CompPair

Description

CompPair is a spin-off from EPFL dedicated to developing healable and sustainable composites for the industry. Inspired by nature, CompPair's innovative technology enables composite structures to repair themselves rapidly, reducing maintenance costs, manufacturing defects, and extending the lifetime of composites. Their HealTech(tm) resin system allows for on-site repair of cracks and delaminations in just minutes, with the ability to regenerate parts autonomously. By focusing on waste prevention and material reuse, CompPair promotes a circular economy by offering prepregs with integrated healing technology, custom resin systems, and support in repair mechanisms and implementation. Their mission is to help clients build better products that last longer, produce less waste, and contribute to a world without material waste.

Official source

https://comppair.ch

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Waste Reduction Strategies: A Different Perspective on Waste Flow Modeling and its Application to Concrete and Phosphorus

Anna Minata Cissé

Changing consumption patterns and global population growth lead to ever-increasing waste generation. Human activity and waste generation are irrevocably linked, and the current situation thus calls for a more circular approach to waste management, where wastes become new resources. Industrial ecology offers a variety of waste reduction-favoring concepts. As a first step this project identifies waste-preventing, waste-reducing, end of pipe (EOP) waste management approaches and legislation as classification categories for waste management strategies. Although, according to the waste hierarchy, waste prevention is the most preferable waste management approach, it is the least implemented. To facilitate the identification of waste prevention and reduction potentials, a special waste flow diagram from the waste management perspective is elaborated. The model tends to visualize all waste flows, including by-product valorization along a product's life cycle through the choice of a thematic-geographic system boundary. In a further step the applicability of the waste flow model is tested for concrete-related wastes and phosphorus (P) flows in wastes. The quantification of concrete waste flows for the city of Zurich shows that recycling is well implemented, whereas preferable waste management strategies, prevention and reduction of waste, are hardly put into practice. Scenario modeling is used to show the benefits of these techniques and the comparative LCA for different construction methods and materials identifies waste prevention as most beneficial option. For P, the waste flow model is applied to test its ability to detect P recovery potentials, however no new findings in terms of P-recovery potential are identified. The most compelling result regarding phosphorus is found in the extension to the initial investigation, the mass flow analysis for a wet-chemical and a thermochemical P-recovery procedure from sewage sludge ashes. The analysis shows that for EOP waste technologies, the material output can be bigger than the input due to the extended use of additives. Although all generated by-products can, in this case, be valorized by other industrial activities, this finding highlights the need for more waste prevention-oriented waste management strategies, thus avoiding the necessity to generate high by-product flows in the first place.

2018

Waste hierarchy

Waste hierarchy is a tool used in the evaluation of processes that protect the environment alongside resource and energy consumption from most favourable to least favourable actions. The hierarchy establishes preferred program priorities based on sustainability. To be sustainable, waste management cannot be solved only with technical end-of-pipe solutions and an integrated approach is necessary. The waste management hierarchy indicates an order of preference for action to reduce and manage waste, and is usually presented diagrammatically in the form of a pyramid.

Waste management

Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, and economic mechanisms. Waste can be solid, liquid, or gases and each type has different methods of disposal and management.

Waste sorting

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements. Waste sorting can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting. Until now this method is still used. Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site. "Waste segregation" means dividing waste into dry and wet.

DNA repair

DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. In human cells, both normal metabolic activities and environmental factors such as radiation can cause DNA damage, resulting in tens of thousands of individual molecular lesions per cell per day. Many of these lesions cause structural damage to the DNA molecule and can alter or eliminate the cell's ability to transcribe the gene that the affected DNA encodes.

Construction waste

Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition materials as “debris generated during the construction, renovation and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges.” Additionally, the EPA has categorized Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste into three categories: non-dangerous, hazardous, and semi-hazardous.

Waste management

Cancer

Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements. While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they can also have other causes. Over 100 types of cancers affect humans. Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths.

Topics in reliability engineering

Reliability engineering is a sub-discipline of systems engineering that emphasizes the ability of equipment to function without failure. Reliability describes the ability of a system or component to function under stated conditions for a specified period of time. Reliability is closely related to availability, which is typically described as the ability of a component or system to function at a specified moment or interval of time. The reliability function is theoretically defined as the probability of success at time t, which is denoted R(t).

Environmental policy

Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem management, maintenance of biodiversity, the management of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species. For example, concerning environmental policy, the implementation of an eco-energy-oriented policy at a global level to address the issues of global warming and climate changes could be addressed.

Cell biology

Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and functioning of organisms. Cell biology is the study of the structural and functional units of cells. Cell biology encompasses both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and has many subtopics which may include the study of cell metabolism, cell communication, cell cycle, biochemistry, and cell composition.