Publications
Published
- Sustainable iron-rich cements: Raw material sources and binder types
Peys, A., Isteri, V., Yliniemi, J. et al. (6 more authors) Sustainable iron-rich cements: Raw material sources and binder types. Cement and Concrete Research, 157. (2022) 106834. ISSN 0008-8846
This review paper discusses in detail the most abundantly available Fe-rich natural resources and industrial by-products and residues, establishing symbiotic supply chains from various sectors. The discussion then focusses on the impact of high iron content in clinker and on ferrite (thermo)chemistry, as well as the importance of iron speciation on its involvement in the reactions as supplementary cementitious material or alkali-activated materials, and the technical quality that can be achieved from sustainable Fe-rich cements.
Click here to read.
- Losing ground: Targeting agricultural land take by enabling a circular economy
Kourmouli, A., Lesniewska, F. Losing Ground: Targeting Agricultural Land Take by Enabling a Circular Economy in Construction. Circ.Econ.Sust. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-023-00293-y
In this opinion paper, the authors argue that the circular economy concept could help to establish an alternative perspective on how to understand and address the agricultural land take problem. Law and policy need to foster a systemic transition to a circular economy throughout the entire construction sector’s multiple material life cycles if it is to significantly reduce land take. We use England as a case study to show how the UK government can revise and build on current policy to enable a transition to a more circular construction sector. The case study provides valuable lessons for other countries at a crossroad on land use policy on how fostering a circular construction economy can reduce land take and maintain agricultural soil’s ecological services.
Click here to read.
- Disassembly and reuse of structural members in steel-framed buildings: State-of-the-art review of connection systems and future research trends
Kitayama, S., Iuorio, O. (2023) Disassembly and reuse of structural members in steel-framed buildings: State-of-the-art review of connection systems and future research trends. Journal of Architectural Engineering, Volume 29, Issue 4 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1061/JAEIED.AEENG-161
This paper (1) presents a review of more than 100 documents to discuss the feasibility of disassembly and reuse of structural members; (2) develops detailed schematic illustrations to explain the design concepts and the underlying mechanics governing the behavior of demountable connections; (3) sheds lights on the technical and design challenges to implement disassembly and reuse of the structural members; and (4) defines future research needs to facilitate the disassembly and reuse of the structural members.
Click here to read.
- Bayesian material flow analysis for systems with multiple levels of disaggregation and high dimensional data
Wang, J., Ray, K., Brito-Parada, P., Plancherel, Y., Bide, T., Mankelow J., Morley, J, Stegemann, J., Myers, R., "Bayesian material flow analysis for systems with multiple levels of disaggregation and high dimensional data" Journal of Industrial Ecology Publication in (pre-print)
- Potential for a soil reuse and storage system in England
You’ve perhaps heard of insect hotels but what about soil hotels?
Sometimes thought of as the ‘Cinderella’ of the natural world, soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined, are a precious resource which all too often goes unnoticed, underappreciated and at worst, simply thrown away.
Over 50% of the soil deriving from construction and demolition projects in England finds its way into landfill, arising to £1.42 billion annually as a functional value loss. Although is some cases soil has become contaminated, and poses a risk to people and the planet if not disposed of carefully, in the overwhelming majority of cases (98.% was classified as inert waste) perfectly safe soil is sent via skips to landfill each year.
Drawing on examples of best practice from New York to the Netherlands, Lancaster University researchers along with the Environment Agency and other university partners are working to tackle the amount of soil that finds its way into landfill each year with a series of policy recommendations and the introduction of a soil reuse and storage system, including soil ‘hotels’ and ‘hospitals’.
In their report ‘Potential for a Soil Reuse and Storage system in England’, Soil Hotels are defined as ‘fixed facilities for temporary relocation of clean, natural soils’, whereas Soil Hospitals would be facilities for treatment of contaminated soils as well as manufacturing soil with improved quality.
Soil is a limited, non-renewable source and underpins a plethora of vital ecosystem services essential to climate control, water quality, nutrient cycling and more. It forms incredibly slowly, is lost at variable rates through natural erosion or abruptly and in large volumes (from 2 up to 40,000 times greater than pre-construction conditions) as a result of the construction industry.
