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Implementation of Circular Economy Elements in the Mining Regions

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Alina Pinchuk
Alina Pinchuk
Alina Pinchuk
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Nataliia Tkalenko at Chernihiv National University of Technology
Nataliia Tkalenko
Vyktoriia Marhasova
Vyktoriia Marhasova
Vyktoriia Marhasova
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract

The article is devoted to the issue of waste management in the mining regions, as the problems of industrial waste or waste products will always be relevant in nowadays. The most experts focus on urbanization processes, on increasing the resources’ requirements, which in turn will increase the needs of the population and environmental pollution. The processing of waste in the mining regions can be achieved through the use of elements of the circular economy, which will lead to the economic use of natural resources and the interaction of economic, environmental and social development. The building of Eco-Industrial Park using a sector-clustered approach to waste management is suggested in the conclusions. The Eco-Industrial Park will allow related industries to work in symbiosis, where secondary raw materials can be involved in recycling, remanufacturing, recovery, regeneration.
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Implementation of Circular Economy Elements in
the Mining Regions
Alina Pinchuk1, Nataliia Tkalenko2, and Vyktoriia Marhasova3
1Chernihiv National University of Technology, Marketing Department, 14035 Chernihiv, Ukraine
2Chernihiv National University of Technology, Accounting, Tax and Audit Department, 14035
Chernihiv, Ukraine
3Chernihiv National University of Technology, Public Administration and Business Management
Department, 14035 Chernihiv, Ukraine
Abstract. The article is devoted to the issue of waste management in the
mining regions, as the problems of industrial waste or waste products will
always be relevant in nowadays. The most experts focus on urbanization
processes, on increasing the resources’ requirements, which in turn will
increase the needs of the population and environmental pollution. The
processing of waste in the mining regions can be achieved through the use
of elements of the circular economy, which will lead to the economic use of
natural resources and the interaction of economic, environmental and social
development. The building of Eco-Industrial Park using a sector-clustered
approach to waste management is suggested in the conclusions. The Eco-
Industrial Park will allow related industries to work in symbiosis, where
secondary raw materials can be involved in recycling, remanufacturing,
recovery, regeneration.
1 Introduction
The entire modern world economy is aimed at increasing competitiveness and achieving the
goals of sustainable development on the background of the formation and implementation of
the principles of Industry 4.0, which is inextricably linked with the digitalisation and use of
the latest technologies in all economic, industrial, commercial and social processes.
The trends, principles and methods of Industry 4.0 are being implemented in different
fields in different ways, taking into account the direction of the conference and focusing on
the mining industry, it can be noted that the use of a wide range of technological accelerators
of Industry 4.0 allows us to provide a new level of production efficiency and rational use of
natural resources (energy efficiency) within the framework of the "3R principle" – reduce,
reuse, recycle. [1] However, in the mining regions 3R principle can also be supplemented by
the principle of "remanufacture" to obtain a new economic cycle or ultimately a new energy,
raw material or new product, as well as ensuring minimum environmental pollution.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 105, 04048 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/201910504048
IVth International Innovative Mining Symposium
2 Material and Methods
Today, much attention is being paid to the issue of rational use of production and
consumption results under the conditions of depletion of natural resources and large-scale
environmental pollution, which carries catastrophic threats to the Earth’s future.
The UN World Report of 2015 "Prospects for the Development of the Population in the
World" [2] experts analyzed that the population of our planet is rapidly increasing (to date,
7.4 billion, and already in 2050 - 9.7 billion and in 2100 the population of the planet will be
11.2 billion people). An increase in the number of population leads to an increase in the
consumption of natural resources. However, natural resources are tirelessly exhausting, and
some of them will be fully exhausted over 50-100 years. This is due to the fact that the
urbanized needs of people and the rapid intensification of the development of science and
technology are oriented only on consumer interests (increase in production capacity and
profit maximization, which will inevitably lead to an ecological crisis).
According to the scale of this issue, the United Nations has formulated the long-term
goals of world sustainable development in the XXI century, namely: at the United Nations
Conference in September 2015, the goals of sustainable development (CSR) for the period
2016-2030 were adopted, which set out 17 goals of sustainable development and 169 tasks
to be carried out by all countries of the world by 2030. The 17 goals of sustainable
development include the work of three balanced directions: economic, social and
environmental. Figure 1 shows the goals of sustainable development.
However, achieving such a balance so that social, economic and environmental needs
are very symbiotic, requires a colloquial link with all actors, namely, the state, business and
science. Today, global environmental problems are aggravating, among them: biodiversity
reduction and environmental pollution. In connection with them, a violation of the natural
balance occurs, and the further development and prosperity of humanity is in question.
