ecosystem contributes to the development of research into the circular economy and the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment, by funding the Urban Mining Research Chair as a sponsor.
A Chair is a partnership at the crossroads of the worlds of teaching, research and business. Our Urban Mining Chair (as opposed to Natural Mining) is based on the idea that many resources can be extracted from the mass of waste generated by human activities.
In 2013, against a backdrop of dwindling natural resources and the development of the circular economy, the idea was born of structuring a Research Chair to work specifically in these areas. In partnership with the three engineering schools Mines Paris, Chimie ParisTech - PSL, and the Arts et Métiers ParisTech - École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers ParisTech, this university teaching and research Chair focuses on both waste treatment and waste collection, technical and sociological aspects, and the physics and chemistry of waste.
In a few figures, the Chair has already achieved:
Two theses from Mines Paris were awarded prizes
In 2019: "The EPR process of empowerment and co-regulation" (Helen Micheaux) was awarded the FNEGE cross-disciplinary thesis prize in management science. In 2023, "From eco-design to circular eco-innovations: framing and transforming corporate practices" (Chloé Steux) was awarded the #ADERSE prize.
Two patents have been filed at Chimie Paris, concerning metal extraction.
One on the recovery of strategic metals using thermal plasma, the other on the separation of tungsten and tantalum using ion exchangers.
Regarding ENSAM, a guide to plastics sorting technologies as well as a recycled materials datasheet (for use as a communication tool between producers and regenerators) have been widely shared in French and English with all players in the #WEEE sector.
From 2024 onwards, new topics will be included in the third season of the Chair. In addition to the Circular Economy, Plastics Recycling and Critical Metals Recycling topics already explored in the previous two seasons, new topics around the second life of products (dismantling for reuse, artificial intelligence etc.) will enrich this research!
Interested in our Urban Mining Research Chair? You can get involved in our work through our WEEE chair workshops. These workshops are designed as moments to share and reflect on the topics of Urban Mining and the work of the Chair, and they are co-hosted by the Chair's members. Their aim? Bring together producers, recycling operators, researchers, Producer Responsibility Organisations and other stakeholders to understand the issues faced by manufacturers, and to provide input and guidance for the work being carried out.
Would you like to follow the Chair's work and be invited to our WEEE Chair workshops? Contact us at: ecoconception@ecosystem.eco