Alkali-Activated Materials (AAMs) are gaining attention because of different advantages such as CO2 emissions reduction and improved fire-resistance. Wood Ashes (WA), potentially derived from fires, can been proposed as secondary raw material in AAMs manufacturing to guarantee a double positive impact: improved fire resistance of construction materials and secondary raw material valorisation. In this

Seaweed aquaculture plays a crucial role in marine food production and carbon sequestration. While artificial upwelling (AU) has been shown to enhance nutrient availability and boost seaweed production in marine ecosystems, the potential of AU-enhanced seaweed cultivation to act as a carbon sink remains poorly understood. Here, we develop a comprehensive framework to estimate the carbon sink potential

Heavy traffic and climatic loads can accelerate road deterioration and the subsequent material consumption and waste generation from road maintenance. In Bangkok, Thailand, the lack of statistical records on this pressure necessitates the modeling and mapping of material movement. Therefore, this study combines Highway Development and Management System-4 and bottom–up approaches to conduct a spatiotemporal

Food waste, especially in households, is a pressing issue. Sharing excess food with others can be a strategy to tackle this issue. To encourage sharing, this research introduces an intervention involving a guideline on giving food to others and stickers reminding individuals to do so. Through a field study (N = 199), we examine the effectiveness of this intervention on food sharing and other household

In this study, recycled glass fiber-reinforced polymer (rGFRP) powders derived from End-of-Life Wind Turbine Blades (EoL-WTB) were successfully used in partial replacement of raw precursors to produce Ultra-High-Strength Geopolymer Concrete (UHSGC) with compressive strengths exceeding 110 MPa. A comprehensive investigation was conducted on their mechanical performances, reaction mechanisms, microstructures

Recycling spent ternary batteries provides a dual benefit in both addressing environmental concerns and favoring resource utilization. However, conventional recycling strategies suffer from lengthy separation procedures and low recovery efficiency of valuable metals. This work proposed a flash joule heating-based direct conversion strategy to both selectively extract lithium and transform other metals

The quintessential principle of the circular economy is to minimise material consumption and waste generation. Thus, identifying and quantifying waste and material flows is critical. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a powerful quantitative method for this, especially given its capacity to expose the details of an activity’s entire life cycle, often guiding the implementation of circular principles to

Cigarette butts (CBs) are among the most abundant forms of anthropogenic litter, with about 5 trillion units discarded each year, corresponding to more than 800,000 tons of waste. Composed primarily of cellulose acetate (CA), accounting for 95% of the filter mass, CBs exhibit low biodegradability and act as carriers of toxic substances such as nicotine, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Antimony is critical for clean energy technologies but is one of the scarcest mineral resources. The limitations of alternative materials, such as the deterioration of flame retardant polymers, increased foaming, and decreased quality of alternatives for photovoltaic glass, further exacerbate reliance on antimony. The diverse end uses of antimony result in its recycling being challenging. Furthermore

Addressing urban carbon emissions in China is crucial for achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. This study explores the relationship between economic growth and carbon emissions in China’s county-level cities, identifies key drivers of carbon emissions, and projects future emission scenarios under a carbon-neutral framework. The analysis reveals a shift from weak to strong decoupling of economic

Against the backdrop of accelerating global energy transition, wind energy has emerged as a strategically critical clean energy source, yet its deployment confronts dual challenges of suboptimal site selection efficiency and multifaceted environmental constraints. This research addresses the inherent limitations of unidimensional siting methodologies through the development of an innovative multi-factor

Sand and gravel, providing essential physical foundations for modern societies, are facing increasing demand due to urbanization and rural construction. This surge stems from the widespread use of these materials in building, roads, and other infrastructure, which has raised increasing concerns about the “sand crisis” and environmental damages from overexploitation. Addressing such concerns requires

The recycling of concrete waste aggregate generates abundant recycled concrete powder (RCP) annually that remains underutilized. Previous studies have shown that the compaction-based recycling of concrete requires autoclave treatment to achieve sufficient strength, which consumes considerable energy. This study combined carbonation with compaction to recycle RCP into construction materials with low

Current accounting of land use emission intensity (LUEI) based on specific land use activities is insufficient. This study develops a refined and spatially explicit LUEI inventory by integrating authoritative national land survey data and sophisticated land use activity data within an activity-based carbon accounting framework, alongside quantifying uncertainty using Monte Carlo simulation. The results