Considering Figure 1, we can argue that most goals are interconnected and mutually
complementary. Achieving sustainable development can be provided for a synergistic
solution to the goals presented.
Within the framework of the presented research, the 12th goal of sustainable development
(responsible consumption and production) is most relevant. This goal is the result of the
transition to a new economic model - circular [4,5,6,7,8,9].
3 Results and Discussion
The concept of sustainable development and circular economy are very similar: both concepts
are global in nature; they emphasize the importance of better integrating environmental and
social aspects with economic progress; both concepts emphasize intra- and intergenerational
obligations arising from environmental hazards; both signal the importance of increasing the
participation of the authorities and the public.
The main differences appear to be the following: the motives for sustainable development
are based on past common traditions. While the motives for circular economy are the
observation that resources can be used in a more efficient way. Sustainable development aims
to benefit the environment, the economy and society as a whole, while the main beneficiaries
of a circular economy are economic entities using this system.
The application of the circular economy in the industry makes it possible to create new
innovative ways of production, the possibility of reuse of goods and materials with less
resource costs, as well as the efficient use and protection of natural resources shortages.
Circular economy is the premise and driver of the fourth industrial revolution
Linear economic models ("take, make, waste"), which were laid down in previous
revolutions, are not able to work efficiently today, but bear global environmental problems
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E3S Web of Conferences 105, 04048 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/201910504048
IVth International Innovative Mining Symposium
[10]. Therefore, the question arises as to the need for the transition to a new resource efficient,
energy saving model of the economy – circular (the economy of a closed cycle). Which is
built on the principle of "take, make, reuse" [11].
Fig.1. Sustainable Development Goals [3].
The mining industry has a major impact on the economy, but the extraction and
processing of natural resources have catastrophically high waste levels, which leads to
negative impacts on the part of the population and the environment. Mining produces a large
amount of mineral raw materials, but only a small percentage is used for its intended purpose,
while a significant part of the raw material is converted into a large amount of waste. As part
of the solution to one of the goals of sustainable development, "responsible consumption and
production", this issue becomes very relevant. The topic of our research is devoted to the
application of elements of the circular economy in the mining industry, the application of
which will minimize the energy needs of primary raw materials, reduce waste in all economic
cycles using the principles of recycling, recovery, regeneration, remanufacturing
[12,13,14,15].
According to global trends, circular innovations and business models are beginning to
emerge and flourish in an urbanized and environmentally-conscious environment. And the
most important aspect of their appearance and development is the issue of financing.
It should be noted that in the scientific paper [16] it is noted that when applying the
principle of reengineering, the product costs an average of 40-65% cheaper for the producer
3
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IVth International Innovative Mining Symposium
and 30-40% cheaper for the customer than the production and purchase of the new product,
but the use of remanufacturing in many sectors of the industry are not fully used [17].
The largest amount of waste is in the ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy and coal industry.
Waste in all the above mentioned industries can be used in many related industries, but for
this it becomes necessary to develop a strategy for the exchange of raw materials for its
processing between enterprises, to apply low-waste technologies and qualified personnel. In
most post-Soviet countries, such technologies are almost non-existent, and for small mining
companies, waste treatment is generally not economically feasible.
For example, the search for new deposits can have enormous financial costs and a lot of
time, and as natural resources are depleted and exhausting, the amount of deposits is steadily
declining. A large amount of waste is dust, slag, tails of enrichment, and many others. If they
are not disposed of or recycled, then this will only lead to an increase in manmade deposits.
Therefore, it is expedient to involve in the processing of waste from the raw material in the
manmade field with the use of non-waste production, which in turn will reduce the load on
the development of new deposits that occupy large areas of often fertile land, as well as
maximize the use of all natural raw materials and minimize harm to the surrounding the
environment.
However, to achieve full non-waste production in the mining industry is very difficult,
and sometimes even impossible. At the same time, the processing of most waste can be done
using the principle of industrial symbiosis, that is, any waste of one industry becomes a
potential resource for another industry, where, after processing, the waste will turn into profit.
This is quite a simple task for its solution, it is necessary that there is a correlation between
the enterprise, but the result of the solution of this problem is resource conservation, energy
conservation, low profitability and environmental protection from pollution of production
and consumption.
In the conditions of development of a new technological structure, the transition from
industrial parks to eco-industrial parks becomes necessary. Construction of an eco-industrial
park will allow the use of accumulated waste from the production and processing of minerals
for potential economic growth. For the application of elements of the circular economy in the
mining industry, one option is the construction of an eco-industrial park within the
technogenic field with the use of a sector-clustered approach to waste processing. That is, in
the middle of the eco-industrial park there should be an industrial symbiosis, minimization
of waste, simplified exchange of materials and resources between the various industries
(within the circular economy, a closed cycle is desirable), re-engineering and recycling.
