
Handbook of Recycling
State-of-the-art for Practitioners, Analysts, and Scientists
- 2nd Edition - October 17, 2023
- Imprint: Elsevier
- Editors: Christina Meskers, Ernst Worrell, Markus A. Reuter
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 8 5 5 1 4 - 3
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 8 6 0 1 3 - 0
Handbook of Recycling, Second Edition is an authoritative review of the current state of recycling, reuse and reclamation processes commonly implemented today, and how they intera… Read more
Purchase options

Institutional subscription on ScienceDirect
Request a sales quoteThis book is a crucial aid to students and researchers in a range of disciplines, from materials and environmental science to public policy studies.
- Chapters authored by key experts from academia, industry, and the policymaking community
- Provides a thorough analysis from theory to practice to deeply understand the fundamentals, dynamics, complex interactions, opportunities, and challenges of recycling, within the larger picture of a circular system
- Describes the state of the art and lessons learned, to understand future challenges in recycling of a wide variety of products, materials, and waste flows
- Introduces the tools and practices to understand the opportunities and limitations of recycling in the context of a circular economy
Part 1 - Recycling in context
1. Introduction
2. The fundamental limits of circularity quantified by digital twinning
3. Maps of the physical economy to inform sustainability strategies
4. Material efficiency—Squaring the circular economy: Recycling within a hierarchy of material management strategies
5. Material and product-centric recycling and design for recycling rules and digital methods
6. Developments in collection of municipal waste
7. The path to inclusive recycling: Developing countries and the informal sector
Part 2 - Recycling from a product perspective
8. Physical separation
9. Sensor-based sorting
10. Mixed bulky waste
11. Packaging
12. End-of-life vehicles
13. Electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
14. Photovoltaic and wind energy equipment
15. Buildings
16. Construction and demolition waste
17. Industrial by-products
18. Mine tailings
Part 3 - Recycling from a material perspective
19. Steel
20. Aluminum
21. Copper
22. Lead
23. Zinc
24. Ferroalloy elements
25. Precious and technology metals
26. Concrete and aggregates
27. Cementitious binders incorporating residues
28. Glass
29. Lumber
30. Paper
31. Plastic recycling
32. Black rubber products
34. Carbon fibers
Part 4 - Recycling and the circular economy
35. From waste management to circular economy—The role of recycling in policy
36. Geopolitics of resources and recycling
37. Information and communication
38. Recycling, law, and the circular economy
39. Extended producer responsibility
40. Exploring the economics of recycling in a dynamic global context
41. Economic policy instruments
42. Economic aspects of metal recycling
Part 5 - Recycling fundamentals
43. Physical separation
44. Thermodynamics
45. Exergy—Quantification of resource dissipation
46. Process simulation—Thermodynamics and process technology to understand recycling systems
47. Life cycle assessment (LCA)
- Edition: 2
- Published: October 17, 2023
- No. of pages (Paperback): 756
- Imprint: Elsevier
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780323855143
- eBook ISBN: 9780323860130
CM
Christina Meskers
Christina Meskers, Ph.D. is senior research scientist at SINTEF, in the Industrial eco-systems department. Prior to this, she was senior advisor at the Industrial Ecology programme of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2021-2022), and senior manager open innovation, and market intelligence & business research at Umicore, Belgium. She graduated from Delft University of Technology with degrees in resource engineering and materials science. Christina has a passion for innovation and strategy, connecting people and ideas across disciplines, industries, organisations and value chains. Her work focuses on the contribution of metals and materials industry to the transition to sustainable products and a sustainable society. She has over 15 years of experience in the (raw) materials sector, including co-authoring a United Nations' International Resource Panel report on recycling (2013), and contributing to Principles of metal refining & recycling (2021), as well as organizing numerous symposia. She served on the advisory boards of international master programs, innovation networks, the Board of Directors of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (2020-2023), and is associate editor of the Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy. Christina was a 2020 Brimacombe Medalist and awarded the TMS Young Leaders Professional Development Award (2008).
EW
Ernst Worrell
MR