Angeliki Kourmouli, lead author said: “Soils are often overlooked when it comes to a construction or development project, and their management is not considered during the early planning stages. Soil handling within development is often mismanaged due to inadequate on-site monitoring and enforcement of existing controls. Moreover, storing soil on-site has been described as a critical obstacle when it comes to soil reuse. We believe that with some changes we could develop a pathway towards a more circular and better management of soil in England."
Kourmouli, A. , Winter, G., Andrews, K., Cory, T., Elliott, P., Palmer, E., Stevens, P., Davies, J., Stevens, C. and Quinton, J. N. (2024). Potential for a Soil Reuse and Storage system in England. Lancaster: Lancaster University 10.5281/zenodo.10943857
Click here to read.
- Circular Economy Textbook: An Introduction to Waste Management and Circular Economy
This book starts from the belief that waste management cannot be understood without considering the wider context of production and consumption. Products and services result from complex material lifecycles, starting with the extraction of raw materials, followed by material processing and product manufacturing, before delivering their intended service to consumers. After their use, products are discarded and may be recovered or disposed. This systems perspective on material use is essential to address the social and environmental impacts of waste.
Stijn van Ewijk & Julia Stegemann
To download your copy free, click here.
- Determining the carbon footprint reduction of reusing lightweight exterior infill walls: A case study of a school building in the United Kingdom
This paper first examines the construction process of lightweight exterior infill walls and explores the opportunity to demount and reuse them. Then, the environmental impacts of the lightweight exterior infill walls are analysed using a lifecycle assessment framework. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are also conducted.
Shoma Kitayama
Read here.
- Bayesian material flow analysis for systems with multiple levels of disaggregation and high dimensional data
Wang, J., Ray, K., Brito-Parada, P., Plancherel, Y., Bide, T., Mankelow, J., Morley, J., Stegemann, J. A., & Myers, R. (2024). Bayesian material flow analysis for systems with multiple levels of disaggregation and high dimensional data. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13550
Material flow analysis (MFA) is used to quantify and understand the life cycles of materials from production to end of use, which enables environmental, social, and economic impacts and interventions. MFA is challenging as available data are often limited and uncertain, leading to an under-determined system with an infinite number of possible stocks and flows values. Bayesian statistics is an effective way to address these challenges by principally incorporating domain knowledge, quantifying uncertainty in the data, and providing probabilities associated with model solutions. This paper presents a novel MFA methodology under the Bayesian framework. By relaxing the mass balance constraints, we improve the computational scalability and reliability of the posterior samples compared to existing Bayesian MFA methods. We propose a mass-based, child and parent process framework to model systems with disaggregated processes and flows. We show posterior predictive checks can be used to identify inconsistencies in the data and aid noise and hyperparameter selection. The proposed approach is demonstrated in case studies, including a global aluminum cycle with significant disaggregation, under weakly informative priors and significant data gaps to investigate the feasibility of Bayesian MFA. We illustrate that just a weakly informative prior can greatly improve the performance of Bayesian methods, for both estimation accuracy and uncertainty quantification.
- Life Cycle Assessment of cleaner concrete supply chains through decarbonisation and circularity scenarios.
Irene Josa and Aiduan Borrion (2024). Life Cycle Assessment of cleaner concrete supply chains through decarbonisation and circularity scenarios. Read here.
