon technologies. Strategies
for this include designing products and
infrastructure for reuse and recycling, and
ensuring that metals already in the supply chain
(e.g. in electronic goods) are recycled .
8The
recovery of metals from industrial wastes
Why resource recovery
from industrial wastes?
§Waste materials from the extractive and
manufacturing sectors have been described as
‘anthropogenic ores’ reflecting their potential
supply of valuable metals. These include wastes
from refining steel and aluminium, and metal mining
industries.
§Resource recovery from wastes can result in social,
environmental and economic wins particularly when
using low cost, low environmental impact
technologies.
§Maximising resource recovery from these
anthropogenic ores will improve the UK’s resource
security. Resources from wastes can contribute to
the supply of valuable metals and materials needed
for clean growth, many of which are currently 100%
imported.
§Metals are essential for the production of wind
turbines, batteries, solar panels and a multitude of
electronics. These resources must be obtained
sustainably if the objectives of clean growth are to
be realised.
§Increased efficiency in the use of resources,
including recovery from wastes, can contribute
towards reductions in the use of raw materials from
finite sources.
§Reducing raw resource extraction will minimise the
associated negative environmental impacts and
carbon emissions.
§The growing focus on resource efficiency and the
development of increasingly coherent plans across
Government is welcomed, but policy and regulation
must adapt to facilitate the strategic economic
benefits of resource recovery as well as providing
environmental protection.
Resource recovery for clean growth
Recovered metals for constructing
low-carbon infrastructures including
lithium, copper, zinc, and tin
Recovered metals essential for clean
technologies including vanadium,
cobaltrare earth elements and
Historical Mine
Workings
Acidic waters
Toxic Metals
Mine Waste
Alkaline waters
Toxic Metals
Industrial Wastes
from Incineration,
Steel and Aluminium
Production
Currently require
long-term
management
and containment
provides an additional supply of metals from UK
sources, reducing demand on raw material use.
§A move to circular economy approaches could
result in job creation in the historic industrial
areas of the UK where unemployment is
currently high9. Resource recovery from
industrial wastes could promote the development
of new recovery businesses, as well as stimulating
innovation in industrial areas of the North East10
and Wales . There is an additional benefit in the
11
proximity of current and historical industrial
wastes to the green technology industries that
require the extracted metals. The Clean Growth
strategy highlights the North East region for
wind turbine production and the West Midlands
for development of electric batteries . Both
2
these regions have a legacy of industrial wastes
containing the valuable metals required in the
clean industries of the future.
§Resource recovery has benefits across
environmental and social domains, primarily
driven by reductions in the use of raw
resources12. The use of primary resources has
negative environmental and social impacts, and
there is a growing recognition that this should be
factored into the cost of materials and goods in
order for a circular economy to be realised .
13
There is a need to stimulate the secondary
resources market in order to encourage
investment and growth of the sector. This could
be through internalising the real societal and
environmental costs of primary extraction into
the costs of materials. Many government
departments currently focus solely on economic
metrics , this needs to be replaced by new
14
modelling approaches that integrate values
across social, environmental, economic and
technical domains if we are to transition to a
circular economy.
Table 1: The potential contribution of a number of UK wastes to the annual UK import of metals. The % contributions presented
in this table are based on estimates from RRfW publications where the assumptions regarding recovery efficiency and
11,15
concentrations of metals are described. Import data for metals is based on 2014 figures and does not account for how the
4
import of materials is likely to change as demand for certain metals increases.
*Data is based on a study of only 14 sites of the 8000 disused sites estimated across England and Wales alone11
**There are promising prospects for lithium extraction from certain mine wastes (for instance china clay wastes in the SW England)
although estimates of potential reserves are not currently available.
*** Market values calculated based on metal prices and exchange rate for 12 Apr 2018. Prices taken from London Metal Exchange
(cobalt, copper, tin, lead), Infomine.com (Ferro vanadium) and Metalary.com (lithium).
Metal
UK Waste Vanadium Cobalt Lithium Copper Tin Lead
Steel slag 49% 0.8%
(annual production)
Steel slag 638% 11%(legacy waste)
Fly ash 11%(annual production)
Fly ash 132%(legacy waste)
Mine tailings * ** 2.78% 1.82% 1.34%(legacy waste)
Market value of 100% £4.2 £293.5 £9.3 £98.2 £64.5 £219.2
annual import (million £)***
The development of technologies and infrastructure
for reducing carbon emissions associated with our
energy systems is key component of the UK (and
global) ambition for clean growth. Technologies
such as solar farms, wind turbines and electric
vehicles have a high demand for metals and
materials. These resources must be obtained
sustainably if the objectives of clean growth are to
be realised. Metals required include:
Vanadium: emerging metal in the production of
long-lived batteries for commercial energy storage
and a key component in the production of light-
weight steel (for use in wind turbines and electric
cars).
