What should be recycled: An integrated model for product recycling desirability

This research was focused on developing a new scientific approach for prioritising recycling of end-of-life products in a circular economy. To date, product complexity based on the mixture of materials has been used as a predictor of what gets recycled. While the separation of materials that make up a product has been modelled as a measure of product complexity, this does not taken into account the benefits and considerations in recycling products. In this paper, a new agenda and approach to prioritise the recycling of products was developed based on a recycling desirability index. The material mixing complexity measure was inverted into a simplicity index and then extended by modelling the security index for the mix of materials and the technological readiness level of recycling technologies. The extended model is proposed as an integrated measure of the desirability of recycling end-of-life products. From this analysis, an apparent recycling desirability boundary, enabling products to be prioritised for recycling, was developed. This model and analysis can be used as an information source in developing policies and product recycling priorities

Sustainable development in Rwanda: industry and government

This paper discusses the results of research carried out in Rwanda, in February 2005, through funding from the Royal Society. It investigates the methodologies and policies in use in Rwanda to promote and ensure sustainable industrial development and examines the Government's role in providing an appropriate framework. The paper considers the situation in Rwanda, following the 1994 genocide, and the part played by the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management (KIST), formed with the specific remit of training a new generation of professionals to replace those lost in 1994. Finally it recognises similarities between manufacturing in the UK and in Rwanda, demonstrating how far Rwanda has come since the genocide. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.