The construction sector has significant environmental impacts. It contributes substantially to the world’s energy demand, global emissions, and extensive use of minerals. To address these challenges, it is crucial to develop and implement strategies that reduce the environmental footprint of construction supply chains. Among common construction materials, concrete stands out due to its substantial impact. This study investigates decarbonisation and circularity strategies within the concrete supply chain from the perspective of cleaner processes. The study encompasses a range of scenarios, including a business-asusual scenario, as well as scenarios incorporating cleaner electricity, transportation, and thermal energy sources. Following the guidelines of Life Cycle Assessment, the methodology is applied across various stages of the concrete supply chain, spanning from cement and concrete production to the construction of a building. Three different functional units are used for this assessment, namely the production of 1 ton of cement, 1 m3 of concrete, and the construction of 1 m2 of a reinforced concrete building. The work presented in this paper is part of the efforts of the UKRI and EPSRC-funded Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials (ICEC-MCM). The aim of the centre is to develop the multidisciplinary understanding that will serve as the basis to support the transition to a sustainable Circular Economy, particularly for the case of the built environment. Apart from academics, the centre is supported by a network of more than 60 partners from different sectors of the construction industry, government agencies, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
- Spatial Economic Impact Assessment for Circular Economy at the framework Spatial Computable General Equilibrium model
Metin Piskin. (2024). Spatial Economic Impact Assessment for Circular Economy at the framework Spatial Computable General Equilibrium model
- Disassembly and Reuse of Structural Members in Steel-Framed Buildings: State-of-the-Art Review of Connection Systems and Future Research Trends
Kitayama, Shoma & Iuorio, Ornella. (2023). Disassembly and Reuse of Structural Members in Steel-Framed Buildings: State-of-the-Art Review of Connection Systems and Future Research Trends. Journal of Architectural Engineering. 29. 03123006. 10.1061/JAEIED.AEENG-1615.
Reducing carbon emissions in the construction sector is essential in a period of climate emergency. Disassembly and reuse of structural members are considered to reduce the carbon emissions from the construction and deconstruction of buildings. In this context, it is important to review the current state of the art to provide a framework for the development of future structural systems that can enable the easy disassembly and reuse of steel-framed buildings. This paper (1) presents a review of more than 100 documents to discuss the feasibility of disassembly and reuse of structural members; (2) develops detailed schematic illustrations to explain the design concepts and the underlying mechanics governing the behavior of demountable connections; (3) sheds lights on the technical and design challenges to implement disassembly and reuse of the structural members; and (4) defines future research needs to facilitate the disassembly and reuse of the structural members.
- Using bolted connections for the construction, de-construction and reuse of lightweight exterior infill walls: Experimental study.
Kitayama, S., Iuorio, O. Using bolted connections for the construction, de-construction and reuse of lightweight exterior infill walls: Experimental study. Archit. Struct. Constr. 4, 123–133 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44150-024-00108-0
Bolted connections offer advantages in terms of disassembly and reusability, potentially replacing conventional connections like screws, welds, or chemical bonds. This research investigates the behaviour of bolted connections between lightweight exterior infill walls and beams of primary structural members that are conventionally connected using screws. Although previous studies have investigated bolted connections in different structural members, understanding of the behaviours of these specific connections remains limited. The connections between infill walls and steel beams primarily experience shear loads under serviceability conditions. Therefore, an experimental study was conducted to gain insight into their shear behaviour. The obtained experimental results were analysed using existing predictive equations from design standards that are used across European, North American and Oceanian countries, to identify the most suitable equations for designing such connections.
- Determining the carbon footprint reduction of reusing lightweight exterior infill walls: A case study of a school building in the United Kingdom
Shoma Kitayama, Ornella Iuorio, Irene Josa, Aiduan Borrion, Leon Black, Determining the carbon footprint reduction of reusing lightweight exterior infill walls: A case study of a school building in the United Kingdom, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 469, 2024, 143061, ISSN 0959-6526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143061.
The global construction sector consumes 40 billion tonnes of raw materials and is responsible for considerable CO2 emissions. With growing awareness of its environmental impact, the construction sector is looking to transition from a linear economy “take-make-waste” scenario towards more circular economy principles. Lightweight exterior infill walls are built between floors of primary structural frames to provide building façades. The design of these components is usually based on the current linear economic model. While lightweight exterior infill walls are becoming increasingly common in building construction in the UK, no studies have investigated the potential environmental benefits of designing them with circularity in mind. This means there's a lack of research on both the carbon footprint of these walls and the potential environmental benefits of reusing them. Thus, this article assesses the significance of the carbon emissions from lightweight exterior infill walls and examines whether there is any carbon reduction when lightweight exterior infill walls are demounted from the building frames and reused. This paper first examines the construction process of lightweight exterior infill walls and explores the opportunity to demount and reuse them. Then, the environmental impacts of the lightweight exterior infill walls are analysed using a lifecycle assessment framework. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are also conducted. The results demonstrate that (i) the embodied carbon of the lightweight exterior infill walls over their lifecycle represents approximately 22% of the embodied carbon of the entire building, and (ii) the disassembly and reuse of infill walls can reduce a building's embodied carbon over its typical lifetime by about 6% compared to the linear scenario where the walls were not reused.
