The Role of a Hazardous Waste Intermediate Management Plant in the Circularity of Products

Abstract

Zero-pollution goals and the reduction in environmental pressures related to production and consumption have become a priority in recent environmental policies such as the 8th European Environment Action Program proposal. Adapting current industrial processes is essential to this transition towards a regenerative economy. This work presents a redesign plan for an industrial system that includes mechanical workshops and a hazardous waste intermediate management plant, covering all management activities (both off-site and on-site), such as collection, transport, and treatment. The waste management hierarchy is modified/amplified considering the original definition and the circular economy focus. This includes the improvement of existing processes and/or the design of new sustainable processes from waste to energy and useful materials, with different foci (integrated pollution prevention and control, industrial ecology, the circular economy, system dynamics, and life-cycle thinking (LCT)) and different tools employed (Best Available Techniques inventory (BAT), process simulation, BAT analysis, industrial symbiosis, dynamic material and energy flow analysis, and LCT tools). These tools help us to improve the sustainability of waste to energy and useful materials processes and improve symbiotic behaviour in the industrial system. This study shows the real possibility of achieving the circularity of products, transforming the waste sector into a productive one. Meanwhile, it contributes to the extinction of the traditional concept of waste.