Abstract
Market-driven industrial recycling can only be optimized if recycling companies adopt a comprehensive overview and are able to combine and integrate economics with the system engineering of interconnected recycling systems. To succeed in this endeavor, the companies require detailed knowledge of the interaction between the process/quality control, physics, and chemistry of separation technology, and legislation on the materials they are recycling as well as product design. This article summarizes the authors’ practical and fundamental approach to optimizing the resource cycle. The research is focused on areas in the resource cycle where the largest impact will be achieved, as suggested by system perspective and models.
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For more information, contact M.A. Reuter, Delft University of Technology, Mijnbouwstraat 120, 2628RX Delft, The Netherlands; e-mail m.a.reuter@citg.tudelft.nl.
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Reuter, M.A., Boin, U., Rem, P. et al. The optimization of recycling: Integrating the resource, technological, and life cycles. JOM 56, 33–37 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-004-0178-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-004-0178-3