3:53 PM - 4:16 PM
[U09-05] Importance of Resource Circulation and Its Scientific Study for Sustainable Development
★Invited Papers
Keywords:Circular Economy, Carbon Net Zero, Reuse, Recycling, Separation
Improving well-being while enjoying a life of abundance and convenience is the unquestioned hope of mankind, however, in the current situation where we have to be strongly conscious of the planetary boundary, the "decoupling" is strongly required to simultaneously realize the improvement of well-being and the reduction of environmental load and resource consumption (Fig.1). But there are concerns that the demand for mineral resources will increase even more rapidly than at present if new carbon-net-zero technologies such as the promotion of renewable energy and the introduction of storage batteries are actively introduced to reduce GHG, which is one of the environmental burdens. On the other hand, resource recycling requires a considerable amount of energy for recovery, transportation, and separation, and further promotion of resource recycling may lead to an increase in GHG emissions due to the additional energy required. Thus, the reduction of environmental burdens such as GHG reduction and resource circulation are not necessarily compatible.
In 2015, the EU announced the concept of a "circular economy" as a way to reconcile the above two issues. This concept aims to achieve economic, social, and environmental harmony, which is the aim of the SDGs, by developing the multiple resource circulation loops of maintenance, long-life, reuse, refurbishment, and recycling as a new business and making resource circulation economically viable (Fig. 2). The circular economy not only constructs the outermost recycling loop of linear economy-type mass production, mass consumption, and the recycling and waste disposal that support it, as has been the case up to now, but also the inner multiple recycling loops of sharing, maintenance, long-life, and reuse, which includes changes in consumption structures and business models. The more the inner loop of the circular economy is achieved, the more effective it will be in reducing GHG emissions and recycling resources while saving resources and sharing functions.
As described above, in order to achieve more diverse resource circulation than ever before, it is necessary to have technology that can more freely separate spent products and reuse their residual functions. For this purpose, a technology that can freely separate objects is necessary. Various separation technologies for recycling, which is the outer resource circulation loop and supports the entire resource circulation, are still being researched and developed, but they need to be more energy-efficient and more precise in order to reduce GHG emissions. On the other hand, in order to construct an inner resource circulation loop, it is necessary to separate objects with high precision at the boundary of different phases, and highly selective separation technology that integrates physics and chemistry must be developed. In the future, products should be designed to be easily degradable from the design and manufacturing stages, and the concept of assuming in advance that they will be separated at the boundary surface of different phases after use (Fig. 3).
In this presentation, I will review these situations and introduce examples of research that the authors are conducting to improve the accuracy of separation technology for devices such as storage batteries and photovoltaic panels, which have a great deal to do with carbon neutrality. Physical and chemical separation and concentration technologies are essential to recovering resources from end-of-life products. In this presentation, we will introduce examples of research and development of advanced physical separation and concentration technologies for next-generation products and materials that are closely related to carbon neutrality, such as lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, and adhesive materials, by incorporating highly selective chemical actions.
In 2015, the EU announced the concept of a "circular economy" as a way to reconcile the above two issues. This concept aims to achieve economic, social, and environmental harmony, which is the aim of the SDGs, by developing the multiple resource circulation loops of maintenance, long-life, reuse, refurbishment, and recycling as a new business and making resource circulation economically viable (Fig. 2). The circular economy not only constructs the outermost recycling loop of linear economy-type mass production, mass consumption, and the recycling and waste disposal that support it, as has been the case up to now, but also the inner multiple recycling loops of sharing, maintenance, long-life, and reuse, which includes changes in consumption structures and business models. The more the inner loop of the circular economy is achieved, the more effective it will be in reducing GHG emissions and recycling resources while saving resources and sharing functions.
As described above, in order to achieve more diverse resource circulation than ever before, it is necessary to have technology that can more freely separate spent products and reuse their residual functions. For this purpose, a technology that can freely separate objects is necessary. Various separation technologies for recycling, which is the outer resource circulation loop and supports the entire resource circulation, are still being researched and developed, but they need to be more energy-efficient and more precise in order to reduce GHG emissions. On the other hand, in order to construct an inner resource circulation loop, it is necessary to separate objects with high precision at the boundary of different phases, and highly selective separation technology that integrates physics and chemistry must be developed. In the future, products should be designed to be easily degradable from the design and manufacturing stages, and the concept of assuming in advance that they will be separated at the boundary surface of different phases after use (Fig. 3).
In this presentation, I will review these situations and introduce examples of research that the authors are conducting to improve the accuracy of separation technology for devices such as storage batteries and photovoltaic panels, which have a great deal to do with carbon neutrality. Physical and chemical separation and concentration technologies are essential to recovering resources from end-of-life products. In this presentation, we will introduce examples of research and development of advanced physical separation and concentration technologies for next-generation products and materials that are closely related to carbon neutrality, such as lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, and adhesive materials, by incorporating highly selective chemical actions.