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Distinct urban mines: exploiting secondary resources in unique anthropogenic spaces

Distinct urban mines: exploiting secondary resources in unique anthropogenic spaces
Distinct urban mines: exploiting secondary resources in unique anthropogenic spaces
Fear of scarcity of resources highlight the need to exploit secondary materials from urban mines in the anthroposphere. Analogous to primary mines rich in one type of material (e.g. copper, gold, etc.), some urban mines are unique/distinct. We introduce, illustrate and discuss the concept of Distinct Urban Mines (DUM). Using the example of a university DUM in the UK, analogous to a primary mine, we illustrate potential product/material yields in respect of size, concentration and spatial location of the mine. Product ownership and replacement cycles for 17 high-value electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) among students showed that 20 tonnes of valuable e-waste were in stockpile in this DUM and a further 87 tonnes would ‘soon’ be available for exploitation. We address the opportunities and challenges of exploiting DUMs and conclude that they are readily available reservoirs for resource recovery. Two original contributions arise from this work: (i) a novel approach to urban mining with a potential for maximising
resource recovery within the anthroposphere is conceptualised; and (ii) previously unavailable data for high-value products for a typical university DUM are presented and analysed
urban mining, resource recovery, e-waste, material recovery, circular economy
0956-053X
4-9
Ongondo, F.O.
1571ba26-fed2-42d9-a392-ad8fde1e6bbf
Williams, I.D.
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
Whitlock, G.
d45317bc-ec33-475c-9aee-e454382026b6
Ongondo, F.O.
1571ba26-fed2-42d9-a392-ad8fde1e6bbf
Williams, I.D.
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
Whitlock, G.
d45317bc-ec33-475c-9aee-e454382026b6

Ongondo, F.O., Williams, I.D. and Whitlock, G. (2015) Distinct urban mines: exploiting secondary resources in unique anthropogenic spaces. Waste Management, 45, 4-9. (doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.05.026).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Fear of scarcity of resources highlight the need to exploit secondary materials from urban mines in the anthroposphere. Analogous to primary mines rich in one type of material (e.g. copper, gold, etc.), some urban mines are unique/distinct. We introduce, illustrate and discuss the concept of Distinct Urban Mines (DUM). Using the example of a university DUM in the UK, analogous to a primary mine, we illustrate potential product/material yields in respect of size, concentration and spatial location of the mine. Product ownership and replacement cycles for 17 high-value electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) among students showed that 20 tonnes of valuable e-waste were in stockpile in this DUM and a further 87 tonnes would ‘soon’ be available for exploitation. We address the opportunities and challenges of exploiting DUMs and conclude that they are readily available reservoirs for resource recovery. Two original contributions arise from this work: (i) a novel approach to urban mining with a potential for maximising
resource recovery within the anthroposphere is conceptualised; and (ii) previously unavailable data for high-value products for a typical university DUM are presented and analysed

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 9 June 2015
Published date: 1 November 2015
Keywords: urban mining, resource recovery, e-waste, material recovery, circular economy
Organisations: Centre for Environmental Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 383519
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/383519
ISSN: 0956-053X
PURE UUID: 2d28d42f-d113-4fd3-a4b4-628a308e3d92
ORCID for I.D. Williams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-1219

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 Nov 2015 10:12
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:22

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Contributors

Author: F.O. Ongondo
Author: I.D. Williams ORCID iD
Author: G. Whitlock

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