Tire waste management system in Cyprus in the framework of circular economy strategy

Novel Bioplastic Based on PVA Functionalized with Anthocyanins: Synthesis, Biochemical Properties and Food Applications

Over the last ten years, researchers' efforts have aimed to replace the classic linear economy model with the circular economy model, favoring green chemical and industrial processes. From this point of view, biologically active molecules, coming from plants, flowers and biomass, are gaining considerable value. In this study, firstly we focus on the development of a green protocol to obtain the purification of anthocyanins from the flower of Callistemon citrinus, based on simulation and on response surface optimization methodology. After that, we utilize them to manufacture and add new properties to bioplastics belonging to class 3, based on modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with increasing amounts from 0.10 to 1.00%. The new polymers are analyzed to monitor morphological changes, optical properties, mechanical properties and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of the new materials show the characteristic bands of the PVA alone and a modification of the band at around 1138 cm-1 and 1083 cm-1, showing an influence of the anthocyanins' addition on the sequence with crystalline and amorphous structures of the starting materials, as also shown by the results of the mechanical tests. These last showed an increase in thickening (from 29.92 μm to approx. 37 μm) and hydrophobicity with the concomitant increase in the added anthocyanins (change in wettability with water from 14° to 31°), decreasing the poor water/moisture resistance of PVA that decreases its strength and limits its application in food packaging, which makes the new materials ideal candidates for biodegradable packaging to extend the shelf-life of food. The functionalization also determines an increase in the opacity, from 2.46 to 3.42 T%/mm, the acquisition of antioxidant activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhdrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals and, in the ferric reducing power assay, the antimicrobial (bactericidal) activity against different Staphylococcus aureus strains at the maximum tested concentration (1.00% of anthocyanins). On the whole, functionalization with anthocyanins results in the acquisition of new properties, making it suitable for food packaging purposes, as highlighted by a food fresh-keeping test.

Recent advances on waste tires: bibliometric analysis, processes, and waste management approaches

End of life tires (ELTs) are a pressing environmental concern due to their non-biodegradable nature and potential release of toxic chemicals, as confirmed by human health exposure studies. The expanding transport sector, driven by the automotive industry, has led to inadequate attention to safe tire disposal. This review extracted papers using keywords such as "waste tire rubber," "waste tire pollution," and "waste tire applications" from 2012 to 2023. Recycling publications have surged by 80% in the past decade, with China and the USA leading the research. Pyrolysis and devulcanization methods have emerged as key circular economy (CE) advancements, producing fuel and reusable rubber. Globally, 1.5 billion waste tires accumulate yearly, projected to increase by 70% in the next 30 years if unaddressed. Around 26 million tonnes of used tires are generated annually worldwide, while civil engineering and backfilling use 17 million tonnes of recycled rubber particles. These tires are complex polymer composites, primarily composed of natural and synthetic rubber. The amorphous nature of rubber results in a 50% loss of mechanical properties when exposed to chemicals and microbes, shortening its lifespan. This paper explores the applicability of waste tire rubber and polymer fabrication to offer eco-friendly and cost-effective solutions for proper disposal, mitigating environmental accumulation.

LCA of municipal wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment plants play a significant role in minimizing environmental pollution by treating wastewater and reducing the release of contaminants into the environment. However, their operation can still have an environmental footprint. Therefore, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of wastewater treatment provides a comprehensive framework to quantify the environmental impact of plants across various categories. By conducting LCA assessments, the environmental impacts of different scenarios or treatment technologies can be compared, enabling decision-makers to identify the most environmentally friendly options. This information helps in optimizing the plant's design, operation, and resource allocation to minimize their environmental burden. The current research hypothesis was to conduct an LCA of a typical activated sludge plant in Greece, considering three different scenarios in order to provide an innovative take on wastewater treatment plant foam waste and utilize them for the production of biogas through anaerobic digestion. The assessment was carried out using OpenLCA software as well as EcoInvent v3.3. database. The study focused on the impact assessment of five categories (eutrophication potential, acidification potential, global warming potential, ozone depletion, and photochemical ozone creation). The results indicated that the baseline scenario had the highest impact on these categories, followed by Scenario I, while Scenario II had the least impact. Additionally, the cumulative energy demand assessment showed that the baseline scenario required significantly more energy compared to Scenarios I and II. However, Scenario II, which involved fine screens and utilization of biogas, exhibited the highest energy production, thereby reducing the overall energy demands for the system. Based on these findings, it is crucial for wastewater treatment facilities to actively pursue energy demand mitigation strategies by implementing energy-efficient technologies and utilizing biogas. These measures not only contribute to environmental protection but also promote a greener and more sustainable future for WWTP operations.

