Research Archives - Page 2 of 3

The Royal Mint’s Journey in Electronic Waste Management

The Royal Mint’s Journey in Electronic Waste Management

TransFIRe researcher, Dr Masoud Ahmadinia, has recently finished a project working with The Royal Mint on their innovative initiative to extract precious metals from the circuit boards of electronic waste, such as laptops and mobile phones, in order to create an eco-friendly jewellery line. The Royal Mint is working in collaboration with Excir, a Canadian clean tech start-up, to use their patented technology, based on revolutionary chemistry and aims to leverage advanced technologies and innovative methodologies to enhance the extraction process. As part of a secondment, Dr Ahmadinia spent a number of days embedded within The Royal Mint, after which, a range of documentation and analysis was produced. These included a Sankey diagram, visually representing the material and energy flow of the processes involved in order to understand their efficiency and identify potential opportunities, as well as a comprehensive cost analysis report for the energy use of processes. As [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-12-15T14:22:05+00:00September 11th, 2023|

Mapping resource consumption and emissions in the Foundation Industries

Mapping resource consumption and emissions in the Foundation Industries

Understanding the intricate flows of resource consumption and emissions within various industries is paramount in pursuing a sustainable future. As part of TransFIRe’s Work Stream 1 (WS1), we are working on a ground-breaking study that bridges a critical gap in our comprehension of foundation industries. Foundation industries include the cement, ceramics, chemicals, glass, metals, and paper sectors – the backbone of our society. The developed study introduces a methodological framework that addresses the gap in mapping resource flows and provides a replicable blueprint for interpreting the complexities of resource consumption and emissions. By adopting this approach, we gain profound insights into the collective performance of these industries and their sectors. Furthermore, the study benchmarks the current performance of the UK against global averages and best practices, acting as a compass for tracking progress towards ambitious net-zero targets. One of the key merits of this study lies in its ability [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-08-10T11:27:28+00:00August 10th, 2023|

Barriers and enablers for use of compressed earth blocks

Barriers and enablers for use of compressed earth blocks

Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) are a low carbon, low cost construction product that are considered by many to be the go-to sustainable masonry wall solution for low-cost buildings. However, although their use was prototyped in many Global South countries, and special building codes were issued to allow their use, the material has not yet succeeded on a commercial level. This inspired TransFIRe researcher Hisham Hafez, alongside colleagues Alastair Marsh and Deena El-Mahdy, to look into the barriers and enablers for scaled-up adoption of CEDs in Egypt. Using a combination of surveys and interviews carried out amongst architects, CEB manufacturers and academics, the researchers set out to determine the challenges that were faced. The majority of respondents agreed that socio-economic barriers for CEBs are more significant than technical barriers. These included CEBs being unfamiliar to most architects and builders, and that most clients perceive CEBs as ‘low-quality’ or ‘inaesthetic’. Most [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-12-11T10:11:11+00:00July 31st, 2023|

Investigation into the composition of commercial glass reveals energy saving potential

Investigation into the composition of commercial glass reveals energy saving potential

TransFIRe researchers from the Sheffield Hallam University have been investigating the composition of commercial glass currently present in the UK market following a lack of recent research and data on the subject. The study involved sampling and analysing the compositions of over 30 commercial container and float glass samples from the UK market and found a number of different properties within the glass that could bring about significant potential for energy saving in its production. Based on the results obtained from the compositional analysis, the performance of these commercial glasses was evaluated using multiple analysis methods and property models. These analyses reveal that glasses of the same colour and function exhibit different properties, with a difference in the estimated melting temperature (Log 2 viscosity) of over 20 degrees Celsius in some cases. Fig.1 Melting temperature difference between current UK container glasses: 21oC. At present, there is a [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-25T14:11:27+00:00July 25th, 2023|

Our shared understanding: a circular economy in the built environment

Our shared understanding: a circular economy in the built environment

We need to transition to a circular economy if we are to solve our global systemic challenges: climate change mitigation and adaption, biodiversity loss and social equity. We won’t hit our net zero targets if we don’t. TransFIRe researchers from the University of Leeds recently contributed to “Our Shared Understanding”, a report put together by a panel of world-leading experts to explore the core concepts that inform the transition to a circular economy. By holding these principles in common we can align policies, strategies and initiatives, enabling the built environment industries to work together across the globe to work together towards a common goal, with coordinated action. This report was launched at the World Circular Economy Forum 2023 and is aimed at policymakers, business leaders and future leaders in the built environment – both circular economy experts and non-experts. The launch event can be watched here. The call to [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-24T15:33:13+00:00July 24th, 2023|