- Design for de-construction of lightweight infill wall systems.
Kitayama, Shoma & Iuorio, Ornella. (2022). Design for de-construction of lightweight infill wall systems. 10.1201/9781003348450-172.
This paper discusses the design for de-construction of lightweight infill wall systems. The paper reports the deconstruction and reassembly processes of a sample light steel frame skeleton. Each of the steel members in the frame skeleton was connected by screws, which were removed by a screwdriver. The observations and findings during the deconstruction and re-assembly processes are presented. The authors observed that the screws in the sample steel frame were safely removed, and the members were re-assembled without causing any damage. The authors compared the stiffness of the frames before and after the deconstruction and observed that there was no change in the stiffness in the frame.
- Can we reuse plasterboards?
Kitayama, Shoma & Iuorio, Ornella. (2023). Can we reuse plasterboards?. 10.1201/9781003323020-12.
Gypsum turns plaster when it is dehydrated, and it returns to gypsum when it is hydrated. Because of this, gypsum is 100 % recyclable in theory. However, in reality, only 4% (in mass) of the plasterboard is from recycled plasterboard. This is because of the substances, other than fresh gypsum from quarries, to make plasterboard, and the current demolition methods that cause material contamination. The current practice of manufacturing, construction, and deconstruction of plasterboard necessitates significant resource extraction and carbon emissions, and the situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Reusing, instead of recycling, construction material is effective in reducing resource extraction and carbon emissions, however, it has not been investigated at all for plasterboard. Thus, this paper explores the potential and feasibility of reusing plasterboard used for exterior infill walls, which is made of plasterboards and an increasingly used façade construction method in the UK.
- Experimental Study on the Feasibility of Disassembling and Reusing Lightweight Façade Wall Systems
Iuorio, O., Kitayama, S. (2024). Experimental Study on the Feasibility of Disassembling and Reusing Lightweight Façade Wall Systems. In: Ungureanu, V., Bragança, L., Baniotopoulos, C., Abdalla, K.M. (eds) 4th International Conference "Coordinating Engineering for Sustainability and Resilience" & Midterm Conference of CircularB “Implementation of Circular Economy in the Built Environment”. CESARE 2024. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 489. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57800-7_23
This paper presents experimental investigations into the feasibility of disassembling and reusing exterior lightweight infill walls. The work stems as necessary steps towards the advancement of circular economy principles in future constructions. The experiment employed the single-shear test method commonly used to assess the shear strength of steel connections. The test samples consisted of cold-formed steel plates attached to hot-rolled steel plates, connected by screws. The cold-formed steel plate represents the track, a component of exterior lightweight infill walls, while the hot-rolled steel plate represents the beams of the primary structural frame. In total, twenty-one specimens were made: nine were tested after screwing, nine were tested after unscrewing and re-screwing, and three were tested after unscrewing, re-screwing, unscrewing, and re-screwing. The unscrewing step demonstrates the disassembly of the infill walls, while the re-screwing demonstrates their reuse. The experimental results revealed that the average peak strengths of the samples with different connections exhibited negligible differences. This can be attributed to the interaction between the screws and the connected cold-formed steel and hot-rolled steel plates, a mechanism further discussed in this paper. The test outcomes imply that exterior lightweight infill walls can be disassembled from the primary structural frame’s beams after the infill walls’ service life, and subsequently reused in the construction of other exterior lightweight infill walls. The study also demonstrated that more specimens should be tested to confirm the observation.
- Surface interactions of waste products to produce circular cementitious binders
D.A Geddes and B. Walkley, “Surface interactions of waste products to produce circular cementitious binders”, Langmuir, to be submitted Sep 24
- Effect of water reducing and fluidity increasing superplasticisers on the viscosity of blended AAM’s
D.A Geddes and B. Walkley, “Effect of water reducing and fluidity increasing superplasticisers on the viscosity of blended AAM’s” CCR, To be submitted March 25
- Complexity and circular economy – a systems thinking perspective. Global Plastic Pollution Systems Symposium 2–4 October 2024
Boral Soumava. Complexity and circular economy – a systems thinking perspective. Global Plastic Pollution Systems Symposium 2–4 October 2024 – Rhodes, Greece. Soumava Boral, Leon Black, Costas Velis.