Human carcinogenic risk analysis and utilization of shale gas water-based drilling cuttings in road materials

Water-based drilling cuttings (WDC) generated during shale gas development will endanger human health and ecological security. The modern analytical techniques are used to analyze the organic pollutants in WDC, and the human health and ecological security risks of harmful pollutants in WDC under specific scenarios are evaluated. The results showed that the content of organic pollutants in WDC was evaluated by human health and safety risk assessment. The comprehensive carcinogenic risks of all exposure pathways of single pollutant benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene were acceptable. However, the cumulative carcinogenic risk of exposure to dibenzo(a,h)anthracene particles via skin exposure was not acceptable. It was considered that only dibenzo(a,h)anthracene had carcinogenic effect, and the risk control limit of dibenzo(a,h)anthracene in WDC was 1.8700 mg/kg by calculation. As well as, the "WDC-cement" gel composite structure was deeply analyzed, and the physical and chemical properties and mechanism of organic pollutants in cement solidified WDC were analyzed, which provided theoretical support for the study of WDC pavement cushion formula. Based on the above conclusions and combined with the actual site, by studying and adjusting the formula of WDC pavement cushion, the WDC pavement cushion was finally designed by 6% cement + 50% WDC + 44% crushed stone. The 7d unconfined compressive strength met the requirements of the Chinese standard "Technical Guidelines for Construction of Highway Roadbases" (JTG/T F20-2015). Also, the process route of WDC as road cushion product was sampled and analyzed. In addition, the leaching concentration of main pollutants all met the relevant standards of China. Therefore, this study can provide a favorable way for the efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly utilization of WDC, and ensure the ecological environment safety and human health safety of WDC in resource utilization.

Life Cycle Assessment Model of a Catering Product: Comparing Environmental Impacts for Different End-of-Life Scenarios

This paper assesses the primary energy and environmental impacts of a restaurant main course product’s lifecycle, especially focusing on end-of-life (EoL) stage. In the first step, a cradle-to-grave complex life cycle assessment (LCA) model of the product has been set up from the extraction of the required raw materials through the preparation, cooking and use phase to the end-of-life. In the second step, three scenarios (landfilling, incineration, and composting) were compared for the generated food waste in the end-of-life stage given that one of the biggest challenges in waste management is the optimal management of food waste. We calculated eleven environmental impact categories for the examined food product with the help of GaBi 9.0 software. During our research work, the primary energy was examined in each phase. In the third step, a comparison between the traditional and “sous vide” cooking technologies has been created to optimise of the cooking/frying life cycle phase. This paper basically answers three main questions: (1) How can the main environmental impacts and primary energy throughout the whole life cycle of the examined product be characterised? (2) What methods can optimise the different life cycle stages while reducing and recycling energy and material streams? and (3) what is the most optimal waste management scenario at the end-of-life stage? Based on the analysis, the highest environmental impact comes from the preparation phase and the end-of-life scenario for the traditional incineration caused almost twice the environmental load as the landfilling of the food waste. Composting has the lowest environmental impact, and the value of the primary energy for composting is very low. The sous vide cooking technique is advantageous, and the continuously controlled conditions result in a more reliable process. These research results can be used to design sustainable cooking and catering with lower environmental impacts and energy resources in catering units.

Carving out a Niche in the Sustainability Confluence for Environmental Education Centers in Cyprus and Greece

Given the environmental issues that today’s societies confront, such as climate change, waste management, ecosystem deterioration, etc., environmental education is becoming increasingly important. Adoption of environmental education as an integral part of the educational system is required for the Environmental Education Center (EEC) to be able to provide knowledge, skills, and values so that society can become active and environmentally responsible through awareness-raising. According to the scholarly published research, EECs can positively affect local communities and create an environmentally friendly culture. In addition, given that EECs can even play a significant part in the development of lifelong learning activities at the education and sustainable development nexus, it is considered critical to establishing future potentials and dynamics. Thus, aiming to analyze EECs’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) within our complex and ever-evolving world, educators, students, and other fellow citizens in Cyprus and Greece participated in a survey in which they were asked to fill in a questionnaire, specifically developed for each group category. The findings of this study provide a deeper understanding of the implications arising as a result of effective environmental education absence, as well as the importance of a holistic approach through EECs. Moreover, it offers the research community a solid framework for future innovation in citizen engagement and training.

