Concept

Waste hierarchy

Publications associées (29)

Towards edible robots and robotic food

Dario Floreano, Bokeon Kwak, Markéta Pankhurst, Jun Shintake

Edible robots and robotic food — edible systems that perceive, process and act upon stimulation — could open a new range of opportunities in health care, environmental management and the promotion of healthier eating habits. For example, they could enable ...

2024

Geometry-Driven Stock-Constrained Truss Design via Equilibrium-Based Structural Models

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Tao Sun

This paper presents a geometry-driven approach to form-finding with reused stock elements. Our proposed workflow uses a K-mean algorithm to cluster stock elements and incorporate their geometrical values early in the form-finding process. A feedback loop i ...

Springer2024

Reuse of cut concrete slabs in new buildings for circular ultra-low-carbon floor designs

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Numa Joy Bertola, Célia Marine Küpfer

The study explores an original idea that responds to the urgent need to reduce the detrimental environmental impacts of load-bearing floor construction in new buildings by reusing saw-cut reinforced concrete (RC) pieces salvaged from soon-to-be demolished ...

2024

Acids from fruits generate photoactive Fe-complexes, enhancing solar disinfection of water (SODIS): A systematic study of the novel " fruto-Fenton " process, effective over a wide pH range (4-9)

César Pulgarin, Aline Laetitia Schaub, Stefanos Giannakis, Giulio Farinelli, Mona Kohantorabi

This study aimed to enhance solar disinfection (SODIS) by the photo-Fenton process, operated at natural pH, through the re-utilization of fruit wastes. For this purpose, pure organic acids present in fruits and alimentary wastes were tested and compared wi ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

Reusability assessment of reinforced concrete components prior to deconstruction from obsolete buildings

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Maléna Bastien Masse, Julie Rachel Devènes

A large part of building demolitions is motivated by purely socio-economic reasons. Hence, about-to-be-demolished structures, commonly made of reinforced concrete, very often present no or little degradation. When adaptive reuse of the entire building is n ...

2024

On the role of system integration in plastic waste management

François Maréchal, Ivan Daniel Kantor, Julia Granacher

The management of plastic waste is a growing concern that can harm wildlife and ecosystems, and its end-of-life policies are key to mitigating plastic environmental impact. This work presents a decision-making methodology for the thermal and material valor ...

Elsevier2023

Advances in hydration and thermodynamics of cementitious systems

Karen Scrivener, Patrick Juilland, Aslam Kunhi Mohamed, Fabien Jacques Michel Georget, Thomas Matschei

Optimising the hydration of cementitious materials is crucial to leverage their full potential and avoid wasting resources, embodied energy and CO2. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms is key to reach these objectives. In this paper, we review progres ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Decision support methodology for waste-to-value process integration

Rafael Amorim Leandro De Castro Amoedo

Waste treatment is a complex procedure that comprises multidimensional aspects. The challenges posed by the energy transition and international protocols emphasize the role of waste in its material and energy dimension. With an increasing population and li ...

EPFL2023

Circularity by stock in Sri Lanka: Economic necessity meets urban fabric renovation

Paolo Tombesi, Milinda Pathiraja

Persistent fiscal and political mismanagement, together with the financial pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, have driven Sri Lanka into a social and economic crisis triggering a decrease in national foreign exchange reserves, an inability to purchase vit ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2023

Printed degradable piezoelectric microsystems: From ink formulation to device fabrication and characterization

Morgan Mc Kay Monroe

As the world moves further and further into the semiconductor era, the amount of waste generated from electronics ("e-waste") is increasing rapidly and unsustainably. Of particular note, alternatives to lead-based piezoelectric materials must be establishe ...

EPFL2023

Fabrication of ZIF-8 membranes by direct assembly of nanosheets from bottom-up synthesis growth solution

Kumar Varoon Agrawal, Heng-Yu Chi, Xuekui Duan

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) host intrinsically porous structure and rich structural and chemical features. Several MOFs with pore aperture comparable to the size of gas molecules have attracted interest to form the selective layer of membranes. Synthes ...

ELSEVIER2023

Optimizing Sales Forecasting, Inventory, Pricing and Sourcing Decisions

Yara Kayyali El Alem

In this thesis we address various factors that contribute both theoretically and practically to mitigating supply demand mismatches. The thesis is composed of three chapters, where each chapter is an independent scientific paper. In the first paper, we dev ...

EPFL2023

Reusability Assessment of Obsolete Reinforced Concrete Structural Components

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Maléna Bastien Masse, Célia Marine Küpfer, Julie Rachel Devènes

The production of concrete, the most widely used construction material, detrimentally affects the environment. Obsolete reinforced concrete (RC) load-bearing structures, even when still in good condition, are today prematurely crushed and landfilled or rec ...

Springer2023

Why Do Companies Need Operational Flexibility to Achieve Sustainability at Source?

Ralf Seifert, Isik Bicer, Yara Kayyali El Alem

We analyze the environmental benefits of operational flexibility that emerge in the form of less product waste during the sourcing process by reducing overproduction. We consider three different options for operational flexibility: (1) lead-time reduction, ...

2022

Mechanical reinforcement of granular hydrogels

Esther Amstad, Francesca Bono, Alvaro Lino Boris Charlet

Granular hydrogels are composed of hydrogel-based microparticles, so-called microgels, that are densely packed to form an ink that can be 3D printed, injected or cast into macroscopic structures. They are frequently used as tissue engineering scaffolds bec ...

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY2022

Additive manufacturing of ceramics by two-photon lithography, volumetric 3D printing and high-resolution endo-printing

Georgia Konstantinou

Additive manufacturing is a growing sector of industrial production that allows the fabrication of parts with complex geometries and reduced waste. The context of this thesis is light-based additive manufacturing technologies. In the first part of the the ...

EPFL2022

Opportunities in Critical Rare Earth Metal Recycling Value Chains for Economic Growth with Sustainable Technological Innovations

Christian Ludwig, Rudolf Paul Wilhelm Jozef Struis, Ajay Bhagwan Patil

Rare earth elements (REEs) are often referred to as the industrial vitamins and the key drivers of the industry 4.0 revolution. The current global supply chain of REEs for green and high-tech applications with more than 220 metric kilotons per year involve ...

2022

Efficient Analytical Query Processing on CPU-GPU Hardware Platforms

Periklis Chrysogelos

Timely insights lead to business growth and scientific breakthroughs but require analytical engines that cope with the ever-increasing data processing needs. Analytical engines relied on rapid CPU improvements, yet the end of Dennard scaling stopped the fr ...

EPFL2022

Scrutinizing the Circular Economy concept applied at the urban level: A contribution based on the analysis of urban circularity indicators, the categorization of Circular Economy interventions, and the identification of factors fostering the adoption of circular innovation

Valeria Superti

Problem. Our current economic systems are deemed unsustainable. Although a global issue, the objective of living in a sustainable society is increasingly an urban challenge, as a rising 50% of the world's population currently dwell in cities. To secure a b ...

EPFL2021

Strategies for a Circular Economy in the Construction and Demolition Sector: Identifying the Factors Affecting the Recommendation of Recycled Concrete

Claudia Rebeca Binder Signer, Ivo Philippe Baur, Valeria Superti, Ralph Hansmann, Cynthia Houmani

With increasing urbanisation, new approaches such as the Circular Economy (CE) are needed to reduce resource consumption. In Switzerland, Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste accounts for the largest portion of waste (84%). Beyond limiting the depletion o ...

2021