Material efficiency

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Building construction often is resource-intensive. BuildingSite.jpg
Building construction often is resource-intensive.

Material efficiency is a description or metric ((Mp) (the ratio of material used to the supplied material)) which refers to decreasing the amount of a particular material needed to produce a specific product. [1] Making a usable item out of thinner stock than a prior version increases the material efficiency of the manufacturing process. Material efficiency is associated with Green building and Energy conservation, as well as other ways of incorporating Renewable resources in the building process from start to finish.

Contents

The impacts can include material efficiency include reducing energy demand, reducing Greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts such as land use, water scarcity, air pollution, water pollution, and waste management. [2] A growing population with increasing wealth can increase demand for material extraction, and therefore processing may double in the next 40 years. [3]

Increasing Material efficiency can reduce the impacts of material consumption. [4] Some forms of Material Efficiency include increasing the life of existing products, using them more in entirety, re-using components to avoid waste, or reducing the amount of material through a lightweight product design. [3]

Manufacturing

Minimizing waste is a factor in material resource efficiency. Cement never sleeps (8756743123).jpg
Minimizing waste is a factor in material resource efficiency.

Material efficiency in manufacturing refers to Increasing the efficiency of raw materials to manufactured product, generating less waste per product, and improving waste management. [5] Using building materials such as steel, reinforced concrete, and aluminum release CO2 during production. [6] In 2015, materials manufacturing for building construction were responsible for 11% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. [7] The largest market for aluminum is the transportation sector, smaller applications of aluminum include building, construction, and packaging. [8]

The potential in manufacturing can also refer to improving waste segregation (e.g., separating plastics from combustibles). Recycling and reusing components allow for remanufacturing during the process improvement in creating the product, increasing the material's durability, technology development, and correct component/material purchasing. [9]

Material efficiency can contribute to a circular economy and capturing value in the industry. [10] Some companies have applied the circular economy theory to design strategies and business models to close material loops. [11]

Building process

Since 1971, global steel demand has increased by three times, cement by slightly under seven times, primary aluminum by almost six times, and plastics by over ten times. [12] Significant materials, such as iron and steel, aluminum, cement, chemical products, and pulp and paper, impact the building process. However, employing more efficient strategies to produce these materials will reduce energy and cost without ignoring the reduction of carbon emissions. [13]

One process is using recycled steel saves room in landfills that the steel would otherwise occupy, saves 75% of the energy required to produce steel in the production process, and saves trees from being cut down to build structures. The recycled steel can be fashioned in the exact dimensions needed for the building and can be made into "customized steel beams and panels to fit each specific design." [14]

Strategies

During the manufacturing process, each stage can increase material efficiency, from design and fabrication, through use, and finally to the end of life. [12]

Some strategies are:

Recycling

Recycling can allow for lower-emission second purposes to new materials like steel, aluminum, and other metals. [12] Incorporating recycled materials into the manufacturing process of new goods is a necessary change. Recycling is standard for most materials and is found in every country and economy. [1] Some materials that can be recycled are:

Compressed aluminum-cans for recycling. Pressed-cans.jpg
Compressed aluminum-cans for recycling.

Aluminum cans from recycled material requiring as little as 4% of the energy needed to make the same cans from bauxite ore. Metals don't degrade as they're recycled in the same way plastics and paper do, fibers shortening every cycle, so many metals are prime candidates for recycling, especially considering their value per ton compared to other recyclables. [16] Aluminum is a highly desirable metal for recycling because it retains the same properties and quality, no matter how many times the aluminum can be recycled. After all, once it's melted, the structure doesn't change. [8]

Approximately 36% of all plastic produced is used to create packaging, 85% of which ends up in landfills. [17] Plastic waste is a mixture of different types of plastics. [18] Plastic recycling has several challenges. Plastic cannot be recycled several times without quickly degrading in quality; The total bottle recycling rate for 2020 was 27.2%, down from 28.7% in 2019. Every hour, 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away in the U.S. Currently, around 75 and 199 million tons of plastic are in our oceans, without considering microplastics. [17]