Towards the circular economy in the fashion industry: the second-hand market as a best practice of sustainable responsibility for businesses and consumers

The transition to a circular economy is a key concern for the fashion industry. The emerging second-hand market is a practice that could enable the circular economy in the fashion industry. As this is an emerging trend, the literature has not yet sufficiently explored how it is possible to simultaneously meet consumer and industry expectations in the management of second-hand garments within the value chain. This article aimed to fill that gap with the analytic hierarchy process, which demonstrated that garment collection and recycling are not necessarily best practices for the circular economy. For this to happen, close collaboration between manufacturers and retailers in the value chain is needed to move the industry towards responsibly sustainable production and consumption models. The results emphasise that harvesting management and internal competition on low-cost collection are critical business drivers, while responsible consumption and benefits are opportunities for consumers.

Investigating the potential of sustainable use of green silica in the green tire industry: a review

Undoubtedly, with the increasing emission of greenhouse gases and non-biodegradable wastes as the consequence of over energy and material consumption, the demands for environmentally friendly products are of significant importance. Green tires, a superb alternative to traditional tires, could play a substantial part in environmental protection owing to lower toxic and harmful substances in their construction and their higher decomposition rate. Furthermore, manufacturing green tires using green silica as reinforcement has a high capacity to save energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, pollution, and raw material consumption. Nevertheless, their production costs are expensive in comparison with conventional tires. In this review article, by studying green tires, the improvement of silica-rubber mixing, as well as the production of green silica from agricultural wastes, were investigated. Not only does the consumption of agricultural wastes save resources considerably, but it also could eventually lead to the reduction of silica production expenses. The cost of producing green silica is about 50% lower than producing conventional silica, and since it weighs about 17% of green silica tires, it can reduce the cost of producing green rubber. Accordingly, we claim that green silica has provided acceptable properties of silica in tires. Apart from the technical aspect, environmental and economic challenges are also discussed, which can ultimately be seen as a promising prospect for the use of green silica in the green tire industry.

Environmental Benefits of Air Emission Reduction in the Waste Tire Management Practice

Montenegro faces serious challenges in terms of waste tire management. The main goal of our paper is to consider the financial and economic justification of the implementation of the first phase of the project of collection, takeover and transport, sorting, and storage of waste tires from the three municipalities in Montenegro. The financial feasibility analysis pointed out the need to organize the second phase of the project and the production of commercially usable and energy efficient products. That phase would lead to the desired commercial effects and will probably ensure the financial sustainability of the project. The economic feasibility analysis of the project included an assessment of the socio-economic benefits from the emission reduction of the first group of pollutants (PM, SOX, NOX, VOC, CO) as a consequence of the waste tires’ destruction, predominantly by combusting them. Unit values of pollution costs by types of gases, adjusted for Montenegro, were defined in the interval from 192 EUR/t for CO to 24,294 EUR/t for PM. We proved that the direct socio-economic benefits of this project are savings in the cost of environmental pollution. The total present value of discounted costs in the observed time period was calculated at the level of EUR 1,620,080, while the total present value of the positive socio-economic effects was estimated at EUR 1,991,180. Dynamic justification indicators suggest that this investment has a satisfactory socio-economic justification, i.e., the economic rate of return is higher than the opportunity cost of capital (ERR = 15.82%), the economic net present value is greater than 0 (ENPV = 371,100 EUR), and the benefit–cost ratio is greater than 1 (B/C ratio = 1.23).

Evaluation of urban metabolism assessment methods through SWOT analysis and analytical hierocracy process

The interconnection of urbanization trends and environmental pressures, are due to the rising demand for resource consumption, waste production and greenhouses gas emissions. Taking into consideration the massive reduction of natural resources, the deprivation of the life quality and the climate change, the scientific community indicates the necessity to emphasis and understand the relationship between cities and the environment as a dynamic concept. Consequently, cities are facing the challenge to implement alternative strategies towards more sustainable management of urban resources. This research aims to shed light on the concept of urban metabolism, the methods that are been used to gauge urban metabolism (i.e Emergy Analysis, Material Flow Analysis, Ecological Footprint etc.), as well as the assessment of the proposed methodologies through SWOT analysis and Analytical Hierocracy Process, considering multi-criteria analysis and how those reflect to Circular Economy and European Green Deal Strategy. The results showed that, the existing methodologies needs refreshment to cover the needs for the cities of tomorrow and a new hybrid approach which will include new set of Key Performed Indicators is essential. Furthermore, the results could serve as a beneficial reference point for policy makers, consultants, rural developers as the new hybrid approach can be used to measure and assess the level of metabolism in one area in order to prevent future expansion.

