According to the World Bank, with the dramatic increase of the world´s population in the last decade, the generation of solid waste has reached 2.01 billion tonnes/annually (almost a kilogram per person daily). Bearing into mind that urban centres concentrate almost 70% of the world´s inhabitants and are the most technologically developed areas, the necessity to run them as Sustainable and Smart cities is vital for the planet´s health. One of the main and most threatening sources of waste are lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), due to the lack of logistics and technology to handle them properly, despite the increasing popularity of their usage. Besides mobile devices (phones and laptops), LIBs feed several public transportation networks, self-owned vehicles (cars, bicycles, and scooters) and mobility shared services. In fact, 140-million new electric vehicles are expected to replace internal combustion engines in the following decade worldwide, which will reduce the carbon footprint of cities, but can become a potential source of environmental, social and economic challenges if the 11-million metric tons of E-waste are not addressed from a Whole-Lifecycle perspective. This trend has been accelerated by the changing commuting dynamics and increasing social fragility triggered by COVID-19. Therefore, researchers, policy- and decision-makers are struggling to find environmentally safe disposal strategies to reach the balance between development and sustainability within the built environment. Taking this into account, the thesis presents an approach related to the most efficient solution of integrating a closed-loop reverse-logistics Circular Economy into the batterie´s supply chain. Throughout the document, the authors developed a feasible business model dedicated to collect and process LIBs to generate high-purity components to produce new batteries. The business conceptualization implied an extensive understanding of the state-of-the-art of the sector (SWOT and PESTLE analysis), an analytic benchmarking process, and the implementation of Industry-4.0 and Lifecycle Market Seeking. The result was a detailed business plan that maximised the organizational and financial aspects in order to optimize processes and resources, the strategic location of the pilot factory based on a Multicriteria Analysis, and a 3-levelled hierarchical organizational planning. The final part of the document deepened into the pilot phase by developing the architectural masterplan of the spokes (collection points) and hubs (factory). Furthermore, some expansion plans were discussed at a strategic level to propose future research topics.
Secondo la Banca Mondiale, con il drammatico aumento della popolazione mondiale nell’ultimo decennio, la produzione di rifiuti solidi ha raggiunto i 2,01 miliardi di tonnellate/anno (quasi un chilogrammo pro capite al giorno). Considerando che i centri urbani concentrano quasi il 70% della popolazione mondiale e sono le aree tecnologicamente più sviluppate, la necessità di gestirli come città sostenibili e intelligenti è fondamentale per la salute del pianeta. Una delle principali e più pericolose fonti di rifiuti sono le batterie agli ioni di litio (LIB), a causa della mancanza di una logistica e di una tecnologia che permettano di gestirle correttamente e, nonostante la crescente popolarità del loro utilizzo, per il rapido ritmo con cui si stanno impossessando della società. Oltre ai dispositivi mobili (telefoni e laptop), i LIB alimentano diverse reti di trasporto pubblico, veicoli autonomi (automobili, biciclette e scooter) e servizi condivisi di mobilità. Si prevede infatti che 140 milioni di nuovi veicoli elettrici sostituiranno i motori a combustione interna nel prossimo decennio in tutto il mondo, il che ridurrà l’impronta di carbonio delle città, ma potrebbe diventare una potenziale fonte di sfide ambientali, sociali ed economiche se gli 11 milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti elettronici non verranno affrontati in una prospettiva di ciclo di vita. Questa tendenza è stata accelerata dal cambiamento delle dinamiche del pendolarismo e dalla crescente fragilità sociale innescata dal COVID-19. Pertanto, ricercatori, politici e decisori stanno lottando per trovare strategie di smaltimento ecologicamente sicure per raggiungere l’equilibrio tra sviluppo e sostenibilità all’interno dell’ambiente edificato. Tenendo conto di ciò, la tesi presenta un approccio legato alla soluzione più efficiente di integrare una Circular Economy a circuito chiuso nella supply chain della batteria. In tutto il documento, gli autori hanno sviluppato un modello di business fattibile dedicato alla raccolta e al trattamento dei LIB per generare componenti di elevata purezza per la produzione di nuove batterie. La concettualizzazione del business ha comportato una conoscenza approfondita dello stato dell’arte del settore (analisi SWOT e PESTLE), un processo di benchmarking analitico e l’implementazione di Industry-4.0 e Lifecycle Market Seeking. Il risultato è stato un dettagliato business plan che ha massimizzato gli aspetti organizzativi e finanziari per ottimizzare processi e risorse, l’ubicazione strategica della fabbrica pilota basata sull’Analisi Multicriteria e una pianificazione organizzativa gerarchica a 3 livelli. La fase finale del documento è stata approfondita nella fase pilota sviluppando il masterplan architettonico dei raggi (punti di raccolta) e dei mozzi (fabbrica). Inoltre, alcuni piani di espansione sono stati discussi a livello strategico per proporre futuri temi di ricerca.
Solving the threats of e-waste by generating a symbiosis between circular economy and the built environment : developing a lithium-ion batteries recycling (LIB-R) business model based on Industry 4.0 and market seeking strategies
ANGEL NAVARRETE, CHRISTIAM CAMILO;LAOUANI, MOHAMED HAMDA
2020/2021
Abstract
According to the World Bank, with the dramatic increase of the world´s population in the last decade, the generation of solid waste has reached 2.01 billion tonnes/annually (almost a kilogram per person daily). Bearing into mind that urban centres concentrate almost 70% of the world´s inhabitants and are the most technologically developed areas, the necessity to run them as Sustainable and Smart cities is vital for the planet´s health. One of the main and most threatening sources of waste are lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), due to the lack of logistics and technology to handle them properly, despite the increasing popularity of their usage. Besides mobile devices (phones and laptops), LIBs feed several public transportation networks, self-owned vehicles (cars, bicycles, and scooters) and mobility shared services. In fact, 140-million new electric vehicles are expected to replace internal combustion engines in the following decade worldwide, which will reduce the carbon footprint of cities, but can become a potential source of environmental, social and economic challenges if the 11-million metric tons of E-waste are not addressed from a Whole-Lifecycle perspective. This trend has been accelerated by the changing commuting dynamics and increasing social fragility triggered by COVID-19. Therefore, researchers, policy- and decision-makers are struggling to find environmentally safe disposal strategies to reach the balance between development and sustainability within the built environment. Taking this into account, the thesis presents an approach related to the most efficient solution of integrating a closed-loop reverse-logistics Circular Economy into the batterie´s supply chain. Throughout the document, the authors developed a feasible business model dedicated to collect and process LIBs to generate high-purity components to produce new batteries. The business conceptualization implied an extensive understanding of the state-of-the-art of the sector (SWOT and PESTLE analysis), an analytic benchmarking process, and the implementation of Industry-4.0 and Lifecycle Market Seeking. The result was a detailed business plan that maximised the organizational and financial aspects in order to optimize processes and resources, the strategic location of the pilot factory based on a Multicriteria Analysis, and a 3-levelled hierarchical organizational planning. The final part of the document deepened into the pilot phase by developing the architectural masterplan of the spokes (collection points) and hubs (factory). Furthermore, some expansion plans were discussed at a strategic level to propose future research topics.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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MSc_Thesis_CA_HL.pdf
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Descrizione: Thesis Document 03_07_2021
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/178135