- Towards Sustainable Construction: Exploring the Viability of Recycled Concrete Aggregate through Data-Driven Analysis.
Joseph Aspdin. Towards Sustainable Construction: Exploring the Viability of Recycled Concrete Aggregate through Data-Driven Analysis. 200 International Symposium, Innovations in Binder Technology, 12 July 2024.
- From Business as Usual to Circular Economy Business Models in the Mineral-Based Construction Materials Sector: A Review.
Jacob Mhlanga. From Business as Usual to Circular Economy Business Models in the Mineral-Based Construction Materials Sector: A Review. Conference paper (2024). 2nd International Conference on Advancing Sustainable Futures
- Losing Ground: Targeting Agricultural Land Take by Enabling a Circular Economy in Construction.
Kourmouli, A., Lesniewska, F. Losing Ground: Targeting Agricultural Land Take by Enabling a Circular Economy in Construction. Circ.Econ.Sust. 4, 459–473 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-023-00293-y
Among the numerous causes of soil degradation, one of the most severe and difficult to reverse is land take. Land take results in the loss of valuable ecosystem services that negatively impact soil health, especially in agricultural areas. The main drivers of land take are increased provision of housing, schools, hospitals, industrial and commercial sites, transport networks and infrastructures, mines, quarries and waste dumpsites. Globally, the rate and scale of land take is increasing. Given the impact on soil ecosystem services such as the carbon, hydrological and nitrogen cycles, preventing agricultural land take is essential if the triple planetary ecological crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are to be addressed. Most countries use sustainable management techniques to limit land take by development projects. In this opinion paper, we argue that the circular economy concept could help to establish an alternative perspective on how to understand and address the agricultural land take problem. Law and policy need to foster a systemic transition to a circular economy throughout the entire construction sector’s multiple material life cycles if it is to significantly reduce land take. We use England as a case study to show how the UK government can revise and build on current policy to enable a transition to a more circular construction sector. The case study provides valuable lessons for other countries at a crossroad on land use policy on how fostering a circular construction economy can reduce land take and maintain agricultural soil’s ecological services.
- Limitations of the circular economy concept in law and policy.
Steenmans, Katrien & Lesniewska, Feja. (2023). Limitations of the circular economy concept in law and policy. 4. 10.3389/frsus.2023.1154059.
The circular economy (CE) concept has gained significant attention globally and nationally largely due to anticipated economic, environmental, and social benefits for sustainable development. As a result, laws and policies to advance CEs are increasingly being adopted nationally and regionally. In this perspective article we argue that a systematic approach to designing and implementing CE laws is necessary to cover the multi-level, multi-actor, and multi-sector dimensions of the CE concept. Such an approach should be built on a CE concept with clarified boundaries and scale to ensure it remains a meaningful concept and avoids perpetuating an unsustainable status quo. Moreover, a systematic approach should incorporate justice dimensions to deliver CEs that are fair, just, and inclusive. In the article we first identify five fundamental limitations to existing CE laws: (1) unclear boundaries and scale, (2) oversimplification of goals, (3) side-lining of justice dimensions, (4) reinforcement of the status quo, and (5) unintended consequences. Secondly, based on these limitations, we identify four directions for further research that can contribute to developing more effective CE laws. As there is no one-size-fits-all CE approach, any changes to existing laws and policies, or development of new ones, will require a wider evidence-base, from both the Global South and marginalized communities in the Global North, to reflect, inter alia, different practices, cultural relationships with material flows, and epistemological diversity.
- Circular Economy and the Law: Bringing Justice into the Frame (1st ed.).
Lesniewska, F., & Steenmans, K. (2023). Circular Economy and the Law: Bringing Justice into the Frame (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429355141
This book explores the role of law and policy in circular economy transitions and their impacts on justice, including on distributional equity and recognition and procedural rights, especially for people already marginalised under the current dominant economic system.