End-of-life tire management: a critical review

Environmental and social awareness are the key elements of the sustainable tire industry. End-of-life tire (ELT) waste flow is an important environmental problem worldwide since it produces severe air, water, and soil pollution issues. Significant advancements have been made in ELT management in the last few years. As a result, ELTs should not only be regarded as waste but also as a source of environmentally friendly materials. Besides, sound ELT management has vital importance for circular economy and sustainable development. Over the last decade, ELT management has attracted many researchers and practitioners. Unfortunately, a comprehensive review of the ELT management area is still missing. This study presents the first critical review of the whole ELT management area. It aims to present an extensive content analysis overview of state-of-the-art research, provide its critical analysis, highlight major gaps, and propose the most significant research directions. A total of 151 peer-reviewed studies published in the journals between 2010-2020 are collected, analyzed, categorized, and critically reviewed. This review study redounds comprehensive insights, a valuable source of references, and major opportunities for researchers and practitioners interested in not only ELT material flow but also the whole waste management area.

Evaluation of Communal Waste in Slovakia from the View of Chosen Economic Indicators

Waste treatment consists of activities required to make sure that waste has the least practical impact on the environment. In Slovakia, more than 50% of waste is in storage. Waste development depends on the economic situation of the state. In Slovakia, there is economic intolerance of waste treatment due to the weaker economic situation of the inhabitants. The goal of this contribution is to study the development of waste production in Slovakia in regard to economic indexes of households with the aim of improving waste management. The goal is achieved by searching for a relation between economic indexes and households by a correlation matrix and by verification of polynomial dependence. According to the results of the statistical importance, we found similarity of the regions in chosen indexes by using of cluster analysis. By this method a sustainable economy and healthy environment is guaranteed and waste is used to produce energy.

An Integrated SWOT-PESTLE-AHP Model Assessing Sustainability in Adaptive Reuse Projects

In the recent past, sustainable development has been considered a major issue for urban and regional studies. Adaptive reuse appears to be a practical solution for sustainable urban development. Beyond and in addition to a conceptual base consistent with circular economy and sustainability principles, how do we know if adaptive reuse is actually sustainable, provided that it constitutes a multidisciplinary and multilevel process? The present study aims at evaluating, in as much as feasible quantitative terms, adaptive reuse practices sustainability. This was attained using a set of indicators, developed combining PESTLE (the Political, Economic, Technical, Social, Legal, and Environmental aspects) and SWOT (the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) approaches, of which the results were subjected to evaluation by experts (pairwise comparisons), following the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The indicators representing strengths and opportunities of the process were calculated to be of higher value (overall level of final cumulative indicators values; 70.4%) compared with indicators representing weaknesses and threats. Enhancing strengths and opportunities and counteracting weaknesses and threats contribute making the potential of adaptive reuse practices in urban sustainability more evident. Among analysis dimensions, political and economic aspects rank first, followed by environmental, socio-cultural, technological-technical, and legal aspect. The empirical results of this paper serve as a useful reference point for decision-making and policy formulation addressing adaptive reuse practices in sustainable development strategies.

Study on the influence of advanced treatment processes on the surface properties of polylactic acid for a bio-based circular economy for plastics

New biotechnological processes using microorganisms and/or enzymes to convert carbonaceous resources, either biomass or depolymerized plastics into a broad range of different bioproducts are recognized for their high potential for reduced energy consumption and reduced GHG emissions. However, the hydrophobicity, high molecular weight, chemical and structural composition of most of them hinders their biodegradation. A solution to reduce the impact of non-biodegradable polymers spread in the environment would be to make them biodegradable. Different approaches are evaluated for enhancing their biodegradation. The aim of this work is to develop and optimize the ultrasonication (US) and UV photodegradation and their combination as well as dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma as pre-treatment technologies, which change surface properties and enhance the biodegradation of plastic by surface oxidation and thus helping bacteria to dock on them. Polylactic acid (PLA) has been chosen as a model polymer to investigate its surface degradation by US, UV, and DBD plasma using surface characterization methods like X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Confocal Laser Microscopy (CLSM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) as well as FT-IR and drop contour analysis. Both US and UV affect the surface properties substantially by eliminating the oxygen content of the polymer but in a different way, while plasma oxidizes the surface.

