VTI gathers forces around research on circularity

Circularity, material recycling, and reuse – a dear child has many names that to a certain degree concern the same things. In 2024, the most commonly used term is circular economy.

It all started with an article in VTI aktuellt. At some point during the pandemic, Research Leader Fredrik Hellman read an article about his colleagues in Gothenburg who were running a project about circularity and ports. Wow, that was along the same lines as the work he was conducting, perhaps they could collaborate in some way.

“Research is always more fun when you work together. Personally, this has always been a strong motivator”, says Fredrik Hellman who contacted his colleagues.

That phone call could be seen as the seed to the project Circular Economy and Circular Materials that Fredrik, together with Research Leader Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert, are undertaking during 2024. The project concerns the coordination and development of research at VTI that is related to circular economy – identifying possibilities for collaboration and improving the efficient use of both resources and the competencies available.

Close to 25 researchers participated in the first project meeting and there is already research related to circularity being conducted within the majority of the research units.

“We will examine societal needs and look at how VTI can work towards meeting these. On top of this, a bonus is that it is rewarding to get to know each other and work together”, says Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert, and adds that Sweden is already fairly good at material recycling but has not come as far with reuse.

Reuse in particular is a central component when it comes to circularity. The term circular economy simply means that products and materials are reused instead of being consumed and thrown away as is the case in a traditional linear economy. Products are made from recycled or bio-based materials and are designed so that they can easily be repaired or reused. When this is no longer possible, the materials are recycled. The circular economy also encompasses non-toxicity and resource efficiency.

This circle – where worn out goods are no longer seen as refuse but rather as raw materials for new products is the opposite of the throwaway economy that is based on the rapid consumption of new raw materials. In the throwaway economy, new products are continually made and used, subsequently become refuse, and are then thrown away or incinerated.

The Swedish government sees the transition to a circular economy as vital in reaching the Swedish environmental and climate targets as well as the global development goals in Agenda 2030.

“Current societal discussions are pushing development towards circularity. It is becoming clearer that we cannot continue living in the way we do today”, says Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert and adds that historically people have always been careful with resources and reused things when possible.

In his own research, Fredrik Hellman has examined how spill and recycled materials such as concrete, asphalt and slag gravel can be reused for roads or other hard surfaces. Already in the 1990’s there was significant on-going research in this field, although then it was referred to as different types of cycles, but the new ideas didn’t take off. The amount of material was deemed too little, it was only enough for 500 meters of motorway. On top of this, the fact that Sweden has a good availability of high-quality bedrock and low extraction costs, slowed the development.

“Today, research is more focused on small-scale and local use of these types of materials. This has once again put the ball in motion”, says Fredrik.

Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert works with logistics and has amongst other things examined how ports and maritime shipping can contribute to a circular economy. A report from 2023 showed that maritime shipping can play a significantly greater role in the transport of products and materials for recycling and reuse. Ports can also create added value in different ways as part of future circular logistic solutions.

An important part of the current project is to identify which research VTI has, or should have, within the field of circularity. The project leaders have identified seven areas of extra importance. These can also be seen as different components in society’s circular transition.

• Planning and organisation
• Climate and environmental consequences
• Actions and behavioural changes
• Business models and the distribution of roles
• Policy, legal aspects, and management
• Logistics and transport
• Technology and materials

Even if careful management of limited resources as well as reuse have historically been commonplace, society still faces a huge challenge. Products need to be designed from the outset with regards to resource efficiency, and often new business models are required where businesses need to think in innovative and new ways. It is however possible to generate profitability within remanufacturing, repair, or through rental and leasing rather than selling.

In several on-going projects VTI is working to make this possible: testing the characteristics of alternative road surface materials such as slag, crushed concrete, and old asphalt as well as describing how these can be reused.

Seen solely from an economic perspective, it is often difficult to compete with new materials and natural resources, as circular production is often work-intensive and therefore more expensive. Other challenges include logistics – how can smaller flows of waste be coordinated in an effective way – and legal aspects – which rules should apply if waste is no longer seen as refuse but instead will be reused?

Perhaps the greatest change is related to behavioural patterns. The consumer that purchases a product or the contractor that builds a road need to specifically request recycled or reuse products. They also need to have confidence that everything will work as intended.

“Waste is not refuse, it is a resource. This is a whole new way of thinking”, says Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert.

No, there is no lack of challenges. However, both Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert and Fredrik Hellman are optimistic. Both in terms of developing a newly revived research field at VTI and that the circular economy in general has a bright future.

“There is a general consensus that this transition is crucial. There are also many passionate advocates of the circular economy who are a driving force for change. It is fantastic meeting them”, say both Linea Kjellsdotter Ivert and Fredrik Hellman.

The project Circular Economy and Circular Materials will run during 2024 and the project management group also includes Linnea Eriksson, Håkan Arvidsson, Klara Ivanetti and Ellen Dolk. There are currently a number of on-going research projects that explicitly examine circularity and the circular economy. Several of them are described in this edition of VTI aktuellt.

Text: Mikael Sönne

Translation: CBG