Completed: Element-based mapping of waste and by-product material flows – a transformational enabler for industrial symbiosis

In collaboration with Tarmac Cement, Glass Futures, Wienerberger UK and CELSA Steel UK

The Foundation Industries (FI) are keen to reduce the amount of raw materials they consume, and maximise the value of the by-products they generate. However, they lack integrated information about the volumes, chemical composition and end use of ‘waste’ which presents a barrier to industrial symbiosis. We have therefore developed a simplified model to map material inputs and outputs for the cement, ceramics, steel and glass sectors in the UK by focussing on the flows of key chemical elements relevant to each sector and combining compositional and mass flow data for each material stream. Using Sankey diagrams to visualise these elemental flows, we identified 8 untapped potential opportunities for industrial symbiosis between the ceramics, cement, steel and glass sectors such the use of blast furnace slag (from steel production) as a replacement for brick clay (for use in the ceramics sector) and cement kiln dust (from cement production) as a replacement for limestone (for use in the steel sector). This element flow mapping approach may be applied to other industrial sectors and also at an individual plant level

Publications

Cement and concrete decarbonisation roadmaps – a meta-analysis within the context of the United Kingdom, https://doi.org/10.21809/rilemtechlett.2023.163

Dr. Alastair Marsh, University of Leeds, A.Marsh@leeds.ac.uk

Dr. Michal Drewniok, University of Leeds, M.P.Drewniok@leeds.ac.uk