The influence of preliminary processing of end-of-life tires on transportation cost and vehicle exhausts emissions

Recovery and recycling end-of-life tires (ELT) incur a significant cost of collection and transportation. Improperly conducted ELT collection contributes to excessive vehicle exhaust emissions and high transportation costs. This study investigates the collection and transportation costs of ELT including preliminary processing of waste tires like cutting, baling and packing tires to reduce the volume of each shipment. Waste collection vehicles exhaust emissions were examined in the collection scenarios. In this study a novel approach of multi-criteria decision support - coupled analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) methods have been applied for selecting the best scenario, considering costs and environmental impacts in the collection of ELT. The results show the most profitable method of the ELT collection by routing of heavy truck and pickup of waste tires from a local network after preprocessing. Packing the tires in the collection points reduces the total cost between 20-30% and vehicles' exhaust emissions up to 40 %, compared to other methods in the Polish case study. The proposed decision support method is useful for evaluating environmental and cost factors, especially in regions where transport costs due to distances constitute the largest share of costs. This method and the results are useful for the ELT collection companies in promoting sustainable methods of transportation of waste including emission and economic factors. The study encourages using the compacting of ELT at the collection points for more efficient transportation.

Urban strategies evaluation for waste management in coastal areas in the framework of area metabolism

Europe is considered one of the most attractive and safe prevalent tourist destinations in the entire world. Approximately half (47.4%) of European tourist visits occurred in coastal regions, defined "on the basis of and consist of local administrative units or municipalities that border the sea, or have at least half of their total surface area within a distance of 10 km from the sea." Destinations such as Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Croatia presented with an increased level of tourist accommodation establishments, as well as, the overall flow of tourism in the European Union is mostly concentrated on Mediterranean coastal regions (as nine out 10 tourists, in 2015, spent their holidays at coastal areas). This paper, is dealing with the assessment of a tourist area and how the concept of urban metabolism has been affected by touristic activities. Moreover, this research using several key performance indicators such as waste compositional analysis, the clean coast index, the accumulation rate, and accumulation index, etc., tries to measure the level of environmental performance, and furthermore, to assess the existing infrastructures and the waste management plan, that are being implemented. The results are very useful, for any policy-maker, as well as competent authorities and/or tourist organizations which are dealing with tourist activities and aim to propose or re-schedule any waste strategy targeting the goals of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, European Green Deal, and the new circular economy strategy.

Measuring the Level of Environmental Performance on Coastal Environment before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study from Cyprus

Tourism activities are considered, among others, the backbone of the local economies. However, tourism activities lead to adverse environmental impacts, especially in coastal zones. Coastal areas are considered and recognized as of strategic importance due to the fact that several activities take place, from leisure to business. At the same time, coastal areas are under pressure from tourist activities, and the waste generated is a very serious issue. Therefore, there are limited studies related to the environmental dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the coastal environment. This paper provides answers to the hypothesis that the pandemic lockdown scenario would improve environmental performance due to reduced usage and, therefore, waste, taking into account specific key performance indicators (KPIs) as these KPIs are used to evaluate the performance of an area. The results showed that the study area improved, as did the selected KPIs, i.e., clean coast index (CCI), waste accumulation rate (WAR), and waste accumulation index (WAI). Additionally, according to the final results, the concentration of micro-, meso- and macroplastics on the beach reduced, and the main issues remained the solutions on cigarette butts, straws, and other plastic containers. Furthermore, the final results are considered very useful to local authorities, stakeholders, consultants, policymakers, and any other competent authorities, to reschedule their waste management strategies, to improve waste infrastructures and their level of services (LOS), as well as, to suggest frequent awareness-raising activities to their visitors on how to protect the coastal environment, taking into account a pandemic scenario, as well as, the policy alternative impacts on EU coastal zones 2000–2050.

