Reverse engineering of 3D-BIM of existing infrastructure using parametric tooling to accelerate the digitization transition in asset management: A research & development study by Colin Reit

Amid global climate change challenges, the construction industry faces an urgent  transition from a linear production model to a Circular Economy (CE). Initiatives  and recommendations in Dutch transition roadmaps and literature predominantly  focus on ensuring a future circular built environment, while lacking concrete...

Quantifying the Petroleumscape: Using a stock driven Material Flow Analysis model to assess the possibilities for material circularity in the oil industry

This study sets out to assess the material based consequences of changes in future oil demand. In doing so, this study aims to quantify the physical, industrial petroleumscape. To achieve this, the evolution of the world’s petroleum infrastructures are modelled based on two SSP2 scenarios; a baseline scenario and a 1.5-degree scenario. This...

Analysing the Waste Potential of Solar PV In India

With growing demand for energy and the shift towards renewable energy, countries like India are targeting energy mixture with alternate sources like solar, wind and water. With the current growth of solar energy use in India, it is predicted that high amounts of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) waste would be generated in the near future which left...

A circular hub for end-of-life wind turbine blades: Analysis of the location and magnitude of return volumes of wind turbine blades in and around the Netherlands until 2050 for the development of a circular wind hub at a Dutch port under the application of different circular strategies

Wind turbine blades are composed of complex composite material structures that are difficult to recycle at the end of their operational lifetime. As such, they are oftentimes landfilled or incinerated. Following the Circular Economy principles, there are a multitude of strategies that may be applied to these structures; these range from more to...

Product Lifecycle Flow: A theoretical approach on visualising closed-loop systems for the Circular Economy

The company introduced their new circular economy objectives for 2025 with the statement that they will close the loop by offering a trade-in on all professional medical equipment and taking care of responsible repurposing. Recycling has the least amount of value according to the circular system diagram of the company which means that a lot of...

Material Recovery from Dutch Wind Energy: A dynamic material flow analysis on Dutch wind turbines towards 2050 including recycling approaches for recovery of key materials

The transition to a renewable electricity system requires more intensive material use, causing problem shifting in environmental impacts. To conserve resources for the future and mitigate environmental impact, circular economy principles are needed. This study analyses material flows in Dutch wind energy towards 2050 to identify the potential...

Reconstructing independence on Sint Maarten: Rebuilding a resilient community with a circular neighborhood intervention

On September 6th 2017 hurricane Irma hit the island of Sint Maarten leaving 90% of the build environment destroyed and the tourist based economy to collapse. Funding for reconstruction stagnated due to corruption and a lack of proper building materials and building knowledge leads to poor reconstruction. Especially the poorer communities are...

Material stocks and flows in the circular economy: a prospective material flow analysis for vehicles in the Netherlands for 2000-2050

To allow society to operate within planetary boundaries, it is essential to reduce primary material consumption. The Dutch government has set goals to limit the primary extraction by half in 2030 and to be a fully circular economy by 2050. To be able to achieve this without reducing our standards of living, the only way is to extract the...

Panorama Paquetá: Sense of place for a vulnerable island community

The current take-make-dispose economy, resulting in resource pressure and environmental problems, calls for circular economics. Islands are perfect living laboratories, because of their clearly defined boundaries and vulnerability to external factors. In this graduation Project, Ilha de Paquetá in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is taken as a case study...

The circular potential of the urban mine: A spatial-temporal dynamic stock model for urban systems with a case study of copper in Amsterdam

Large material flows are extracted from natural mines in the earth’s crust and moved and stored in anthropogenic environments. Extraction processes from natural mines are often harmful for the environment and can cause material scarcity. At the same time governments are formulating ambitions to increase circularity in cities. For these reasons...

Tracking sales to scrap: Incorporating Reverse Logistics Management into Dynamic Material Flow Analysis to increase transparency on downstream product flows for companies

The main research assignment for this project is to develop a dynamic Material Flow Analysis (MFA) model for Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) companies to increase transparency on downstream product flows and to provide insight on the impacts of Reverse Logistics strategies. The assignment is carried out by conducting a theoretical...