Lithium: in high demand for batteries required for
electric cars, home energy storage as well as
personal electronics.
Rare Earth Metals: metals required for technologies
including solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and
energy-saving light bulbs. Although not technically
rare, supply of these elements is controlled by only a
handful of other countries.
Metals for clean growth
Opportunities for
resource recovery from
industrial wastes
§Resource extraction from industrial residues can
provide simultaneous economic, social and
environmental benefits. Environmental and
social benefits occur both upstream due to the
replacement of raw material extraction and
downstream through the remediation of wastes
which otherwise can pose risk to environment and
human health . Many of the metals targeted for
12,15
recovery are hazardous and can leach into the
aquatic environment or carry as dust into the
atmosphere. UK regulations protect
environmental and human health, which result in
the need for long-term management of wastes
such as steel slag and mine tailings. Despite
protective regulation, chronic pollution is
associated with industrial wastes in the UK .
11,16
The longevity of such pollution risks can result in
issues with responsibility for management when
companies close or ownership changes .
10
Adoption of resource recovery techniques can
accelerate the decontamination of industrial
wastes and provide a revenue stream to
industry, along with contributing to reductions
in the UK reliance on primary resources.
Resource Recovery
from Waste programme
'Resource Recovery from Waste' is an academic
research programme funded by the Natural
Environment Research Council, Economic and Social
Research Council and DEFRA, and envisions a
circular economy in which waste and resource
management contribute to clean growth, human
well-being and a resilient environment.
The programme develops technologies to exploit
the resource potential of industrial wastes.
Research projects spanned a number of different
waste streams including the recovery of metals
from wastes resulting from steel and aluminium
production, and metal mines. These industries
have a legacy of waste material for which
environmental protection measures are required for
decades.
§There is potential to extract valuable metals in
significant quantities from industrial wastes,
including those from steel making, aluminium
production and incineration .
6,15 (Table 1) In the UK
there are considerable quantities of historical
wastes produced through decades of industrial
activity, as well as ongoing production of steel
wastes and increased production of incinerator
ash from energy from waste facilities. These
industrial wastes represent a stockpile for future
resource recovery.
§Resource recovery techniques can incentivise
environmental remediation by off-setting the
cost with the metals recovered .
11 Mine wastes do
not hold the answer to securing a long-term
supply of more commonly used metals (copper,
lead and tin) (Table 1); recycling has more impact
here. However, where mine wastes are resulting in
environmental contamination, resource recovery
techniques can accelerate remediation processes;
the cost of which can be off-set by the value of the
metals recovered .
11 Resource extraction from
mine wastes has been a focus of projects across
the RRfW programme.
§Some mine wastes are sources of metals that
are now extremely valuable for modern
technology. For instance, there is potential for
lithium extraction of china clay wastes and from
historic tin mines in South West England.
The programme is developing technologies that
minimise physical disturbance of these wastes and
utilise low-impact, low-cost and low-energy
techniques to maximise the environmental and
social benefits of resource recovery.
Technologies under development in the programme
include:
§Using more environmentally-friendly approaches
to dissolving metals from wastes. This leads to
the formation of metal-rich solutions (leachates)
from which metals can be recovered.
§The use of bacteria, engineered materials
(nanomaterials) and ion-exchange resins to
selectively adsorb metals from leachates
produced.
For more information visit: www.rrfw.org.uk
§To promote a circular economy, the current
regulatory framework for industrial waste
needs to be redesigned. Regulation relating to
the industrial wastes discussed in this policy note
focusses primarily on environmental and public
health protection. There is a need to extend the
focus to supporting the opportunities offered by
resource recovery . For example, for steel
10
production the EU directive on Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control requires
facilities to have permits specifying emission
limits, monitoring regime and Best Available
Techniques. Whilst these environmental controls
are essential, the recognised Best Available
Technique for steel slag residue in the UK
revolves around safe handling, storage and
preparation for bulk reuse, with no option for
resource recovery .