Paper (particularly newspaper) have lower energy savings than other materials, with recycled products costing 45% and 21% less energy, respectively. Recycled paper has a large market in China. However, work still needs to be done to facilitate mixed paper recycling instead of newspaper. [16] Utilizing these recycling methods would permit spending less energy and resources on extracting new resources to use in manufacturing. Despite significant progress in recycling over the last decades, the paper sector is a substantial contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. [19] The pulp and paper industries produce 50% of their energy from biomass, which still requires vast energy. [8]

Policy

Public policies help to discuss and provide a market incentive for more efficient use of materials. Impediments to material efficiency improvement include hesitation to invest, a lack of available and accessible information, and economic disincentives. [20] However, a wide range of policy strategies and innovations have been created in some countries to achieve the mentioned goals. [20] These include regulation and guidelines; economic incentives; voluntary agreements and actions; information, education, and training; and funding for research, development, and demonstration. [21]

In 2022, the United States released "The Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, And Alternatives" program. It will be to study, develop, demonstrate, and trade with the primary goal of creating new alternatives to critical material, promoting efficient manufacturing and use. [22] In addition, The U.S. Department of Energy released a new "Energy Efficiency Materials Pilot Program for Nonprofits" program to provide nonprofit organizations with funding to upgrade building materials to improve energy efficiency, lower utility costs, and reduce carbon emissions.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recycling</span> Converting waste materials into new products

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution and water pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste management</span> Activities and actions required to manage waste from its source to its final disposal

Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, and economic mechanisms.

Thermal depolymerization (TDP) is the process of converting a polymer into a monomer or a mixture of monomers, by predominantly thermal means. It may be catalyzed or un-catalyzed and is distinct from other forms of depolymerization which may rely on the use of chemicals or biological action. This process is associated with an increase in entropy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PET bottle recycling</span> Recycling of bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate

Although PET is used in several applications, as of 2022 only bottles are collected at a substantial scale. The main motivations have been either cost reduction or recycle content of retail goods. An increasing amount is recycled back into bottles, the rest goes into fibres, film, thermoformed packaging and strapping. After sorting, cleaning and grinding, 'bottle flake' is obtained, which is then processed by either:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic recycling</span> Processes which convert waste plastic into new items

Plastic recycling is the processing of plastic waste into other products. Recycling can reduce dependence on landfill, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling rates lag behind those of other recoverable materials, such as aluminium, glass and paper. From the start of plastic production through to 2015, the world produced around 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste, only 9% of which has been recycled and only ~1% has been recycled more than once. Of the remaining waste, 12% was incinerated and 79% was either sent to landfills or lost to the environment as pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal solid waste</span> Type of waste consisting of everyday items discarded by the public

Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioplastic</span> Plastics derived from renewable biomass sources

Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biomass sources. Historically, bioplastics made from natural materials like shellac or cellulose had been the first plastics. Since the end of the 19th century they have been increasingly superseded by fossil-fuel plastics derived from petroleum or natural gas. Today, in the context of bioeconomy and circular economy, bioplastics are gaining interest again. Conventional petro-based polymers are increasingly blended with bioplastics to manufacture "bio-attributed" or "mass-balanced" plastic products - so the difference between bio- and other plastics might be difficult to define.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reuse</span> Using something again

Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose or to fulfill a different function. It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of used items to make raw materials for the manufacture of new products. Reuse—by taking, but not reprocessing, previously used items—helps save time, money, energy and resources. In broader economic terms, it can make quality products available to people and organizations with limited means, while generating jobs and business activity that contribute to the economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium recycling</span> Reuse of scrap aluminium

Aluminium recycling is the process in which secondary commercial aluminium is created from scrap or other forms of end-of-life or otherwise unusable aluminium. It involves re-melting the metal, which is cheaper and more energy-efficient than the production of virgin aluminium by electrolysis of alumina (Al2O3) refined from raw bauxite by use of the Bayer and Hall–Héroult processes.