Measuring the level of environmental performance in insular areas, through key performed indicators, in the framework of waste strategy development

To measure "something that is not there", is not easy and at the same time not fully understandable and perceived by the citizens. Several elements (such as, waste production, waste management cost, social attitude and behaviour, etc.) interrupt and disturb any strategy in the framework of waste management. Additionally, through the European Green Deal (EGD), Europe is trying to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, taking into account the Circular Economy Strategy (CES) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). A Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) breakdown was applied, to establish and organize key information's on the environmental performance (E.P) taking into consideration the existing pollution, reviewing the contemporary knowledge and existing implemented waste strategies on the driving forces, pressures, states and impacts. This paper includes several key performed indicators (KPIs), in order to evaluate the E.P of an area, through hybrid approach which cover among others, the waste compositional analysis, SWOT and PESTEL analysis, waste recycling and waste accumulation index, prevention activities, awareness activities etc. The results indicate that, the selected areas implement periodic measures, but they need to put more effort to boost their citizens to participate in any proposed waste strategy. Furthermore, the results are very valuable and helpful to policy makers, consultants, scientists, competent authorities, stakeholders etc., in order to design and promote synergies and activities (mainly in Local Authorities), to reach the proposed figures that EGD, proposed in relation with the CES as well as with the SDGs.

Strategy development in the framework of waste management

Taking into account the declaration from the Treaty of Rome (back in 1957), on environmental protection "the harmonization of environmental legislations and uniformity in the fight against certain forms of aid, so that technical barriers to the free circulation of goods would not arise due to different national links", there is a need to develop Strategy(ies) in the Framework of Waste Management in order to reach the targets on 2050. Those Strategies aim to increase quality of life and change the way that citizens react in the great debates. Those Strategies should reduce the impact of several processes on the environment through product, processes, and corporate policies using green applicable sustainable resources and environmental management systems (such as ISO 14001, EMAS) as well as a number of activities (prevention, reduced, reused etc) measuring at the same time the impact on society. This paper provides a holistic approach processing how to develop, implement, monitor and improve a strategy (even an existing one) in the framework of waste management at a local level and or at a central level. The proposed methodology could be a useful tool for any policy makers, consultants, engineers, urban planners, academics etc., in order to develop and apply strategy related with household and/or food waste prevention, material reuse, waste reduce (i.e plastics, food, recyclables etc)., in the framework of household solid waste management and beyond. Moreover, the adoption of Strategy(ies) also aims to protect and enhance the Union's natural capital and to turn the Union into a resource-efficient, green, and competitive low-carbon economy in the nearest future taking into acount also the European Green Deal stategy.

Assessing enablers of e-waste management in circular economy using DEMATEL method: An Indian perspective

With increasing population, excessive use of electrical and electronic products and extreme demand of resources have compelled the linear economy to transform into Circular Economy (CE). In the current scenario, e-waste management has become the top priority of all the developed and developing nations especially those in the transition phase. The generation of e-waste has increased proportionally across the world and created an intense pressure on the firms to implement sustainable practices to redesign and recycle the products. The current status of the developing countries like India confronts number of challenges to manage e-waste produced, and the only possible solution is to minimize the waste generation and practicing recycling processes. For transforming into CEs, there is a need to identify the most influencing key enablers through which an effective and robust e-waste management (e-WM) system can be developed. An extensive literature review and expert judgments are expended to identify the most influencing key enablers of e-WM in circular economies, and, being the highest producer of e-waste, Mumbai (Maharashtra) has been chosen as the case location. To explore the strength of causal and effect enablers, the DEMATEL method is applied. This study has shown that 'Environmental management system' (EMS) is the most significant and important driving enabler to influence all the other existing enablers. This study has also highlighted that e-WM can be efficient if it focuses on producing eco-friendly products, developing strict legislations, building green image and supporting the producers to implement CE practices. This study helps stakeholders and policy makers to reduce the burden from the environment and focus on developing an efficient e-WM system on the basis of identified key enablers like EMS and collaboration with environmental partners to contribute towards CE transition.

Quality protocol and procedure development to define end-of-waste criteria for tire pyrolysis oil in the framework of circular economy strategy

The requirements to define End-of-Waste Criteria (EWC) were set in the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), Article 6 and the detailed data collected are considered to be the baseline for the elaboration of the operational EWC through several steps. Such waste stream (which is produced from End of Life Tires-ELT) could be a valuable source for energy recovery and can be used on a pan-European basis as an alternative fuel, for co-incineration in cement plants or furthermore in internal compunctions engines. The exploration for sustainable energy is one of the most dynamic areas of research currently. This study aims to investigate the ability to manage and exploit the energy content of Tire Pyrolysis Oil (TPO), through pyrolysis technology as incineration/co-incineration technology for ELTs presents significant environmental issues. However, TPO, must be declassified from waste in order to be able to be use as an alternative fuel in internal combustion engines for power generation participating in the loop of circular economy and industrial symbiosis. This paper focus on the development of a Quality Protocol (QP) and the procedure how to develop EWC for the declassification of TPO in order to replace Light Fuel Oil (LFO).