10 Discussions are needed to
determine where current UK regulation around
end-of-waste for materials are limiting
opportunities for resource recovery (the EU
Circular economy package already highlights the
need for streamlining provisions on by-products
and end-of-waste status ). Such discussions will
17
require consultation between policy makers,
regulators, relevant industries and researchers in
order to identify opportunities and barriers to
implementation of emerging technology .
13
§Assessing the full life cycle impacts of resource
acquisition is complex but essential for
determining which technologies and
approaches are appropriate for the situation6,18.
This approach allows for a better understanding
of the potential negative impacts and positive
benefits resulting from decisions around
resource acquisition and use. For example,
historical mine waste sites in the UK can have
cultural and environmental importance, including
providing rare natural habitats, leisure and
educational services . These factors should be
11
balanced against the potential social value of
obtaining a resource from within the UK, the
benefits for local employment and reduced
reliance on primary resources from politically
sensitive countries.
Implications for policy and regulation
§There is a need to promote the development of
local, circular supply chains through industrial
symbiosis. In the UK there is the opportunity to
develop networks linking industrial waste
producers with end users for the recovered
valuable metals – an example of industrial
symbiosis . Industrial symbiosis is most
19
successfully established when policy and
regulation supports the investment needed to
build relationships . This is highlighted by the
10
success of the National Industrial Symbiosis
Programme (NISP) in delivering significant
financial, social (including employment), resource
and environmental benefits in return for public
investment . The UK took a lead in industrial
20
symbiosis in the early 2000’s, however since
funding of NISP ceased in 2014 the UK has fallen
behind compared to other countries where the
principals have been adopted and supported by
policy. The role of government in promoting
industrial symbiosis should be considered in
the development of the ‘Resources and Waste
strategy’ .
21
§The recovery of resources from wastes needs
to be incentivised through the creation of
markets that account for the economic,
technical, social and environmental value of a
resource. Accounting for values across these
multiple dimensions, instead of a focus on
economic benefit alone, is necessary to drive a
move away from primary resource use.
Frameworks are being developed for the
exploration of the effects of recovery decisions
on the creation and destruction of economic,
technical, social and environmental values along
whole supply chains of materials, components
and products . This approach can assist decision
18
makers in assessing overall sustainability
performance of existing and emerging supply
chains. Such tools are essential for developing
arguments around choices in resource recovery
from waste that can be integrated into
sustainability assessments and decision-making
processes . The definition of value in global
22
economic systems is being questioned with
proposals for alternative models of taxation and
metrics that encompass social and
environmental costs and benefits .
23 The UK
‘Resources and Waste strategy’ is an
opportunity to embrace this changing culture
and incorporate metrics for measuring value
across multiple domains into decision making.
References
1. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. .Industrial Strategy: building a Britain fit for the future
2. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. .Clean Growth Strategy
3. Naden et al, 2012. . Security of supply of mineral resources (SOS minerals).Science and Implementation Plan
Natural Environment Research Council.
4. BGS Minerals UK: . Webpage accessed: 09/02/2018.Commodities and statistics
5. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2011. Report on oral and written evidence on
Strategically Important Metals.
6. Sapsford et al, 2017. In situ resource recovery from waste repositories: Exploring the potential for mobilisation
and capture of metals from anthropogenic ores. Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, , pp. 375-392.3
7. Vidal et al, 2013. . Nature Geoscience, , 894-8966Metals for a low carbon society
8. European Commission. (2015). .Factsheet on the production phase of the circular economy
9. Morgan and Mitchell, 2015. Employment and the circular economy: Job creation in a more resource efficient
Britain. WRAP and Green Alliance
10. Deutz et al, 2017. Resource recovery and remediation of highly alkaline residues. A political-industrial ecology
approach to building a circular economy. Geoforum, , pp. 336-34485
11. Crane et al, 2017. Physicochemical composition of wastes and co-located environmental designations at
legacy mine sites in the south west of England and Wales: Implications for their resource potential. Resources,
Conservation and Recycling, , pp 117-134.123
12. Ng et al, 2016. . Resources, Conservation andA multilevel sustainability analysis of zinc recovery from wastes
Recycling, , pp. 88-105.113
13. Velenturf and Purnell, 2017. Resource recovery from waste: Restoring the balance between resource scarcity
and waste overload. Sustainability, , pp 1603-1620.9
14. Velenturf et al. Co-producing a vision and approach for the transition towards a circular economy: Perspectives
from government partners. Preprints 2018.