Islanded microgrids often struggle with limited resources and heavy reliance on fossil fuels. This study optimizes an island energy-water microgrid using reinforcement learning (RL) to schedule the water system as a virtual battery. Using the Shoals Marine Laboratory microgrid as a testbed, a dynamic model simulating water and energy interactions was integrated with an RL algorithm to improve profit

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have played a critical role in the fiber-based industry for decades, primarily due to their ability to impart water and grease resistance to materials. However, increasing environmental and public health awareness has intensified regulatory scrutiny and driven a transition toward safer alternatives. Historically, the paper industry has depended on PFOA, PFOS

We investigated the ramification of dyes for dissolution and extrusion of cellulosics, and for the properties of regenerated cellulosic fibers from waste cotton via the Lyocell process and proposed pivotal solutions to the challenges of dyes on cotton recycling. Dyed fibers cannot be regenerated to new fibers with acceptable performance properties via direct re-extrusion since the dyes inside fibers

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) of critical raw materials (CRMs) is instrumental for the low-carbon transitions. Recent literature has emerged mapping CRMs’ physical flows and analysing their current degree of circularity. However, limited research has focused on the understanding of the patterns of value-added creation along the supply chain, as a critical step in assessing long-term sustainability

Household food waste has a significant impact on the environment and to diminish this, understanding the effectiveness of different types of interventions, alone and in combination, is key. To better understand what makes waste-reduction interventions effective, we need to disentangle different intervention components. This study aims to contribute to existing knowledge by using the Motivation, Opportunity

Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is crucial for sustainable agriculture. Despite recent advancements, China continues to face significant environmental risks due to nitrogen surplus. This study examines the spatiotemporal dynamics of cropland nitrogen use across 350 prefecture-level cities from 1980 to 2020. Results reveal a persistent “three highs and one low” pattern-high input, high output

Gold recovery from wastes is becoming increasingly important in gold production. However, satisfactory recovery technologies are lacking. Here we show that protein (hemoglobin) crystals exhibit outstanding performance in gold recovery. We prepared crosslinked hemoglobin crystals (CLHCs) from discarded bovine blood. The CLHCs demonstrated combined advantages in gold recovery: high recovery efficiency

Recovering volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and phosphorus (P) from waste activated sludge (WAS) via anaerobic fermentation (AF) is hindered by several challenges, including low sludge disintegration efficiency and limited P release and recovery. This study addresses these challenges by incorporating a novel and recyclable composite material, FeM@CS, alongside sodium persulfate (PS) in AF. The activation

Solvolysis is a promising strategy for mixed-feed polyester recycling, but little attention has been given to downstream product separations or the impact of using imperfectly separated monomer mixtures in recycled polymer reconstruction. Here, we challenge the traditional need for high-purity monomers in polycondensation synthesis of engineering thermoplastics. Monomer mixtures are derived from catalyzed

Harvested Wood Product (HWP) inventory data in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) databases are limited in terms of geographical scope. Thus, LCA studies of wood products often neglect important variations in growth rates and wood densities across tree species and regions. Resulting discrepancies in biogenic carbon accounting along value chains for HWP used in construction undermines accurate representation

Upcycling materials from end-of-life photovoltaics (EoL PV) into energy storage applications is gaining traction due to the favorable promotion of the circular economy. However, despite being one of the heaviest components, solar glass from EoL PV is often overlooked in this upcycling trend. Inert nanoparticles have been identified to enhance the performance of solid polymer electrolytes (SPE), which

Accelerating energy technology development will increase demand for critical raw materials, such as gallium, that enable clean energy technologies. Processing of gallium is concentrated in mainland China (98 % of global production in 2023), resulting in high supply risks for importing countries. To investigate pathways for more resilient supply, we develop a material flow analysis and apply it to the

Polymer solid-state batteries (SSBs) are a promising next-generation energy storage technology critical to the energy transition and are already being used in the first electric vehicles. Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with liquid electrolytes, polymer SSBs contain different materials such as flexible polymers, metal anodes and composite cathodes, which influence the overall recyclability

The healthcare sector significantly contributes to global environmental impacts, with minimally invasive procedures being particularly resource- and energy-intensive. This study at a Dutch tertiary hospital quantified the environmental impacts of two minimally invasive treatments in gynecology: total laparoscopic hysterectomy (surgical) and uterine artery embolization (non-surgical). Using comparative

