| Title | A mathematical model and decision-support framework for material recovery, recycling and cascaded use |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2002 |
| Authors | Mellor W, Wright E, Clift R, Azapagic A, Stevens G |
| Journal Title | Chemical Engineering Science |
| Volume | 57 |
| Pages | 4697-4713 |
| Keywords | environment, Integrated waste management, Life cycle assessment, Materials processing, Mathematical modelling, Polymers |
| Abstract | To achieve more than incremental reductions in resource consumption and waste, it will be necessary to develop new approaches to thesystematic use and re-use of materials in the kind of system termed an “industrial ecologyâ€. This paper presents a new methodology—CHAin Management of Materials and Products (CHAMP)—developed for modelling the fow of materials through a succession of useswith different performance requirements. Although developed specifically for polymers, the CHAMP approach is also applicable to othermaterials and products. Materials are characterised by a set of technical performance parameters, termed utilities. Geographical locationis also treated as a utility to enable logistics—both distribution of products and collection of used products or waste—to be incorporatedwithin the same modelling framework. Processing, transport and use are treated as activities through which a material can pass. The costsand environmental impacts of activities are included in the modelling framework, and are assessed on a life cycle basis by consideringthe complete supply chain of materials and energy used by each activity. The methodology includes acceptance criteria which determinewhether a material is suitable for speci9c uses or activities. These criteria are applied within the model to guide selection of materials forspecifc applications and of successive uses for specifc materials. A simple example of the CHAMP approach is given, to illustrate thekinds of problem to which it has been applied. |
A mathematical model and decision-support framework for material recovery, recycling and cascaded use
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