15. Gomes et al, 2016. Alkaline residues and the environment: A review of impacts, management practices and
opportunities. Journal of Cleaner Production, , pp. 3571-3582112
16. Riley and Mayes, 2015. EnvironmentalLong-term evolution of highly alkaline steel slag drainage waters.
Monitoring and Assessment, , pp. 1-16187
17. European Commission. (2016). .Briefing on Closing the loop: New circular economy package
18. Iacovidou et al, 2017. A pathway to circular economy: developing a conceptual framework for complex value
assessment of resources recovered from waste. Journal of Cleaner Production, , pp. 1279-1288.168
19. Deutz, 2014. . In Salomone R, Saija, G. (Eds)Food for thought: Seeking the essence of industrial symbiosis
Pathways for Environmental Sustainability: Methodologies and Experiences. Springer, Switzerland. Pp. 3-11
20. UK Government Office for Science Report, 2017. From Waste to Resource Productivity: Evidence and case
studies, pp. 182
21. Velenturf, 2017. . Regional Studies, Regional Science, ,4Initiating resource partnerships for industrial symbiosis
117-124
22. Millward-Hopkins et al, 2018. Fully integrated modelling for sustainability assessment of resource recovery
from waste. Science of the Total Environment, , pp. 613-624612
23. The Ex'tax project, et al. (2016). .New era. New plan. Europe. A fiscal strategy for an inclusive, circular economy
This policy note was written by Rachel Marshall, Anne Velenturf and Juliet Jopson as part of a Policy Impact
project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council for the Resource Recovery from Waste
programme (grant code CVORR NE/L014149/1). We are grateful for the input from RRfW researchers and all
feedback received including from DEFRA, POST, WRAP, and the EA.
Resource Recovery from Waste
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT.
Web: https://rrfw.org.uk/
Twitter @RRfW6
LinkedIn Resource Recovery from Waste
ResearchGate Resource Recovery from Waste
... Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, since updated by the 2010 Environmental Permitting Regulations, permits are required for regulated activities which prescribe limit value and other conditions based on the application of Best Available Techniques (BATs) and Best Practical Environmental Options (BPEOs). Expanding these to further cover resource efficiency dimensions could support a more circular UK economy (Marshall, Velenturf and Jopson, 2018). Another example of relevant tools linked to permitting requirements is that requiring disclosure of convictions when applying for a permit for waste activities or installations (Environment Agency, 2023). ...
... Reflected here is the importance of investing in human capital and innovation for a CE transitionincluding education and specific knowledge, enabling development processes such as retraining as well as the availability and alignment of other inputs such as finance. Institutional and social capital, including networks, norms and trust can also help lower transaction costs in a CE transition and support the innovation process (alongside project-level support) across stages from invention to niche market creation, diffusion and saturation (Maskell, 2000). Macroeconomic policy can be highly relevant through its effect on the scale of economic activities and resultant material and energy throughput (Sterner and Corsia, 2013). ...
... An 'innovation-systems' perspective emphasises the role of regulation in tackling factors inhibiting innovation and which can indirectly hinder CE outcomes (van Ewijk, 2018). These partly overlap with market failures (e.g., positive knowledge externalities), but also include an absence of relevant infrastructure and institutions (Maskell, 2000), low levels of human capital and limited access to required resource. ...
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View
... six months for weathering ahead of further processing (Deutz et al., 2017) and, moving from dispose to store in the diagram, is kept in bulk volumes in industrial landfills where it can impact on the surrounding aqueous environment for 50-80 years and possibly longer due to leakage (Riley and Mayes, 2015). However, steel slag can be a source of materials that are critical for low-carbon technologies and infrastructure (Marshall et al., 2018a). For example, rather than allowing a substance like vanadium to dissipate into the environment (Hobson et al., 2017), it could be recovered with the use of organic matter e.g. from municipal solid waste, bioleaching, and ion exchange resins and subsequently used for the production of light-weight steel used in wind turbine towers and electric vehicles or in the next generation of energy storage technologies (Deutz et al., 2017) enabling a partial flow from store to take and make, and returning the remainder to the environment in the form of remediated soils. ...
... For example, rather than allowing a substance like vanadium to dissipate into the environment (Hobson et al., 2017), it could be recovered with the use of organic matter e.g. from municipal solid waste, bioleaching, and ion exchange resins and subsequently used for the production of light-weight steel used in wind turbine towers and electric vehicles or in the next generation of energy storage technologies (Deutz et al., 2017) enabling a partial flow from store to take and make, and returning the remainder to the environment in the form of remediated soils. A country like the UK with ambitious plans for clean low-carbon growth could potentially source the majority of the critical material vanadium that it requires from steel slag stored in legacy industrial landfills (Marshall et al., 2018a(Marshall et al., , 2018bBEIS Clean Growth Strategy, EU, 2018), with the added environmental benefits of limiting pollution and enabling atmospheric carbon sequestrationlimiting and reversing leakage respectively . ...