Mongolia exemplifies the developmental paradigm of small, low-industrialized developing economies, striving to address the dual challenges of socio-economic development and entrenched carbon dependency. This study establishes an environmentally extended input-output (EEIO) model for Mongolia's energy-related carbon emissions from 2015 to 2022. Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) and Structural

Improving green production efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential for China’s sustainable agriculture. However, precise measurements of these two indicators at the household and crop levels and the mechanisms underlying their misallocation remain limited. Using two phases of first-hand tracked survey data from rural China (2000 households per phase) and applying the Life

In a global retrospective assessment, this study quantifies the potential impacts of croplands on biodiversity using the UNEP-Life Cycle Initiative’s recommended method for land use that was proposed by the GLAM consensus working group for Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods. The findings show the importance of using tools that account for both occupied area and

Drylands account for approximately 40 % of the global vegetation productivity and serve as critical regions for advancing global sustainable development. In the context of rapid urbanization, accurately evaluating the urban expansion-induced effects on vegetation in drylands helps optimize urban land use and foster sustainable growth in dryland cities. Focusing on the rapidly urbanizing and ecologically

Vehicle electrification reduces well-to-wheel emissions but may not lower lifecycle CO2 (LC-CO2) emissions. This study uses a lifecycle optimization (LCO) model to identify the optimal fuel type progression to minimize LC-CO2 emissions. By combining LCO with product stock-flow analysis, we extend optimization from individuals to regions and from a single year to 2020–2050, establishing a regional electrification

This study examines the copper value chain through firm-level, temporal, and multi-tier network analysis to explore risk propagation and structural evolution. By incorporating relationship duration as an edge weight in a cascading failure model, this study identifies critical firms based on their connectivity and vulnerability to disruptions. This granular approach captures the roles of both public

The recovery of spent lithium-ion batteries is crucial for sustainable renewable resources and environmental protection. Low lithium recovery efficiency and high energy consumption are the main problems in current recycling technologies for black mass of spent NCM batteries. This study innovatively applies flash joule heating (FJH) to preferentially recover lithium from industrial raw materials. We

As deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems intensify amidst the shift towards renewable energy sources, the imperative to minimise their environmental footprint across the full life cycle has become increasingly critical. Here, we introduce a novel Hybrid process for recovering silver (Ag) from monocrystalline silicon (Si) PV cells that achieves a 93 % Ag recovery yield. By selectively removing aluminium

We conducted a bottom-up, spatially explicit building stock analysis to examine the social and spatial heterogeneity of operational and embodied emissions of residential buildings in Canton Vaud, Switzerland. Variations emerged between locations, household profiles and ownership types. Urban households exhibited lower embodied emissions per resident, but higher annual operational emissions (1500–1900

Publication of the European Green Deal, and subsequent Circular Economy Action Plan, establishes improving resource circularity as a key pillar of Europe’s sustainable development plan. However, a higher degree of circularity does not automatically result in a more sustainable economy, meaning the newly published ISO59020 for circularity performance measurement and assessment demands the completion

Building stock modelling underpins energy and environmental assessments of the built environment. Material Intensity (MI), representing material mass per unit dimension, is vital for bottom-up estimation of building material stocks. However, reliance on sparse or uniform MI data can lead to significant inaccuracies due to intra-archetype variability, often stemming from differing building morphologies

The increasing demand for plastic products has generated unprecedented amounts of plastic waste. To reduce both proper and improper plastics disposal and the concomitant long and short term physical and chemical risks, recycling has emerged as an effective and complementary tool to recover waste and lower demand for unsustainable virgin plastics production. Post-consumer and post-industrial recyclate

Agricultural activities in crop production emit substantial air pollutants, impacting air quality, ecosystems, and public health. However, compiling a spatially explicit crop air pollutant emission inventory including all agricultural activities in field is urgent but still lacking. Here, we conducted a county-level air pollutant emission inventory and mitigation potential assessment for China’s wheat

Expansion of geothermal power generation (GPG) enhances stability of renewable energy systems yet with increasing material demands. However, material footprints of GPG remain underexplored for a thorough comparison with wind and photovoltaic power. We establish a life cycle system for GPG to evaluate material footprints of flash steam, dry steam, and binary cycle power generation on a global scale

