Browsing by Author "Särkkä, Heikki"

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    Investigation of municipal solid waste (MSW) and industrial landfills as a potential source of secondary raw materials
    (2018-03-31) Särkkä, Heikki; Kaartinen, Tommi; Hannus, Esa; Hirvonen, Sami; Valjus, Tuire; Lerssi, Jouni; Dino, Giovanna A.; Rossetti, Piergiorgio; Griffiths, Zoe; Wagland, Stuart T.; Coulon, Frederic
    Many of the secondary raw materials (SRM) in landfills constitute valuable and scarce natural resources. It has already been recognised that the recovery of these elements is critical for the sustainability of a number of industries and SRM recov¬ery from anthropogenic waste deposits represents a significant opportunity. In this study, the characterisation of the different waste fractions and the amount of SRM that can potentially be recovered from two landfill sites in Finland is presented. The first site was a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill site and it was specifically in¬vestigated for its metals, SRM, plastics, wood, paper, and cardboard content as well as its fine fraction (<20 mm). The second site was an industrial landfill site contain¬ing residual wastes from industrial processes including 1) aluminium salt slag from refining process of aluminium scrap and 2) shredding residues from automobiles, household appliances and other metals containing waste. This site was investigated for its metals and SRM recovery potential as well as its fine fraction. Results suggest that the fine fraction offers opportunities for metal (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and SRM extraction and recovery from both landfill site types while the chemical composition of the industrial waste landfill offered greater opporutinity as it was comparable to typical aluminium salt slags. Nevertheless, the concentrations of rare earth metals (REE) and other valuable elements were low even in comparison with the concentra¬tions found in the Earth’s crust. Therefore mining landfill sites only for their metals or SRM content is not expected to be financially viable. However, other opportunities, such as waste-derived fuels from excavated materials especially at MSW landfill sites, still exists and fosters the application and feasibility of landfill mining.
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    Smart ground project: a new approach to data accessibility and collection for raw materials and secondary raw materials in Europe
    (Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, 2017-12-31) Dino, Giovanna Antonella; Rossetti, Piergiorgio; Biglia, Giulio; Sapino, Maria Luisa; Di Mauro, Francesco; Särkkä, Heikki; Coulon, Frederic; Gomes, Diogo; Parejo-Bravo, Lucía; Zapata Aranda, Pilar; Lopez, Antonia Lorenzo; Lopez, Jorge; Garamvölgyi, Ernő; Stojanovic, Sandra; Pizza, Antonietta; de la Feld, Marco
    Steady Raw Materials (RM) supply is essential for the EU economy and increasingly under pressure to sustain the businesses and industries demand. The supply of RM is not only a matter of availability of primary but also of secondary raw materials (SRM). In fact a great amount of waste can be regained as practical and valuable SRM by enhancing the recovery processes from industrial, mining and municipal landfill sites, especially if we consider that Europe is highly dependent on the imports of several RM. Nevertheless, there is to date no inventory of SRM at EU level. Smart Ground project aims to facilitate the availability and accessibility of data and information on SRM in the EU, as well as creating synergy and collaboration between the different stakeholders involved in the SRM value chain. In order to do so, the Smart Ground consortium is carrying out a set of activities to integrate in a single EU database all the data from existing sources and new information retrieving pilot landfills as progress is made. Such database will enable the exchange of contacts and information among the relevant stakeholders, interested in providing or obtaining SRM. Finally, Smart Ground project will also spin out the SRM economy and employment thanks to targeted training activities, organized during congresses and dedicated meeting with stakeholders and end users interested in calculating the potentiality for SRM recovery from selected landfills, contemporary constituting a dedicated network of stakeholders committed to cost-effective research, technology transfer and training.
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    SMART GROUND Project: SMART data collection and integration platform to enhance availability and accessibility of data and information in the EU territory on secondary raw materials
    (Elsevier, 2016-11-29) Dino, Giovanna Antonella; Rossetti, Piergiorgio; Biglia, Giulio; Coulon, Frederic; Gomes, Diogo; Wagland, Stuart Thomas; Luste, Sami; Särkkä, Heikki; Ver, Csaba; Delafeld, Marco; Pizza, Antonietta
    The issue of resource security has come to the forefront of the debate as Critical Materials (CRM) and Raw Materials (RM) supply is fundamental to maintain and develop EU economy. Considering the increasing scarcity and raising prices of RM, their recycling and recovery from anthropogenic deposits is essential. To date there is no homogeneous inventory available of SRM and CRM present in EU landfills, and best management practices to recover SRM from landfill activities are inefficient. In this context, the EU SMART GROUND project intends to foster resource recovery in landfills by improving the availability and the accessibility of data and information on SRM in the EU.