In recent years, reverse logistics (RL) has become a field of importance for all organizations due to growing environmental concerns, legislation, corporate social responsibility and sustainable competitiveness. RL refers to the sequence of activities required to collect the used product from the customers for the purpose of either reuse or repair or re-manufacture or recycle or dispose of it. Perusal of the literature shows that research in the field of RL is in evolving phase and issues pertaining to adoption and implementation, forecasting product returns, outsourcing, RL networks from secondary market perspective, and disposition decisions have not been reviewed extensively. This study attempts to fill the existing gap through literature review on these issues, and outline the future directions for research based on research gap analysis. Total 242 published articles were selected, categorized, analyzed, and gaps in literature were identified to suggest for future research opportunities. The review may be useful for academicians, researchers and practitioners for better understanding of RL and guidance for future research.

A literature review and perspectives in reverse logistics

Supplementary cementitious materials: New sources, characterization, and performance insights

Precious metals are widely applied in many industry fields due to their excellent corrosion resistance, good electrical conductivity and high catalytic activity. However, the reserves of precious metals falls short of the production globally. The rapid generation of end-of-life products has become the significant resources of precious metals. Among these products, electronic waste (e-waste) and spent catalysts are more concentrated since they account for over 90% of precious metals in industry. This article provides an overview of various technologies on the recovery of precious metals from e-waste and spent catalysts. It shows that recycling technologies have been significantly improved in recent years. The recycling processes have transferred from leaching by aqua regia, cyanide and chlorine in acid solution to less pollution agents leaching. Environment-oriented technologies have been raised great attention in precious metals recycling. The advantages and environmental impacts of these recycling technologies have been discussed in detail. However, there are still some challenges for future promotion. In order to achieve the environment-friendly and sustainable recycling for precious metals with high recovery rate, several considerations have been proposed.

Recovery of precious metals from electronic waste and spent catalysts: A review

Alkaline leaching of zinc from electric arc furnace steel dust

http://publicationslist.org/data/mathias.schluep/ref-10/Wang_2012_Bo2W.pdf

The Best-of-2-Worlds philosophy: Developing local dismantling and global infrastructure network for sustainable e-waste treatment in emerging economies

Characterization and evaluation of the pozzolanic activity of granulated copper slag modified with CaO

The present study was aimed at highlighting the final properties of two different steelmaking slags which undergo different cooling rates. The experiments were conducted in laboratory scale using an induction furnace. One of the slags originates from an electric arc furnace (EAF) (high-alloyed) and the second slag from a basic oxygen furnace (BOF). The treatment of the slag included re-melting along with different cooling rates. The material collected from the tests was characterized through X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy as well as thermodynamic calculations which were compared with experimental results, for confirmation. The results indicate that both the EAF and BOF slags show increased reactivity with water, as well as a decrease in crystal size when rapid cooling is applied. The wustite-type solid solution (Mg,Fe,Mn)O varies in composition depending on the cooling conditions. Metastable Ca3SiO5 was found in the rapidly- cooled BOF slag.

Crystallization Behaviour of some Steelmaking Slags

A study of the solubility of pure slag minerals

Mechanical activation of granulated copper slag (GCS) is carried out in the present study for the purposes of enhancing pozzolanic activity for the GCS. A vibration mill mills the GCS for 1, 2, and 3 h to produce samples with specific surface area of 0.67, 1.03 and 1.37 m²/g, respectively. The samples are used to replace 30% cement (PC) to get 3 PC-GCS binders. The hydration heat and compressive strength are measured for the binders and derivative thermogravimetric /thermogravimetric analysis (DTG/TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to characterize the paste samples. It is shown that cumulative heat and compressive strength at different ages of hydration and curing, respectively, are higher for the binders blending the GCS milled for a longer time. The compressive strength after 90 d of curing for the binder with the longest milling time reaches 35.7 MPa, which is higher than the strength of other binders and close to the strength value of 39.3 MPa obtained by the PC pastes. The percentage of fixed lime by the binder pastes at 28 days is correlated with the degree of pozzolanic reaction and strength development. The percentage is higher for the binder blending the GCS with longer milling time and higher specific surface area. The pastes with binders blending the GCS of specific surface area of 0.67 and 1.37 m²/g fix lime of 15.20 and 21.15%, respectively. These results together with results from X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, and SEM investigations demonstrate that the mechanical activation via vibratory milling is an effective method to enhance the pozzolanic activity and the extent for cement substitution by the GCS as a suitable supplementary cementitious material (SCM).

Caisa Samuelsson

Papers

Characterization and evaluation of the pozzolanic activity of granulated copper slag modified with CaO

Crystallization Behaviour of some Steelmaking Slags

A study of the solubility of pure slag minerals

Mechanical Activation of Granulated Copper Slag and Its Influence on Hydration Heat and Compressive Strength of Blended Cement

Dissolution kinetics of tetrahedrite mineral in alkaline sulphide media