Amid increasing demand for virgin raw materials, and unsustainable consumption and waste disposal that are driving the global ecological and climate crisis, there are growing calls to urgently transition to circular economies. Despite an increasing number of circular approaches being adopted, implemented, and integrated in national and local laws and policies, the number of commercially successful business stories remains isolated. Moreover, questions about whether circular economy laws and policies are delivering fair and just global outcomes need to be addressed. This book examines this significant knowledge gap to understand legal experiences, including justice and equity issues in the global context, so that these can inform wider design and implementation. The book begins by explaining the concept of a circular economy and its context within wider issues of sustainable development and justice. The first part of the book then examines the legal context of the circular economy by analysing legal forms in practice and those recommended in wider scholarship before considering how these could impact on existing inequity and injustices globally. The second part delivers an empirical understanding of the implications of the law on circular economy approaches and the global equity and justice dimensions through two case studies on solid waste management and forestry. The final part addresses legal opportunities and challenges for wider implementation of circular economy approaches that incorporate justice into its framing.
Under Review
- Developing an accounting-sustainability tool to embed circular economy principles for the construction sector
Zhao, L. Journal of Cleaner Production
- Exploring the enablers and barriers on capital investment into circular economy initiatives
Zhao, L. Accounting and Business Research or Accounting, Auditing & Accountability
- Incorporating circular economy principles into the lifecycle of lightweight exterior infill walls
Kitayama, S., Iuorio, O., Josa, I., Borrion, A.,Black, L. Journal of Cleaner Production
- Integrating behavioural science insights into social life cycle assessment: a proposal
Josa, I., Allison, A., Purkiss, D., Miodownik, M., Borrion, A. special issue of International Journal of Lifecycle Assessment
- Maritime shipping digital twin toward decarbonization of cement carrier journeys
Manola, E., Owen, J., Stevenson, K., Perkins, B., Varga, L. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
- Circular Economy Business Model Opportunities, Challenges and Enablers: Plasterboard Supply Chain Perspectives.
Jacob Mhlanga. Circular Economy Business Model Opportunities, Challenges and Enablers: Plasterboard Supply Chain Perspectives. Journal paper (2024). Draft paper under review.
Manuscript in preparation
- Application of BaMFA to quantify the UK construction aggregate cycle
Wang, J. - Report for the UK Office of National Statistics
- Less is more: from waste management to waste prevention, paper in preparation
Ewijk, S., Josa, I., Lesniewska, F., Lindner, A. - Journal TBC
- Decarbonisation and circularity strategies in the construction sector: life cycle assessment of cleaner production of the concrete supply chain in the UK
Josa, I., Borrion, A. - Journal TBC
- Rebuilding or retrofitting? An assessment of social impacts using Social Life Cycle Assessment
Josa, I., Borrion, A. - Journal TBC
- Resource efficiency and circular economy strategies in the UK’s construction sector: an economic policy assessment
Calzadilla, A., Piskin, M., Domenech, T. - Journal TBC
- Enabling capital investment into circular economy projects for the construction sector: An UK case study
Zhao, L. - Management Accounting Research or British Accounting Review
- Introduction of a soil reuse and storage system in England
Kourmouli, A. - Report from Environment Agency secondment
- Magway an underground freight delivery system digital twin
Manola, E. - Journal TBC
- Key indicators to assess construction supply chains from an environmental perspective: taxonomy and critical insights
Josa, I., Borrion, A. - Journal TBC
- Developing a Plasterboard Circular Economy Business Model Canvas.
Jacob Mhlanga. Journal paper (2025).
- Digital Platforms for Circularity: Tackling the Challenge of Secondary Construction Materials
Linh Truong. Technological Forecasting and Social Change Journal.