For example: waste products can be returned back to enrichment factories and mining
enterprises to improve land reclamation (element remanufacturing). Waste in the form of
slags is used for construction and road transport materials, in the chemical and
pharmaceutical industries, and can also be used in glass manufacturing, which will allow for
significant energy conservation (recycling).
The construction of an eco-industrial park requires large investments, a conceptual-new
approach and an artificial mechanism of action, in which all contractors will be involved at
both the regional and state levels.
Sustainable development of the mining industry requires the intensification of internal
resources, the introduction of low-cost technologies in all business processes in order to
minimize the cost of natural resources and introduce new technological innovations,
recycling, etc., which will ultimately lead to significant economic and socio-environmental
outcomes.
For most post-Soviet countries, the question of utilization of waste (mining industry and
not only) and the very low level of re-use and disposal are extremely urgent. Applying the
elements of the circular economy in different fields in the construction of sectoral-cluster-
4
E3S Web of Conferences 105, 04048 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/201910504048
IVth International Innovative Mining Symposium
type eco-industrial parks provides the opportunity to increase the competitiveness of the
region, increase resource efficiency, energy efficiency, and preserve the environment.
4 Conclusions
Summing up the above-mentioned, it can be stated that the main instrument for increasing
environmental and economic indicators is the cooperation of heterogeneous enterprises
united in the industrial symbiosis - the eco-industrial park; the key approach is the
introduction of a circular economy in various fields that will achieve the 12th goal in the
objectives of the World Sustainable Development, however, it should be noted that using this
approach can be achieved the following 6 goals (6. Clean water and sanitation; 7. Affordable
and clean energy 11. Sustainable cities and communities 13. Climate action 14. Life under
water 15. Life on land).
An important issue of the transition to a circular economy is to solve the problem of
financing circular initiatives, since their non-profit period is much longer than traditional
projects. This transition can be helped by government incentives through changes in taxation,
government procurement, increased knowledge of the problem, creation of incentive
complexes, and so on. Also, the widespread introduction of digital technologies should play
a significant role in this.
The introduction of a circular economy can be implemented exclusively through Industry
4.0 due to the need to more effectively coordinate the flow of materials and information. The
reason why the circular economy is not implemented today is the lack of information, and
the digital economy is the “missing link” for its implementation. The main importance should
be taken by the following technologies: cyber-physical systems, readers, automated market
and logistics platforms, the Internet of things and blockchain.
Consequently, the application of the principles of the circular economy in the mining
industry will lead to the economic, environmental and social benefits of the state, region,
enterprises and a number of related enterprises that will operate in the structure of the eco-
industrial park, which is consistent with the concept of sustainable development.
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IVth International Innovative Mining Symposium
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  • Aug 2016
  • J CLEAN PROD
Confronted with the accelerated product obsolescence and the resulting waste of materials, the concept of “optimised/increased/hybridised upgradability” is considered. In the literature, upgradability is used to respond to local technical problems (updating norms, update because of a broken component etc.) or as an end-of-life option. In our view however, it constitutes the heart of a new and promising paradigm of production/consumption. This paper proposes to consider hybrid systems that are called “Upgradable Product Service System (Up-PSS)” combining upgradability with optimised maintenance, with valorisation of end-of-life parts and with the servicisation of the offer. The promises of increasing attractiveness for clients, new businesses for manufacturers and a host of environmental benefits make this new concept highly pertinent compared to known models of production/consumption such as remanufacturable products, easily recyclable products, PSS, optimal maintenance products or basic upgrade products. Moreover, Up-PSS is a new opportunity to switch to offers without ownership transfer that facilitates the implementation of circular economy. In order to shed light on the field of Up-PSS and investigate the boundaries of this new paradigm, three actions are carried out: (1) focus groups with consumers and workshops with two manufacturers (2) on the upgradability of real products and (3) on the changes in business models. Our action research approach resulted in clarifying this new concept of the product by defining key ideas based on three keystones: (i) upgrades should be scheduled according to regular cycles of successive lines of functional improvements to satisfy the following themes of value creation: utilitarian, emotional, ethical, and service-oriented. There should also be specific upgrades chosen from a catalogue; (ii) the effects are strong environmental gains from multiple principles of rationalisation materials use but also by encouraging users to eco-friendly usage of their products; this is formalised by an eco-score to which both users and producers are committed. (iii) The above are accompanied by continuous interaction between clients and manufacturers through a web platform, offers of upgradable systems that would integrate bundles of services resulting in the system's growing attractiveness in the eyes of clients. This in turn would set in motion new modes of contracts, offering manufacturers new and more frequent ways of earning revenue; this would be conditional on setting up an upgradability support service that would be attractive to clients as well as reorganising the value chain with the participation of new partners. This transformation of the value network over time implies developing new development paths for business models to facilitate the transition from current economic models centred on material goods to models that are more service oriented.
