Does material circularity rhymes with environmental efficiency?

Circular economy's contribution to sustainability lies in a balanced relationship between the ecosphere and the technosphere. Its fundamental equilibrium is supported by 3 interdependent conditions: 1) preserving the stock of resources, 2) relieving pollution reservoirs and 3) adapting the human-made capital to optimize economic activity under environmental requirements.

Current assessment tools struggle to capture undesirable effects resulting from circular initiatives, such as a growing demand for energy in recovery and recycling processes, burden shifting from resource preservation to pollution generation and unattended rebound effects from behavioural change of consumers. It is therefore fundamental to adopt and develop assessment tools, devoted to circular economy, that are systemic enough to prevent from those undesirable effects.

This seminar will present, through two case studies, an attempt to evaluate the relevance of circular strategies in terms of both resource preservation and ecological conservation. The first case study aims to support Québec Government in identifying relevant schemes to improve the circularity of three strategic metals (Fe, Cu and Li) at the provincial level. This challenge is addressed through an approach that integrates MFA, LCA and partial equilibrium technical-economic models. The second case study is about evaluating end-of-life strategies for the tire industry with an approach that combines both Material Circularity Index and LCA to discuss results in respect to four different pathways that characterize the relationships between circularity achievements and an improved economic activity.

This seminar will also to point out some of the current methodological challenges in the development of relevant metrics and underlying methods to assess the sustainability of circular (and non circular) activities.

Sandwiches will be provided.

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About the Speaker:

Manuele Margni is invited professor at IPESE Laboratory of Pr. François Maréchal at epfl. Full professor in the Mathematics and Industrial Engineering department at Polytechnique Montréal, he is co-chair holder of the International Life Cycle Chair, a research partnership with the financial support from 9 industrial partners within the CIRAIG (www.ciraig.com). His research activities aim to develop life cycle based tools to support sustainable production and consumption with a focus on the assessment of life cycle impacts, risks and benefits related to existing and new products, services and technologies. He also teaches Life Cycle Assessment, Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Modeling. In parallel with his research activities, Manuele gained considerable experience working together with industry co-founding the epfl spin-off Quantis International, where he still retains a key advisory role.