- The role of Government Policies in Promoting Circular Construction Platform Ecosystems
Linh Truong. The role of Government Policies in Promoting Circular Construction Platform Ecosystems [Opinion paper]
Conference proceedings - Post-Doctoral Researchers
- Valorisation of construction and demolition waste for sustainable infrastructure development
Lesniewska, F, Presentation at the UK-China Joint Conference (12/2021)
- A robotically extruded sugar waste composite for a circular biomateriality in architecture
J. Meng, D. Alnaeb, A. K. Salmane, P. Devadass, M. Cruz, B. Parker, 5th International Conference on Structures and Architecture, Aalborg University (7/2022)
- Design for de-construction of lightweight infill walls systems
Kitayama, S., Luorio, O., Conference Paper presented at the eighth International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics
- Accounting for Circular Economy
Zhao, L., Presentation at Bristish Accounting and Finance Association FMI / NAG Conference at the University of York (9/2022)
- Not wasting opportunities; rethinking approaches to waste law interventions
Lesniewska, F., special panel at the Society of Legal Scholars, Annual Conference Oxford, (8/2023)
- CE policy and MCM in UK
Lesniewska, F., International Conference on Resource Sustainability, University of Surrey (8/2023)
- 3D visualisation of the interfacial transition zone between recycled aggregate and different cementitious materials
Fernandes, B., Krishnan, S., Macente, A., Villagrán-Zaccardi, Y., Black, L., Bernal. S., ToScA UK & Europe 2023 (Glasgow, 2023)
- The combined roles of cement type and recycled concrete aggregate on the formation of the interfacial transition zone
Fernandes, B., Krishnan, S., Macente, A., Villagrán-Zaccardi, Y., Black, L., Bernal. S., V International Conference Progress of Recycling in the Built Environment (Weimar, 2023). Proceedings can be found at: https://www.rilem.net/publication/publication/542?id_papier=13545#
- Impacts of mineral-based construction and demolition waste on soil functions and ecosystem services
Kourmouli, A., Oral presentation at the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) and Soil Science Society Ireland (SSSI) annual conference and poster presentation at the Early Career BSSS conference (12/2023)
- Construction and demolition mineral-based waste impacts soil functioning and ecosystem services
Kourmouli, A., Submitted to the European Geosciences Union conference in Vienna (4/2024)
- Rethinking construction and demolition soil waste under a circular economy framework
Kourmouli, A., Submitted to the Centennial Celebration and Congress of the International Union of Soil Sciences conference in Florence (5/2024)
Conference proceedings - Co-Investigators
- Presentation of ICEC-MCM to Resource Efficiency in Construction and the Built Environment
Stegemann, J., (1/2021)
- Henry Royce Institute Conference
Stegemann, J., (3/2021)
- NICER Programme National Launch
Stegemann, J., Black, L., Osmani, M., (5/2021)
- London Workshop for Higher Education & the Circular Economy - CE London Week
Domenech, T., (6/2021)
- Construction & Demolition Waste - 18th International Symposium on Waste Management and Sustainable Landfill
Osmani, M., (7/2021)
- Mineral Products Association Conference 2021
Graham, E., (10/2021)
- UKRI IUK Circular Economy for SME Briefing
Black, L., (10/2021)
- 2021 Great Exhibition Road Festival, Science Museum – Construction Materials Toolkit
Myers, R., Wang, J., (10/2021)
- British Precast Conference Week
Stegemann, J., (11/2021)
- Launch of the Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards carbon neutrality
Stegemann, J., (1/2022)
- Construction and demolition waste recovery and the United Nations framework classification for resource
Stegemann, J., WASCON 2023, 11th International Conference on the Environmental and Technical Implications of Construction with Alternative Materials, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (12/2023)
Briefings
- Soil, construction, and the circular economy
Dr Angeliki Kourmouli, Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster
Professor Carly Stevens, Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster
Professor Julia Stegemann, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University College London
Dr Feja Lesniewska, School of Law, University of Surrey
Jennifer Reed, Policy Impact Unit, University College London
Aleyna Prokudina, Policy Impact Unit, University College LondonSoils are one of the most biologically diverse materials on the planet. They are responsible for a variety of vital functions and services, without which life on the planet would collapse. Soils produce our food, purify our water, and offer protection against flooding and drought. They are the second largest carbon sink after the oceans and help to mitigate against climate change by storing vast amounts of CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Without healthy soils, our ability to grow food and tackle the climate crisis, would be lost.
Click here to read.
- Landill Tax, Construction and Demolition Waste and the Circular Economy
Lesniewska, F., Reed, J., Kourmouli, A., Black, L., Venkataraman, R., Soumava, B., Graham, E. (2023) Policy Brief
Click here to read.