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Methodologies to measure the sustainability of materials - Focus on recycling aspects
Article
  • Jan 2013
What environmental constraints will materials have to face in the future? Can current measurement tools like LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) support the choices of material and adapt to these constraints to pave the way to a sustainable world? Are there some alternative or complementary approaches to enhance the quality of information for decision makers? The aim of this article is to provide answers to these three questions. The society of tomorrow, in the second half of the 21st century, will be a society where the circular economy will play a more important role and thus will help reduce materials waste. This is a critical aspect of sustainability. To get there, the decisions have to be enlightened and fair, because the decisions (or non-decisions) made today shape the world that future generations will have to manage. Furthermore, Lord Kelvin used to say: "what you can't measure, you can't improve". Therefore, these decisions have to be supported by measurement tools that will properly capture the stakes of reuse and recycling at the end of life of products. Today, LCA is the common tool used to address this matter. However, the present article has shown that LCA cannot incorporate the whole complexity of sustainability. LCA is good at considering micro-scale issues, comparing one solution with another, in a static approach. How can it give right directions to decision makers in order to support the vision of a circular economy? The application of different standards showed that it is not easy at all and that recycling product at their end of life are not rewarded equally and sometimes not promoted at all. Therefore rebound effects leading to contradictory decisions may occur. LCA alone is not enough to make enlightened decisions. It should be complemented by other methods. This was proposed in the last part. Based on the IPAT equation, this approach tries to capture different aspects that are not addressed properly by LCA, due to the fact that the functional unit is too restrictive, that the time dimension and prospective approach should be more integrated, and that it should enlarge the scale of the analysis to the macro-economy and the socio-economy. It should also recognize that the efforts have to be shared by different players including material industry and manufacturers, policy makers and society in general. As a general conclusion, we are convinced that tomorrow's society will recognize the value of materials that are recyclable and reusable, like steel has been for many decades. But there is still a clear need to addressing, in research and development, the improvement of the metrics, combining social, environmental and economic assessment, so that the sustainability value of materials is properly measured. These are the objectives of the Sovamat Initiative and the SAM conferences.
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Making functional sales environmentally and economically beneficial through product remanufacturing
Article
  • Jul 2005
  • J CLEAN PROD
Functional sales have both economic and environmental benefits—especially when the functional sales contracts are used in connection with product remanufacturing. This paper elucidates these benefits and provides an argument for why products to be used for functional sales should be remanufactured. To achieve an efficient remanufacturing process, the products aimed for remanufacturing should be adapted for the process as much as possible. The analyses of remanufacturing facilities for household appliances and automotive parts revealed that the cleaning and repairing steps are most critical in the remanufacturing process. To facilitate these two steps, the product designers should focus on giving the products the following properties: ease of access, ease of handling, ease of separation and wear resistance.
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Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management
Article
  • Feb 2004
  • WASTE MANAGE
The purpose of this paper is to review the types of models that are currently being used in the area of municipal waste management and to highlight some major shortcomings of these models. Most of the municipal waste models identified in the literature are decision support models and for the purposes of this research, are divided into three categories-those based on cost benefit analysis, those based on life cycle assessment and those based on multicriteria decision making. Shortcomings of current waste management models include that they are concerned with refinements of the evaluation steps (e.g. stage four of AHP or the improvement of weight allocations in ELECTRE) rather than addressing the decision making process itself. In addition, while many models recognise that for a waste management model to be sustainable, it must consider environmental, economic and social aspects, no model examined considered all three aspects together in the application of the model.
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Remanufacturing: The next great opportunity for boosting US productivity
Article
  • Feb 2003
  • Bus Horiz
While many remarkable labor and material initiatives have received considerable attention over the past century, a golden opportunity has remained relatively hidden, limited primarily to a handful of industries, such as capital goods, automotive parts, and the Department of Defense. Today, remanufacturing represents perhaps the largest untapped resource for productivity improvement in American industry. The reasons for its limited use are varied, but they can all be attributed ultimately to a lack of awareness of the potential benefits - and challenges - involved. The solutions offered here can aid companies in reaping those benefits and overcoming those challenges.
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