There is no national law in the United States that mandates recycling. State and local governments often introduce their own recycling requirements. In 2014, the recycling/composting rate for municipal solid waste in the U.S. was 34.6%. A number of U.S. states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have passed laws that establish deposits or refund values on beverage containers while other jurisdictions rely on recycling goals or landfill bans of recyclable materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile recycling</span> Method of reusing or reprocessing used clothing, fibrous material and rags

Textile recycling is the process of recovering fiber, yarn, or fabric and reprocessing the material into new, useful products. Textile waste is split into pre-consumer and post-consumer waste and is sorted into five different categories derived from a pyramid model. Textiles can be either reused or mechanically/chemically recycled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recycling codes</span> Code identifying material, for recycling

Recycling codes are used to identify the materials out of which the item is made, to facilitate easier recycling process. The presence on an item of a recycling code, a chasing arrows logo, or a resin code, is not an automatic indicator that a material is recyclable; it is an explanation of what the item is made of. Codes have been developed for batteries, biomatter/organic material, glass, metals, paper, and plastics. Various countries have adopted different codes. For example, the table below shows the polymer resin (plastic) codes. In the United States there are fewer, because ABS is placed with "others" in group 7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic</span> Material of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids

Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be molded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to their widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives.

Recycling can be carried out on various raw materials. Recycling is an important part of creating more sustainable economies, reducing the cost and environmental impact of raw materials. Not all materials are easily recycled, and processing recyclable into the correct waste stream requires considerable energy. Some particular manufactured goods are not easily separated, unless specially process therefore have unique product-based recycling processes.

Products made from a variety of materials can be recycled using a number of processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circular economy</span> Production model to minimise wastage and emissions

A circular economy is a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. The concept aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The main three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy.

Resource recovery is using wastes as an input material to create valuable products as new outputs. The aim is to reduce the amount of waste generated, thereby reducing the need for landfill space, and optimising the values created from waste. Resource recovery delays the need to use raw materials in the manufacturing process. Materials found in municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, commercial waste and industrial wastes can be used to recover resources for the manufacturing of new materials and products. Plastic, paper, aluminium, glass and metal are examples of where value can be found in waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Packaging waste</span> Post-use container and packing refuse

Packaging waste, the part of the waste that consists of packaging and packaging material, is a major part of the total global waste, and the major part of the packaging waste consists of single-use plastic food packaging, a hallmark of throwaway culture. Notable examples for which the need for regulation was recognized early, are "containers of liquids for human consumption", i.e. plastic bottles and the like. In Europe, the Germans top the list of packaging waste producers with more than 220 kilos of packaging per capita.

China's waste import ban, instated at the end of 2017, prevented foreign inflows of waste products. Starting in early 2018, the government of China, under Operation National Sword, banned the import of several types of waste, including plastics with a contamination level of above 0.05 percent. The ban has greatly affected recycling industries worldwide, as China had been the world's largest importer of waste plastics and processed hard-to-recycle plastics for other countries, especially in the West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Closed-loop recycling</span>