The efficient use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in reducing global emissions

The efficient use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in reducing global emissions

A draft copy of a cross industry paper, which included contributions from TranFIRe researcher Michal Drewniok, has reported the current and future levels of availability of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in concrete and has concluded that GGBS is a highly utilised and constrained material. As such, it was noted that any local increase in the amount of clinker substituted with imported GGBS is unlikely to decrease global emissions. GGBS is a co-product of the iron and steel industry obtained by water-cooling and grinding blast furnace slag. It is used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in concrete due to its cementitious properties, which enhance the long-term strength and durability. The technical benefits of including GGBS in concrete are now well understood and documented, but in recent years GGBS has also been a subject of discussion among concrete producers for its ability to partially replace Portland cement clinker [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-24T13:23:51+00:00July 24th, 2023|

What to do about plastics? Lessons from a study of UK plastics flows

What to do about plastics? Lessons from a study of UK plastics flows

A new study of UK plastics flows co-authored by TransFIRe researchers Michał Drewniok and Jonathan Cullen shows that 1/3 of related green house gas (GHG) emissions could be reduced by increasing recycling capacity and reducing demand. Plastics are pervasive. We use them every day in our phones, laptops, clothes, and cars. Plastics have also been found in the most unlikely places, from the human bloodstream to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Public concern about the use and disposal of plastic has soared in recent years, catalysed by David Attenborough’s documentary pleas and enduring images of seahorses grasping Q-tips circulating on social media. But alongside issues of marine and terrestrial pollution sits the less visible contribution of plastics to climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions are released when heat is generated for the chemical reactions required to manufacture plastics, and from those reactions themselves. Emissions also result from the management of waste [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-18T13:15:10+00:00July 18th, 2023|

Mapping material use and embodied carbon in UK construction

Mapping material use and embodied carbon in UK construction

TransFIRe researchers have co-authored a paper in which they quantified and benchmarked the material use and embodied carbon to the deliver the 'core and shell' of typical residential and non-residential buildings. In this paper embodied carbon emissions, equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), are released during the production of materials and construction processes rather than when it is in use. They are an essential measurement to deliver carbon neutral buildings. With the government’s 2050 net-zero deadline approaching and the pressure to decarbonise increasing, it is vital that ways of minimising levels of embodied carbon are tackled. The detailed bottom-up approach taken by the researchers showed that, compared to the top-down analysis, the embodied carbon emissions were underestimated by up to 20%. Combining their detailed bottom-up model with top-down analysis and other material consumption data, the researchers found that in 2018 (the year in which the most recent available high-level [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-18T11:00:51+00:00July 18th, 2023|

Key performance indicators in sustainability reporting: what do we need to measure?

Key performance indicators in sustainability reporting: what do we need to measure?

Sustainability reporting is a vital tool to provide information on an organisations’ social, economic, and environmental performance and is an essential way for organisations to demonstrate accountability to their various stakeholders. But how do companies know which metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) they should use? The TransFIRe project through its different Work Streams (WS) is addressing the need of identifying the most suitable metrics for the foundation industries (FI), by looking at different levels for measuring and reporting performance, ranging from the process level to factory level and eventually to the “beyond the fence” level (a system view, looking from the perspective of external stakeholders, including the surrounding community, and the environment). Figure 1 - Schematic representation of the different levels for measuring performance of FIs. Process level metrics At a process level, TransFIRe researchers have created a framework to help the manufacturing industries identify the right [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-06-05T11:02:10+00:00May 16th, 2023|

Investigating alternative uses for Spent Foundry Sand

Investigating alternative uses for Spent Foundry Sand

After an extensive literature review by TransFIRe researchers, a number of potential applications for re-using huge quantities of Spent Foundry Sand (SFS) have been identified. As part of Work Stream 2 of the TransFIRe project, which focusses on creating new materials and process opportunities for the foundation industries, TransFIRe researchers have been undertaking a case study focussing on potential uses of Spent Foundry Sand (SFS), a waste product of UK metals foundries leftover after the production of sand moulds or cores for casting of metals. A literature review, carried out with input from the Cast Metals Federation, John Winter Ltd and Wm Lee Ltd, was undertaken to identify potential opportunities for re-using SFS and several applications were identified within ceramics, glass, cement, fillers in concrete and asphalt; and several others. Although SFS can be successfully recycled and used numerous times, the sand grains eventually degrade and their ability to [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-05-15T08:44:48+00:00May 15th, 2023|