... This has to be supported by an understanding of how environmental, social, economic and technical values are created, transformed, preserved and lost throughout supply chains such as analysed by the Complex Value Optimisation for Resource Recovery approach (Iacovidou et al., 2017). This approach might be suitable to formulate and update CBMs (Agrimax, 2017), as well as for the development of policies (Marshall et al., 2018a(Marshall et al., , 2018b. ...
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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.
View
... This is, in part, due to the need to clear away legacy wastes and mitigate risks due to landfill degradation, environmental change, pressure on land availability and resource scarcity. Landfills contain considerable resource stocks of materials that are essential for low-carbon infrastructure [321]. Elements such as copper (e.g., for cables), cobalt (e.g., for generators) and vanadium (e.g., in alloy steel for towers) can be re-mined from landfills [316]. ...
A Framework and Baseline for the Integration of a Sustainable Circular Economy in Offshore Wind
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Circular economy and renewable energy infrastructure such as offshore wind farms are often assumed to be developed in synergy as part of sustainable transitions. Offshore wind is among the preferred technologies for low-carbon energy. Deployment is forecast to accelerate over ten times faster than onshore wind between 2021 and 2025, while the first generation of offshore wind turbines is about to be decommissioned. However, the growing scale of offshore wind brings new sustainability challenges. Many of the challenges are circular economy related, such as increasing resource exploitation and competition, and underdeveloped end-of-use solutions for decommissioned components and materials. But circular economy is not yet commonly and systematically applied to offshore wind. Circular economy is a whole system approach aiming to make better use of products, components and materials throughout their consecutive lifecycles. The purpose of this study is to enable the integration of a sustainable circular economy into the design, development, operation and end-of-use management of offshore wind infrastructure. This will require a holistic overview of potential circular economy strategies that apply to offshore wind because focus on no, or a subset of, circular solutions would open the sector to the risk of unintended consequences such as replacing carbon impacts with water pollution, and short-term private cost savings with long-term bills for tax payers. This study starts with a systematic review of circular economy and wind literature as a basis for the co-production of a framework to embed a sustainable circular economy throughout the lifecycle of offshore wind energy infrastructure, resulting in eighteen strategies: design for circular economy, data and in-formation, recertification, dematerialisation, waste prevention, modularisation, maintenance and repair, reuse and repurpose, refurbish and remanufacturing, lifetime extension, repowering, decommissioning, site recovery, disassembly, recycling, energy recovery, landfill and re-mining. An initial baseline review for each strategy is included. The application, and transferability of the framework to other energy sectors, such as oil & gas and onshore wind, are discussed. The article concludes with an agenda for research and innovation and actions to take by industry and government.
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... 5. Increase capacity of environmental regulators to enable enforcement but also advisory service for companies while they adapt more circular practices; this will require education for the regulators themselves to change the regulatory culture into a balanced approach to environmental risk and economic relevance. In other RRfW materials, it has been recommended that the implementation of circular economy may require a facilitative separate organisation running a Circular Economy Network (Marshall et al. 2018). Such network can also help signposting companies to the right regulator to assess resource recovery-and other circular initiatives. ...
Participatory Situational Analysis: How can policy and regulation support resource recovery? Synthesis workshop report
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2018
The results presented in this report arise from four workshops that took place throughout the UK in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Using a ‘participatory situational analysis approach each workshop strived to answer the question: “If we wanted to realise resource recovery in the UK, how would it be possible within our policy and regulatory context?” Stakeholders attending the workshops ranged from academia, government, industry and the NGO WRAP. This report captures their insights into the diverse legislative areas that need to be integrated and aligned when aiming for a more circular economy, the ways in which policy and regulation enable this, and which particular actors need to be involved and the actions they should take. Taking the results into account, an action plan with seven key elements was recommended. This report is the outcome of the RRfW mini-project ‘Participatory situational analysis for the implementation of RRfW technologies and vision‘.
