1/20 Contribution of waste management to support a cycling society Paul H. Brunner TU Wien

2/20 We need a lot of material! 1400 tons per capita and lifetime of 80 years Source of data: The Society for Mining. Metallurgy and Exploration Foundation

3/20 What do we need it for? ActivityInputOutputStock wastewateroffgassolid waste [t/c.year]][t/c.year][t/c] Nourish/breathing < 0.1 To clean To reside Transport/comm Total Material turnover in private households

4/20 Activities change rapidly ActivityInputOutputStock wastewateroffgassolid waste [t/c.year]][t/c.year][t/c] Nourish/breathing < 0.1 To clean To reside Transport/comm Total Effect of the introduction of modern water supply (19 th century) 2 -> % + 200% % 28 ->863 ->61

5/20 Activities change rapidly ActivityInputOutputStock wastewateroffgassolid waste [t/c.year]][t/c.year][t/c] Nourish/breathing < 0.1 To clean To reside Transport/comm. Total > > > > % - 60% - 7% - 30% Effect of introduction of e-mobility (21st century)

6/20 Why changing to CE? ActivityInputOutputStock wastewateroffgassolid waste [t/c.year]][t/c.year][t/c] Nourish/breathing < 0.1 To clean To reside Transport/comm Total Material turnover in private households 1. Availability?2. Env. Protection!(3. stock)

7/20 Are materials scarce? Quelle: Limits to Growth. Meadows. D.H. et. al p 56 ff resource exponential growth [years] exp. growth 5x larger reserves gold mercury silver zinc fuel oil copper lead natural gas tungsten platinum group cobalt iron carbon

8/20  import ~11  export ~ 8 Stock = primary production Pedo-/ Lithosphere production consumption waste management disposal 140* [Mio. t] geogenic iron stock anthropogenic iron stock Recycling reduces scarcity

9/20 (source: ZAR und *Frauenhofer /Umsicht) [t material /t Aluminum ] Ex. Aluminum Primary production* 4.4 Recycling* 1.2 ThermoRecycling Recycling protects the environment

10/20 High recycling rates are … A. Allesch. TU Wien

11/20 Landfill waste  18 Mio t/a  15 Mio t/a change in stock: 2.2 Mio t/a useless materials products (construction) products (paper) products (metals) products (others) Exported waste Flows [Mio t/a] Stock [Mio t] Waste Management in Austria Austrian waste management, 2012 A. Allesch, TU Wien … feasible... Country wide recycling rate of 64 %

12/20 mass [t/cap.yr] Material input Mean residence time of materials waste today waste in 40 years Material output (wastes) … but not everywhere! Demand Supply 2060 Uniform recycling policy not appropriate!

13/20 G. Kanitschar. TU Wien Economic limits to recycling Materialvalue [€]% of sales price Al Au Ag0.010 Steel Sb0.000 Cu Epoxy Hg0.000 Be0.000 Total value of waste material 1.421% Hard disc sales price % Material value of WEEE (ex. hard disk) Can recycling compete on the market?

14/20 Plastic material Plastics stock [kt 1994][% of flow] Packaging plastics 20 Longlasting plastics [% of flow] Softeneres ~20~ Ba/Cd additives 0~100 4 Lead additives 0~ Flame retardants Toxic materials limit recycling Zero waste is not possible ->WM must supply sinks! Example: what to do with hazardous materials in plastic wastes?

15/20 Recycling cannot prevent dissipation source: Settle & Patterson [Tons Pb/year] * * *10 1 1*10 3 1*10 5 1*10 7 1*10 9 Years before today [t/year] global Pb production Roman Empire

16/20 Dissipated Roman lead [Tons] 0 20‘000 40‘000 60‘000 80‘ ‘000 Even at high recycling rates, substances are lost! Recycling cannot prevent dissipation Dissipation of Roman lead

17/20 WM must supply sinks Solid waste sewage Corrosion, erosion, weathering Off-gas (CO 2 et al.) Recycling

18/20 The need for sinks is high! Data: U. Kral et al. 2015

19/20 Conclusions 1. Flows and stocks are growing -> future waste amount will increase! 2. “Cycling economy” and “urban mining” necessary -> improves resource base and env. protection. 3. Recycling: Quality versus quantity -> quality more important! 4. Cycles cannot be completely closed -> sinks are required for the non-recyclables 5.In the long run, all substances end up in sinks -> sinks as scarce resource? ->manage sinks actively! 6. WM is the most important sink for anthropogenic materials -> WTE (org.) and landfills (anorg.) necessary! 7.Future requirements -> New priorities: clean cycles AND safe sinks!

20/20 Recycling is not … the End ….is the final sink