Projects
Valorization of Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator Bottom Ash by Microwave Irradiation and Alkali Activation KU Leuven
Municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash (BA) is a waste that results from the incineration of municipal solid waste, for which valorization has proved to be challenging. In the current research, BA was subjected to a purification technique through microwave vitrification, in order to be used as a precursor for alkali activated materials. Prior to realising a microwave process, the ability of the material to absorb microwave energy was ...
Waste mining in the Circular Economy - Impact of flow, heat and mass transfer conditions on the partitioning kinetics of critical metallic elements in thermal treatment processes for contaminated non-recyclable waste KU Leuven
In the production of bulk and consumer goods, specific chemical compounds are added in small amounts to establish desired material properties, such as strength, conductivity, colour fastness and resistance to e.g. UV, corrosion, chemical impact, heat, fire and fungal rot. Whereas these added compounds contribute to a higher quality and an extended lifetime of goods on the one hand, on the other hand they make recycling of constituting ...
DIGISER++: DIGImet Technology SERvices for Copper production waste treatment Ghent University
The project aims at scaling up the patented DIGIMET technology for the valorization of non-ferrous solid wastes. The project technology starts at TRL5 and will reach TRL 7 through the development of the DIGISER++ demo able to valorize up to 15.000 ton/years in an operational environment. The project is carried out by a consortium representing the whole value chain, and there is a go to Market Strategy to ensure market introduction of the ...
Benchmarking waste management performance and optimizing waste collection systems in the Brussels Capital Region KU Leuven
The question of how to maintain our current level of welfare, while staying within the boundaries of our planet has finally obtained a more prominent place in policy-making, legislation and the academic literature. Achieving this balance will require a systematic change of the economy in which the current linear model (produce - consume - dispose) is replaced by a circular model. The recovery of materials at the end of a product’s life and ...
Environmental mobility and oral bioaccessibility of hazardous elements in mine waste and derived products KU Leuven
The aim of this PhD project is to evaluate the solid-phase speciation of hazardous elements from tailings and products derived from tailings. Solid-phase characteristics will be linked to the leaching of these elements under different conditions, and changes in leaching behavior during tailings reprocessing will also be addressed. Within this PhD, there are two main milestones. The first being, the solid-phase and chemical (leaching) ...
Phosphorus recovery from incineration ash of phosphorus rich waste streams KU Leuven
Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for all living organisms. Currently, P used in fertilizers and animal feed is largely extracted from non-renewable phosphate rock of which reserves are depleting. The European Union (EU) considers both P and phosphate rock as critical raw materials because of their strategic importance and the economic dependence on a limited number of non-EU suppliers. In this regard, it is important to recover P from ...
Development of an optimized sustainable waste management system for Aruba KU Leuven
Rapidly increasing waste generation is posing significant challenges to small island developing states (SIDS) where geographic isolation, high population densities, limited regulatory frameworks and competing land uses compound issues related to municipal solid waste management. This is particularly the case in Aruba where the majority of waste is deposited without pre-treatment at landfill. This PhD will focus on the development of ...
Thermochemical processing of complex multi-phase and non-recyclable waste streams KU Leuven
By EU waste policy, an irreversible treatment of non-recyclable waste through thermal processing (i.e., incineration or gasification) is mandatory to keep intended cycles of materials in the Circular Economy clean and safe. This way, the energetic content of the waste can be largely recovered in the form of electricity, steam/heat, energy carriers (syngas) and/or valuable organic compounds, whilst toxic organic compounds are destroyed. It ...