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... Indeed, while empirical research into circular economy implementation is still in the early stages, the critical role of government in realizing a circular economy has been broadly recognized. This includes for example the creation of amenable governance conditions, enabling secondary resource markets and developing business support networks (Marshall et al. 2018). Relying on business alone for the uptake of circular economy practices is considered unwise, given the speed of change that is required to improve resource use, the large scale of environmental challenges and social inequity, and the difficulty of addressing these in an integrated manner from the relatively narrow perspective of 1 The Resource Recovery from Waste programme was a £7M strategic investment by the Natural Environment Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to drive radical change in resources and waste management in the UK. ...
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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 future business support guidelines to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/9/4/92
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... • Reduced water pollution: The dissipation of metals into the environment from mining wastes and industrial landfills can persist for hundreds of years and, even in low concentrations, impacts can be severe and widespread. Resource recovery curbs water pollution and may at the same time open sources of (near) critical material supplies for clean growth (also see ref. 37). ...
Chapter 1. A New Perspective on a Global Circular Economy
Chapter
  • Oct 2019
Natural resource exploitation is accelerating in the face of resource decline, while at the same time people are generating ever growing quantities of wastes. Population and income growth drive up the demand for energy, materials and food. Four planetary boundaries that indicate a safe operating space for humankind may well have been crossed – climate change, land system change, biogeochemical loading and biosphere integrity – all directly linked to resource overexploitation. Resource exploitation has brought welfare to many people, but it is now infringing upon basic human rights such as clean water and a safe living environment. The management of resources needs to change radically from the linear take-make-use-dispose model to a more sustainable, circular model. This chapter introduces the global challenges within which an international movement towards a circular economy has emerged. It critically revisits views on circular economy and proposes a new model that recognises the complex nature of our resource flows. The Resource Recovery from Waste programme is introduced and an overview is provided of the contents of this book.
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... Policy and regulations should encourage industrial synergies and increase the diversity of resources recovered from organic waste. 'Making the most of industrial wastes' (Marshall et al. 2018a) examines how mining and manufacturing wastes contain metals such as vanadium, cobalt, lithium and rare-earth elements necessary for clean technologies. The current regulatory framework was not designed with the circular economy in mind and policies will need to become more integrated to make the most of the resource potential of industrial wastes. ...
RRfW end-of-programme brochure
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2019
Running from 2015 to 2019, the Resource Recovery from Waste (RRfW) programme is a £7m strategic investment by NERC, ESRC and Defra to deliver strategic science in support of a paradigm shift in the recovery of resources from waste, driven by benefits to the environment and human health, rather than economics alone. The end-of-programme brochure outlines the strategic purpose of the programme and highlights the advances made towards these goals. The programme covered a highly diverse set of themes, such as ecosystem stewardship, multi-dimensional value, zero waste residue, recovery from bulk industrial wastes, harnessing biology and contributing to reducing carbon emissions. The combination of the diverse themes, people and projects brought together by RRfW offered a fertile context for the radical ideas and discoveries presented in the brochure to emerge. The brochure summarises the work done by RRfW to co-produce a vision for a circular economy with academia, industry and government (pg 34-37). RRfW also assessed the political and regulatory challenges for resource recovery and overarching policy recommendations are given on pages 38-39. The future infrastructure needs for resource recovery and key intervention points for making the business case for resource recovery are also covered (pg 40-41).
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... 5. Increase capacity of environmental regulators to enable enforcement but also advisory service for companies while they adapt more circular practices; this will require education for the regulators themselves to change the regulatory culture into a balanced approach to environmental risk and economic relevance. In other RRfW materials, it has been recommended that the implementation of circular economy may require a facilitative separate organisation running a Circular Economy Network (Marshall et al. 2018). Such network can also help signposting companies to the right regulator to assess resource recovery-and other circular initiatives. ...
Participatory Situational Analysis: How can policy and regulation support resource recovery? Synthesis report
Technical Report
Full-text available
  • Sep 2018
The report presents the results from four workshops that took place throughout the UK in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Using a participatory situational analysis approach each workshop strived to answer the question: “If we wanted to realise resource recovery in the UK, how would it be possible within our policy and regulatory context?” Stakeholders attending the workshops ranged from academia, government, industry and NGOs. This report captures their insights into the diverse legislative areas that need to be integrated and aligned when aiming for a more circular economy, the ways in which policy and regulation enable this, and which particular actors need to be involved and the actions they should take to make the governance system more conducive to a high-value circular economy. The report concludes with an action plan consisting of seven key elements.
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Co-Producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2018
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.
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Resource Recovery from Waste: Restoring the Balance between Resource Scarcity and Waste Overload
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2017
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.