Closed-loop recycling is the process by which a product or material can be used and then turned into a new product indefinitely without losing its properties during the recycling process.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Worrell, Ernst; Allwood, Julian; Gutowski, Timothy (2016-11-01). "The Role of Material Efficiency in Environmental Stewardship". Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 41 (1): 575–598. doi: 10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085737 . ISSN   1543-5938.
  2. ↑ Allwood, Julian M.; Ashby, Michael F.; Gutowski, Timothy G.; Worrell, Ernst (2011-01-01). "Material efficiency: A white paper". Resources, Conservation, and Recycling. 55 (3): 362–381. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.11.002. ISSN   0921-3449.
  3. 1 2 Allwood, Julian M.; Ashby, Michael F.; Gutowski, Timothy G.; Worrell, Ernst (2013-03-13). "Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 371 (1986): 20120496. Bibcode:2013RSPTA.37120496A. doi:10.1098/rsta.2012.0496. PMC   3575569 . PMID   23359746.
  4. ↑ Lifset, Reid; Eckelman, Matthew (2013-03-13). "Material efficiency in a multi-material world". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 371 (1986): 20120002. Bibcode:2013RSPTA.37120002L. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0002 . PMID   23359743. S2CID   6072153.
  5. ↑ Shahbazi, Sasha (2018). Sustainable Manufacturing through Material Efficiency Management (PhD dissertation). Mälardalen University.
  6. ↑ Öztaş, Saniye Karaman (2015). "Sustainable Manufacturing Processes of Building Materials: Energy Efficiency". Applied Mechanics and Materials. 789–790: 1145–1149. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.789-790.1145. ISSN   1662-7482. S2CID   112786900.
  7. ↑ Orr, John; Drewniok, Michał P.; Walker, Ian; Ibell, Tim; Copping, Alexander; Emmitt, Stephen (2019-01-01). "Minimising energy in construction: Practitioners' views on material efficiency". Resources, Conservation, and Recycling. 140: 125–136. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.09.015. ISSN   0921-3449. S2CID   115514523.
  8. 1 2 3 OECD (2015-02-12). "The material basis of the global economy". Material Resources, Productivity and the Environment. OECD Green Growth Studies. pp. 61–68. doi:10.1787/9789264190504-8-en. ISBN   9789264190498.
  9. ↑ Shahbazi, Sasha; Wiktorsson, Magnus; Kurdve, Martin; Jönsson, Christina; Bjelkemyr, Marcus (2016). "Material efficiency in manufacturing: Swedish evidence on potential, barriers, and strategies". Journal of Cleaner Production. 127: 438–450. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.143 . Retrieved 31 Aug 2021.
  10. ↑ Pauliuk, Stefan; Heeren, Niko (2021). "Material efficiency and its contribution to climate change mitigation in Germany: A deep decarbonization scenario analysis until 2060". Journal of Industrial Ecology. 25 (2): 479–493. doi: 10.1111/jiec.13091 . ISSN   1088-1980. S2CID   234421904.
  11. ↑ Brändström, Johan; Eriksson, Ola (2022-03-15). "How circular is a value chain? Proposing a Material Efficiency Metric to evaluate business models". Journal of Cleaner Production. 342: 130973. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130973 . ISSN   0959-6526. S2CID   246909298.
  12. 1 2 3 "Material efficiency in clean energy transitions – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  13. ↑ Hertwich, Edgar G; Ali, Saleem; Ciacci, Luca; Fishman, Tomer; Heeren, Niko; Masanet, Eric; Asghari, Farnaz Nojavan; Olivetti, Elsa; Pauliuk, Stefan; Tu, Qingshi; Wolfram, Paul (2019-04-16). "Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review". Environmental Research Letters. 14 (4): 043004. Bibcode:2019ERL....14d3004H. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3 . hdl: 1721.1/134640 . ISSN   1748-9326. S2CID   159348076.
  14. ↑ Raney, Rebecca Fairly (8 February 2011). "10 Cutting-edge, Energy-efficient Building Materials". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Ji, Yangjian; Jiao, Roger J.; Chen, Liang; Wu, Chunlong (2013-02-01). "Green modular design for material efficiency: a leader–follower joint optimization model". Journal of Cleaner Production. 41: 187–201. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.09.022. ISSN   0959-6526.
  16. 1 2 "The Costs of Recycling". large.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  17. 1 2 "Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022". World Economic Forum. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  18. ↑ Lim, Jonghun; Ahn, Yuchan; Cho, Hyungtae; Kim, Junghwan (2022-09-01). "Optimal strategy to sort plastic waste considering economic feasibility to increase recycling efficiency". Process Safety and Environmental Protection. 165: 420–430. doi:10.1016/j.psep.2022.07.022. ISSN   0957-5820. S2CID   250475041.
  19. ↑ Van Ewijk, Stijn; Stegemann, Julia A.; Ekins, Paul (August 2018). "Global Life Cycle Paper Flows, Recycling Metrics, and Material Efficiency: Global Paper Flows, Recycling, Material Efficiency". Journal of Industrial Ecology. 22 (4): 686–693. doi: 10.1111/jiec.12613 . S2CID   38565989.
  20. 1 2 Söderholm, Patrik; Tilton, John E. (2012-04-01). "Material efficiency: An economic perspective". Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 61: 75–82. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.01.003. ISSN   0921-3449.
  21. ↑ Worrell, Ernst; Levine, Mark; Price, Lynn; Martin, Nathan; van den Broek, Richard; Block, Kornelis (1997). "Potentials and policy implications of energy and material efficiency improvement".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ↑ "Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, And Alternatives". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
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