Global greenhouse vegetables production has grown substantially and will play a critical role in meeting future global vegetable demand. However, the environmental performance of large-scale greenhouse vegetable production compared to open-field cultivation remains unclear. Through carbon and reactive nitrogen footprint analysis of provincial-scale vegetable production in China, we show that greenhouse

The fluorine-containing organics in the spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) cause environmental pollution during recycling. Recovery of fluorine-containing resources is critical for the recycling process of spent LIBs. This study elucidated the transformation mechanism of fluoride in cathode black mass (BM) during pyrolysis and proposed an integrated approach for fluoride reclamation. At 650 °C, 89

As the largest terrestrial carbon sink, forests regulate global carbon cycling, with timber providing long-term carbon storage for climate mitigation. This study analyzes consumption-based timber carbon stock flows in China, the U.S., and Canada, focusing on their roles in the global timber trade and sectoral linkages. China’s timber supply chain is dependent on imported timber carbon stocks, particularly

This study investigated various drinking water emergency countermeasures, evaluating their economic, environmental, and public health tradeoffs during contamination events. Employing process-based dynamic modeling and life cycle assessment methodologies, we assessed the effectiveness of 10 countermeasure deployment scenarios applied to a surrogate drinking water system. Our analysis indicates that

Material stocks in long-lived products require over half of the annual global resource extraction for their construction and maintenance, and lock in energy use through their technical and geospatial characteristics. A thorough understanding of material stocks is therefore essential to inform sustainable resource use strategies. However, despite substantial advances in material stock research in recent

This study explores the enhancement of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) using alginate-based stabilization, promoting resource conservation and the use of renewable materials in construction. By utilizing alginates from algae— a renewable and increasingly abundant resource due to the uncontrolled proliferation of algae belts —the research addresses key limitations of traditional CEBs, such as mechanical

Industrial enterprises are prominent sources of contaminants, and accurate reporting of contaminant discharge by these enterprises is essential for effective environmental management. However, fraudulent reporting, particularly underreporting hazardous waste (HW) generation, has become an intractable issue. HW is difficult to monitor automatically, and underreporting often implies improper treatment

Optimized fertilizer managements are crucial for enhancing global food security and represent essential strategies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and reactive nitrogen (Nr) emissions. However, a systematic assessment of the distribution and reduction potential for nutrient inputs, GHG and Nr emissions within the Chinese potato production system is lacking. Here, we evaluated the nutrient balance

A better understanding of the material stock in the built environment is needed to reduce its climate and environmental impacts while also improving its circularity. We introduce a comprehensive, globally consistent method to estimate residential floor area and material stock at a fine-scale spatial resolution, using the latest publicly available datasets on key building parameters and material intensity

Deep removal of trace aluminum from lithium extraction slag (LES) is key to recovering high-purity battery-grade iron phosphate (FePO4). Existing methods exhibit low aluminum removal due to the close solubility product constants of Al (III) and Fe (III). In this work, we propose a novel strategy for trace aluminum removal based on fluoride ion-mediated differential coordination of Al (III) and Fe (III)

Large-scale and difficult to decompose greenhouse gas (GHG) have challenged the agrifood sector to achieve net zero. While mulching perturbs GHG emissions and soil carbon sequestration, its potential in reducing GHG emissions remains unexplored. Here, we combined life cycle assessment with process-based model to evaluate carbon footprints and net environmental and economic benefits of maize, wheat

Analyzing the impact of spatial transfer of farmland (STF) on the food-water-greenhouse gases (FWG) nexus through a coupled perspective holds significant scientific value for guiding sustainable farmland management policies. This study developed an integrated assessment framework to quantify FWG-nexus dynamics induced by STF, systematically evaluating changes in crop yields, irrigation water consumption

Türkiye has not yet decoupled its economy from energy and material consumption, but aims to transition to a circular economy and become carbon neutral by 2053. The potential of energy system transformation and efficient material use has not yet been assessed for many services in Türkiye. This study analyzes the impacts of these transformations on passenger vehicles, using the RECC model, a physical

This paper presents the iBuildGreen building stock model, which estimates the material content of the Danish building stock based on macro-component archetypes (types of wall, roof, floor slab, etc). The model draws up a detailed material inventory and estimates the embodied carbon content for each building, based on publicly available Danish National Building Registry data. The high level of detail