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A pathway to circular economy: Developing a conceptual framework for complex value assessment of resources recovered from waste
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2017
  • J CLEAN PROD
The transition to a circular economy, where the value of resources is preserved in the technosphere, must be supported by policies and operational decision making based on evidence. Existing methods used to provide this evidence (e.g. LCA, LCSA, CBA) are not robust enough to adequately address the creation and dissipation of systemic and multidimensional value that spans the social, environmental, economic and technical domains. This study proposes a novel, conceptual approach that seeks to assess how complex value is created, destroyed and distributed in resource recovery from waste systems. This approach expands beyond conventional methods of estimating value. It combines scientific and engineering methods with a socio-political narrative grounded in the systems of provision (sop) approach, and provides a comprehensive, analytical framework for making the transition to a resource-efficient future. This framework has the potential to connect bottom-up and top-down approaches in assessing resource recovery from waste systems, and address systemic challenges through transparency and flexibility, while accounting for the dynamic and non-linear nature of commodities flow and infrastructure provision in the overall system. This creates the pathway towards circular economy, and lays the foundations for future advances in computational and assessment methodologies in the field of RRfW.
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Fully Integrated Modelling for Sustainability Assessment of Resource Recovery from Waste
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2018
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.
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Co-producing a Vision and Approach for the Transition towards a Circular Economy: Perspectives from Government Partners
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Jun 2017
Since the mid-20th century, people have changed ecosystems at a speed and scale incomparable to any other developments during the existence of the human species. Ecosystem change is primarily driven by the increasing demand for food, water, timber, fibre and fuel i.e. growing resource use. On top of that, the supporting infrastructure for these resource flows and the discharge of waste and pollutants drives further environmental changes. While the growing resource economy has generally increased welfare over time, important negative impacts have emerged which could impede the long-term well-being of people as well as the resilience of the biophysical environment. Moreover, we are increasingly faced with growing resource scarcity. Hence we argue that a transition towards a circular economy that contributes to a resilient environment and human well-being is necessary. Such radical transition in our society will require changes from a wide array of actors, such as government, industry and the general public. We argue that academia has a moral obligation to play an active role in facilitating the transition process. The Resource Recovery from Waste programme (RRfW) developed an extensive engagement strategy based on principles of participatory governance, a form of collaborative governance. With the participation process, RRfW aims to create a shared vision and approach to realise more sustainable waste and resource management in the UK. Through engagement of key actors in the co-production of research focus, methods, results and dissemination of outcomes, we strive to create a sense of ownership and commitment to use research results, in support of tangible changes in management of wastes and resources as well as contributing to a mentality change. In our presentation we will focus on the engagement of government partners. We present our approach to identify and engage key actors, share the co-produced results on key themes for sustainable waste and resource management as well as policy and regulatory approaches, and reflect on our experiences in the facilitation of social learning between academia and government in the transition towards a sustainable and increasingly circular economy.
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Resource recovery and remediation of highly alkaline residues: A political-industrial ecology approach to building a circular economy
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2017
  • GEOFORUM
Highly alkaline industrial residues (e.g., steel slag, bauxite processing residue (red mud) and ash from coal combustion) have been identified as stocks of potentially valuable metals. Technological change has created demand for metals, such as vanadium and certain rare earth elements, in electronics associated with renewable energy generation and storage. Current raw material and circular economy policy initiatives in the EU and industrial ecology research all promote resource recovery from residues, with research so far primarily from an environmental science perspective. This paper begins to address the deficit of research into the governance of resource recovery from a novel situation where re-use involves extraction of a component from a bulk residue that itself represents a risk to the environment. Taking a political industrial ecology approach, we briefly present emerging techniques for recovery and consider their regulatory implications in the light of potential environmental impacts. The paper draws on EU and UK regulatory framework for these residues along with semi-structured interviews with industry and regulatory bodies. A complex picture emerges of entwined ownerships and responsibilities for residues, with past practice and policy having a lasting impact on current possibilities for resource recovery.
