New Resources from Urban Mines - TU Wien · New Resources from Urban Mines Helmut RECHBERGER Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management Vienna University of Technology

1

New Resources from Urban MinesHelmut RECHBERGERInstitute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste ManagementVienna University of Technology

European Mineral Resources Confederation5. & 6. May 2015, voestalpine Stahlwelt, Linz/Austria

2Rechberger: New Resources from Urban Mines

Growing consumption of resources

Source: Brunner & Rechberger 2004 (updated)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Yearly W

orld produ

ction

Aluminium (10^6 t/yr) Cement (10^8 t/yr)Copper (10^7 t/yr) Gypsum (10^7 t/yr)Iron & steel (10^8 t/yr) Lead (10^6 t/yr)Lime (10^7 t/yr) Lithium (10^5 t/yr)Phosphate rock (10^7 t/yr) Zinc (10^6 t/yr)Sulfur (10^7 t/yr) Salt (10^7 t/yr)


The resource consumption over a person’s life

Sand and gravel 307 tLignite 158 tHard rock 130 tMineral oil 116 tNatural gas (1000 m³) 90Limestone, dolomite 72 tHard coal 67 tSteel 40 tCement 29 tRock salt 12 tGypsum 8,5 tIndustrial sand 4,7 tKaolin 4,0 tPotash (K2O) 3,4 tAluminium 1,7 tCopper 1,1 tSteel refiners 0,9 tSulphur 0,2 tAsbestos 0,16 tPhosphate 0,15 tElectricity (MWh) 290S

ourc

e: B

GR

, Ger

man

y

1000 tons

or ca. 670 cars


Urban way of life is getting dominant

Sources: McNeill 2003; UN Population Division 2002

Percentage of urban populationcompared to total population

0

20

40

60

80

100

1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010 2030

USA

Japan

Western Europe

Latin America

USSR

Africa

China

South Asia

World


Cities are becoming „heavier“

Source: Daxbeck et al. 1996 (updated)

Exports3

ExhaustSewage

144

43

WaterAir

Energy sources

147

2

12

36

3

144

43

Consumption, investmentgoods, building materials

147

2

12-18

36

Waste32

Household waste0.30.6

Flows [t/cap.yr]Stocks [t/cap]

O I O ~ 190 t/cap.yr

Stock: 400

8-128-128-12

I ~ 200 t/cap.yr


Composition of the urban stock

Gravel/sand

Bricks

Steel

Wood

Plastics

Aluminium

Copper

Zinc

Cadmium0,0001 0,001 0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1.000

Stock of selected materials in Switzerland [t/cap]

370

20

5-10

5

1

1

0,3

0,3

<0,001

Source: Wittmer, 2007


Primary and secondary stocks same order of magnitude (example copper)

Source: Graedel et al. 2002 (completed)

11.000 11.500 3.800

54011.000

300.000+7.700

580.000-11.000

85.000+3.100

System boundary "World 1994”

ProductsCopper forcathodes

New scrap metal680

Old scrap metal II

Waste

1.700Landfilled waste

1.200Gangue 150Slag

Ore

Productionof copper

Productionof goods

Consumption Disposal5432

1 6Lithosphere Landfills

Flows: 1.000 t/aStocks: 1.000 t

1.400Old scrap metal I


Aluminium balance, Austria 2010

Lagerzuwachs: 11 kg/PersLagerzuwachs: 11 kg/Pers Altschrottanfall: 7 kg/PersAltschrottanfall: 7 kg/Pers

Source: Buchner et al., 2014


Selected results from the dynamic model

In-use stock Al-scrap + EOL vehicle exported

360 kg/cap360 kg/cap 12 kg/cap.yr12 kg/cap.yr

Source: Buchner et al., 2015


Forecasting Al scrap generation[t/

yr.]

[t/yr

.]

Work in progress!


Selected investigated buildings


Investigation of buildings

Three approaches, applied to single demolition objects:1. Analysis of existing information/data mining (technical

drawings, data from remote sensing, building standards,….)2. Inspection of the object (inventory, taking samples, …)3. Indirect analysis through selective deconstruction and

sampling of recycling facility

Evaluation and „merging“ of approaches Finding out how far results can be used for the development

of a resource cadaster (in Vienna)

1 2 3


Result for single building

Source: Kleemann et al., 2014

22000

800410

210110 90

35 30

14 137

3

1 11

10

100

1.000

10.000

100.000

mass[t]

flooring

cable insulation

linings, panelling

PVC

Material composition of a dwelling building complex(Reinforced concrete structure, 4 buildings with 2-9 floors, enclosed space: 57 000 m3)


Material composition [kg/m³ gross volume]

Source: Kleemann et al., 2014

15Rechberger: New Resources from Urban MinesCase Study A – Resource potential of built infrastructure 15

Height and area of buildings

16Rechberger: New Resources from Urban MinesCase Study A – Resource potential of built infrastructure 16

Utilisation and period of construction of buildings



Resource cadastre

17

Utilisation and period of construction of buildings


Material information

Building information Height [m] 17.7

Area [m²] 443

Volume [m³] 7823

Utilisation Dwelling buildingPeriod of construction before 1918

Material composition

Mineral material [t] 3400

Steel [t] 23

Aluminium [t] 0,66

Copper [t] 0,74

PVC [t] 2,3

Wood [t] 67

Cement asbestos [t] 0,73

Other plastics [t] 1,8

Others [t] 4,1


How far have we come….and what is ahead?

We have methods and knowledge to determine the anthropogenic stock

We are able to make predictions about future scrap generation from the building sector (steel, Al, Cu, Zn)

→ We need to classify into reserves and resources→ We need to routinely apply these methods and establish a sound data

base

This is the vision


References

Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Practical Handbook of Material Flow Analysis, Lewis Publishers, New

York, 2004, pp. 318.

Buchner, H., Laner, D., Rechberger, H., Fellner, J. “In-depth analysis of aluminum flows in Austria as a

basis to increase resource efficiency, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 93, 2014, 112– 123.

Buchner, H., Laner, D., Rechberger, H., Fellner, J. Dynamic Material Flow Modeling: An Effort to

Calibrate and Validate Aluminium Stocks and Flows in Austria. Environmental Science and Technology,

2015 (in press)

Graedel, T.E., van Beers, D., Bertram, M., Fuse, K., Gordon, R.B., Gritsinin, A., Kapur, A., Klee, R.J.,

Lifset, R.J., Memon, L., Rechberger, H., Spatari, S., and Vexler, D. Multilevel cycle of anthropogenic

copper. Environmental Science and Technology, 2004, Vol 38, No. 4, 1242-1252.

Kleemann, F., Lederer, J., Aschenbrenner, P., Rechberger, H., Fellner, J. A method for determining

buildings’ material composition prior to demolition, Building Research & Information, 43, 1-12, 2015.

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New Resources from Urban Mines - TU Wien · New Resources from Urban Mines Helmut RECHBERGER Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management Vienna University of Technology