Materials recycling for energy and environmental applications has become a critical engineering issue. There are several sectors, including batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines, which rely heavily on the growing demand for raw materials deemed critical due to their economic significance and supply risks. These sectors urgently need innovative solutions for resource circulation and materials recycling. With this perspective, it has become pivotal to engineer novel recycling processes for critical raw materials and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from local resources (i.e. coal, slags) and from scrap/end-of-life complex products (i.e. spent Li batteries, fuel cells). Similarly, recycling thermoset and magnetic materials for wind energy-based applications has become another critical issue. Bioplastics have emerged as a potential solution, but their potential is riddled with several issues like weak mechanical properties, constraining their versatility in various applications. To tackle this, researchers are delving into extensive studies on reinforcement additives, aiming to create bioplastic composites with improved properties. Seaweed accumulation during storms and other natural processes is a problem. Although the shoreline is cleaned regularly, the washed-up seaweed ends up in landfills. The usage of waste seaweed as a source of energy can be sustainable, and it has the potential to solve climatic and environmental issues while replacing fossil fuels. The cultivation of seaweed also potentially has several benefits: employment generation, an increase in product portfolio, and restorative aquaculture, among others. Currently, there are several critical issues related to the beneficial usage of seaweeds. High water content in seaweed feedstock is a major impediment is the usage of seaweed as an energy source via pyrolysis.
Proposed Session Topics
- Disassembly and recycling solutions for end-of-life batteries, fuel cells
- Wind energy-based recycling and usage
- Recycling of thermosets and plastics
- Beneficial usage of local materials like algae and seaweed for energy and related applications
- Recycling of glass and ceramics for different applications
- Life cycle analysis and techno-economic analysis of the technologies
Symposium Organizers
- Surojit Gupta, University of North Dakota, USA
- Chiharu Tokoro, Waseda University, Japan
- Sonia Lucia Fiorilli, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- Motoyuki Iijima, Yokohama National University, Japan
- Tohru Suzuki, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
- Alberto Mannu, University of Brescia, Italy
- Enrico Bernardo, University of Padova, Italy
Points of Contact
- Surojit Gupta, Surojit.gupta@und.edu
- Chiharu Tokoro, tokoro@waseda.jp
- Sonia Lucia Fiorilli, sonia.fiorilli@polito.it