Resource Productivity and Innovations

A special issue of Resources (ISSN 2079-9276).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2015) | Viewed by 31102

Special Issue Editors

Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123 Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
Interests: mining and metals; urban water; backcasting; industrial ecology; life cycle assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Ecosystem Sciences Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT@UNSW), School of Materials Science and Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: new iron making technologies (HIsmelt process, direct reduction of iron DRI/HBI); new developments in blast furnace iron making technology, ferrous & non-ferrous foundry processes; kinetics of reactions occurring in above processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
World Resources Forum Swiss, Switzerland

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue brings together selected papers on resource productivity and innovation from the World Resources Forum Asia Pacific 2015, Sydney. The conference will focus on exploring how future technology, innovative business models and policies from across the Asia-Pacific can harness new value from resources, unlock prosperity and conquer the waste challenge.

Key themes for submissions include:
RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITY IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC
- resource demand and criticality
- regional perspectives on industrial ecology
- wealth potential in above ground resources
- urban, landfill and tailings mining
- social dimensions of managing waste in contexts across the region

RADICAL INNOVATION
- green manufacturing
- new business models, markets and financing
- reverse supply chains and services
- enabling technologies and design
- disruptors: 3D printing, waste logistics and big data
- practical case studies: collection and recycling

TRANSITION PATHWAYS
- policy, economics and governance
- indicators for opportunity, MFA, Input-Output, LCA
- social dimensions of industrial ecology
- changing values and behaviors
- knowledge and skills for the circular economy

Dr. Heinz Schandl
Prof. Dr. Damien Giurco
Prof. Dr. Veena Sahajwalla
Dr. Mathias Schluep
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Resources is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • resource productivity;
  • innovation;
  • circular economy;
  • new business models;
  • socio-technical transition pathways

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

8807 KiB  
Article
Critical Minerals and Energy–Impacts and Limitations of Moving to Unconventional Resources
by Benjamin C. McLellan, Eiji Yamasue, Tetsuo Tezuka, Glen Corder, Artem Golev and Damien Giurco
Resources 2016, 5(2), 19; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources5020019 - 13 May 2016
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 11828
Abstract
The nexus of minerals and energy becomes ever more important as the economic growth and development of countries in the global South accelerates and the needs of new energy technologies expand, while at the same time various important minerals are declining in grade [...] Read more.
The nexus of minerals and energy becomes ever more important as the economic growth and development of countries in the global South accelerates and the needs of new energy technologies expand, while at the same time various important minerals are declining in grade and available reserves from conventional mining. Unconventional resources in the form of deep ocean deposits and urban ores are being widely examined, although exploitation is still limited. This paper examines some of the implications of the transition towards cleaner energy futures in parallel with the shifts through conventional ore decline and the uptake of unconventional mineral resources. Three energy scenarios, each with three levels of uptake of renewable energy, are assessed for the potential of critical minerals to restrict growth under 12 alternative mineral supply patterns. Under steady material intensities per unit of capacity, the study indicates that selenium, indium and tellurium could be barriers in the expansion of thin-film photovoltaics, while neodymium and dysprosium may delay the propagation of wind power. For fuel cells, no restrictions are observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resource Productivity and Innovations)
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1200 KiB  
Article
Typology of Options for Metal Recycling: Australia’s Perspective
by Artem Golev and Glen D. Corder
Resources 2016, 5(1), 1; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources5010001 - 30 Dec 2015
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6884
Abstract
While Australia has traditionally relied on obtaining metals from primary sources (namely mined natural resources), there is significant potential to recover metals from end-of-life-products and industrial waste. Although any metals recycling value chain requires a feasible technology at its core, many other non-technical [...] Read more.
While Australia has traditionally relied on obtaining metals from primary sources (namely mined natural resources), there is significant potential to recover metals from end-of-life-products and industrial waste. Although any metals recycling value chain requires a feasible technology at its core, many other non-technical factors are key links in the chain, which can compromise the overall viability to recycle a commodity and/or product. The “Wealth from Waste” Cluster project funded by the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Flagship Collaboration Fund and partner universities is focusing on identifying viable options to “mine” metals contained in discarded urban infrastructure, manufactured products and consumer goods. A key aspect of this research is to understand the critical non-technical barriers and system opportunities to enhance rates of metals recycling in Australia. Work to date has estimated the mass and current worth of metals in above ground resources. Using these outcomes as a basis, a typology for different options for (metal) reuse and recycling has been developed to classify the common features, which is presented in this article. In addition, the authors investigate the barriers and enablers in the recycling value chain, and propose a set of requirements for a feasible pathway to close the material loop for metals in Australia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resource Productivity and Innovations)
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962 KiB  
Article
Integrating Industrial Ecology Thinking into the Management of Mining Waste
by Éléonore Lèbre and Glen Corder
Resources 2015, 4(4), 765-786; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources4040765 - 22 Oct 2015
Cited by 50 | Viewed by 11718
Abstract
Mining legacies are often dominated by large waste facilities and their associated environmental impacts. The most serious environmental problem associated with mine waste is heavy metals and acid leakage through a phenomenon called acid mine drainage (AMD). Interestingly, the toxicity of this leakage [...] Read more.
Mining legacies are often dominated by large waste facilities and their associated environmental impacts. The most serious environmental problem associated with mine waste is heavy metals and acid leakage through a phenomenon called acid mine drainage (AMD). Interestingly, the toxicity of this leakage is partly due to the presence of valuable metals in the waste stream as a result of a diversity of factors influencing mining operations. A more preventive and recovery-oriented approach to waste management, integrated into mine planning and operations, could be both economically attractive and environmentally beneficial since it would: mitigate environmental impacts related to mine waste disposal (and consequently reduce the remediation costs); and increase the resource recovery at the mine site level. The authors argue that eco-efficiency and resilience (and the resulting increase in a mine’s lifetime) are both critical—yet overlooked—characteristics of sustainable mining operations. Based on these arguments, this paper proposes a framework to assist with identification of opportunities for improvement and to measure this improvement in terms of its contribution to a mine’s sustainability performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resource Productivity and Innovations)
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