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In Situ Resource Recovery from Waste Repositories: Exploring the Potential for Mobilization and Capture of Metals from Anthropogenic Ores
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2016
Wastes and the waste repositories in which they reside are becoming targets for resource recovery, both for legacy wastes and for future waste arisings as part of a desire to move toward a circular economy. There is an urgent requirement to explore concepts for practicable technologies that can be applied to these ends. This paper presents a synthesis of concepts concerning in situ technologies (developed from mining and contaminated land remediation industries) that have enormous potential for application to technospheric mining. Furthermore, potential target waste streams and their mineralogy and character are presented along with a discussion concerning lixiviant and metal capture systems that could be applied. Issues of preferential flow (critical to the success of in situ techniques) and how to control it with engineering measures are discussed in detail. It is clear that in situ recovery of metals from anthropogenic ores is a novel technology area that links new sustainable remediation approaches for contaminated materials and technospheric mining for closing material loops, and warrants the further research and development of technologies applicable to major waste streams.
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Employment and the circular economy Job creation in a more resource efficient Britain
Book
Full-text available
  • Jan 2015
Britain faces huge economic challenges in its use of of labour and scarce natural resources. Although unemployment is now falling, the risk of being out of work is higher in some regions and for some types of occupations. And supply risks in an increasingly competitive global economy mean we must get better at using natural resources. Our analysis shows that these challenges are linked, as improving Britain’s resource efficiency could also significantly benefit the labour market. Developing a circular economy involves a major industrial transition. In the past, industrial developments have often involved using less labour, creating high unemployment in some regions or for some categories of workers. By contrast, the growth of the circular economy should involve using resources more efficiently, but with more labour. And, significantly, this growth in employment is likely to be experienced right across the country, concentrated among occupational groups where unemployment is high, such as the low skilled, or in skilled occupations where large numbers of jobs are projected to be lost in the future. Our illustrative calculations suggest that, if the current trend towards greater resource efficiency continues, the growth of the circular economy could reduce unemployment by about 54,000 and offset around seven per cent of the expected decline in skilled employment. Even more extensive development of the circular economy has the potential to reduce unemployment by around 102,000 and offset nearly a fifth of the expected loss in skilled employment.
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Alkaline residues and the environment: A review of impacts, management practices and opportunities
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2015
  • J CLEAN PROD
Around two billion tonnes of alkaline residues are produced globally each year by industries such as steel production, alumina refining and coal-fired power generation, with a total production estimate of 90 billion tonnes since industrialisation. These wastes are frequently stored in waste piles or landfills, and can be an environmental hazard if allowed to generate dust, or if rainwater infiltrates the waste. This review will focus on the environmental impacts associated with alkaline residues, with emphasis on the leachates produced by rainwater ingress. Many alkaline industrial wastes can produce leachates that are enriched with trace metals that form oxyanions (e.g. As, Cr, Mo, Se, V), which can be very mobile in alkaline water. The management options for the residues and their leachates are also discussed, distinguishing active and passive treatment options. Potential reuses of these materials, in construction materials, as agricultural amendments, and in environmental applications are identified. The mechanisms of carbon sequestration by alkaline residues are assessed, and the potential for enhancing its rate as a climate change offsetting measure for the industry is evaluated. The potential for recovery of metals critical to e-technologies, such as vanadium, cobalt, lithium and rare earths, from alkaline residues is considered. Finally research needs are identified, including the need to better understand the biogeo-chemistry of highly alkaline systems in order to develop predictable passive remediation and metal recovery technologies.
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Physicochemical composition of wastes and co-located environmental designations at legacy mine sites in the south west of England and Wales: Implications for their resource potential
Article
  • Nov 2016
  • RESOUR CONSERV RECY
This work examines the potential for resource recovery and/or remediation of metalliferous mine wastes in the south west of England and Wales. It does this through an assessment of the physicochemical composition of several key metalliferous legacy mine waste piles and an analysis of their co-location with cultural, geological and ecological designations. Mine waste samples were taken from 14 different sites and analysed for metal content, mineralogy, paste pH, particle size distribution, total organic carbon and total inorganic carbon. The majority of sites contain relatively high concentrations (in some cases up to several % by mass) of metals and metalloids, including Cu, Zn, As, Pb, Ag and Sn, many of which exceed ecological and/or human health risk guideline concentrations. However, the economic value of metals in the waste could be used to offset rehabilitation costs. Spatial analysis of all metalliferous mine sites in the south west of England and Wales found that around 70% are co-located with at least one cultural, geological and ecological designation. All 14 sites investigated are co-located with designations related to their mining activities, either due to their historical significance, rare species assemblages or geological characteristics. This demonstrates the need to consider the cultural and environmental impacts of rehabilitation and/or resource recovery on such sites. Further work is required to identify appropriate non-invasive methodologies to allow sites to be rehabilitated at minimal cost and disturbance.
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