Proposal to Foster Sustainability through Circular Economy-Based Engineering: A Profitable Chain from Waste Management to Tunnel Lighting
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Molina Moreno, Valentín; Leyva Díaz, Juan Carlos; Sánchez-Molina, Jorge; Peña-García, AntonioEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Sustainability Lighting Waste management Infrastructures Energy savings Raw materials CO2 emission Circular economy
Date
2017-12-02Referencia bibliográfica
Molina-Moreno, V.; et al. Proposal to Foster Sustainability through Circular Economy-Based Engineering: A Profitable Chain from Waste Management to Tunnel Lighting. Sustainability, 9(12): 2229 (2017). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/49118]
Sponsorship
This study has been supported and co-financed by projects from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness ECO2010-15885 and ECO2013-47027-P, Andalusian Government P11-SEJ-7294 and European Union (ERDF funds).Abstract
The increasing demands of infrastructures in terms of energy consumption, raw material demand, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, treatment of components after their lifetime period, and financial costs are nowadays a serious threat for sustainability. Given that the resources are limited, it is difficult to ensure an accurate level of well-being for future generations. For this reason, new perspectives in design, production and consumption are necessary. In this work, the principles of circular economy are applied to concrete branches of engineering. Departing from a design orientated to new uses after life period of infrastructures, a circular economy-aimed engineering makes possible the connection and mutual profit of such different branches like waste management and tunnel lighting. The benefits in environmental and financial terms are a strong argument in favor of a stronger link between engineering and circular economy.