Urban Mining of e-Waste and the Role of Consumers

This chapter adds to the body of literature on the Circular Economy (CE), urban mining, and their intersection with consumer behaviour, by first providing a review of existing and emergent EU regulations aimed towards enhancing the collection rate of household WEEE. The fast growth of the EEE waste stream and its potential for Urban Mining as well as the inability of WEEE collection to keep up with the growth of the EEE industry is showcased with statistical data. The final section critically analyses the literature the intersection between consumer behaviour and closed-loop supply chains for EEE, identified through a systematic keyword search to ensure replicability. The findings point at a lack of theoretical, methodological and product-case heterogeneity among the identified sources, with most of them employing the Theory of Planned Behaviour and survey methods and focusing on mobile phones or general WEEE. While the literature suggests important behavioural differences across EEE categories, this was not representatively explored. The final section contributes to filling this gap by developing a taxonomy of EEE categories based on characteristics that may predispose consumer behaviour. The identified dimensions are: size, involvement, long-term reliability expectations, value type, internet access, multifunctionality, the quality of being outdated and social meaning

Promoting circular economy transition: A study about perceptions and awareness by different stakeholders groups

Abstract The interest into Circular Economy (CE), mainly emerged recently in response to climate change, environmental damage, and the limits of a linear economy, requires a deeper investigation on how the concept and its transition process are perceived in the society. In the present explorative study (questionnaire survey), we evaluate the perception and level of awareness of three stakeholder groups with a good knowledge on CE concept and governance of the transition process, specifically: Researchers, Economists, and Administrators. The three samples contain stakeholders from EU and non-EU countries. We developed primarily a comprehensive literature review on CE perceptions and awareness useful for the design of the questionnaire, the comparison of the results and in overall for creating a wider framework of analysis and interpretation of the current CE transition. The questionnaire has been tested on one of the three samples (Researchers) and then replicated on the other two ones (Economists and Administrators). The results of the survey shows that the three groups perceive CE as a "zero waste economy" (Administrators) and in wider terms as a model for re-design our present state of economy and society in a more regenerative manner (Researchers and Economists). Administrators seem more focused on utilizing CE for economic growth and job creation while Researchers and Economists mainly expect receiving environmental benefits from the CE transition. The three groups share a common vision of CE at its initial stage of the transition process in agree with the relevant literature. In that, a more successful advance of CE depends on the governance of the process by key actors and instruments. Researchers emphasize a more holistic top-down approach while Economists and Administrators expect a bottom-up approach guided by the civil society (companies and citizens/consumers). However, these results complement each other's as all the actors are relevant for fostering CE and a mixed set of instruments is needed. Moreover, given that implementation of CE is costly for consumers and companies, the political intervention has a leading role in this initial phase also in disseminating a positive and sustainable image of CE concept and model. At this regard the support of CE research to such intervention is highly important to develop a CE path in line with all the three principles of sustainable development, the desired outcome of the society and capable of facing the current unprecedent environmental challenges

From thin-air to flat-sat in 12 months: the Twentesat student project

TwenteSat aims to build a twin-satellite interferometer in space, a research satellite system in preparation of the OLFAR project. The project will be completely done by students that work on a voluntary basis. The target is to have a flat-sat of at least one of the satellites ready in a short timeframe, the reason for this is the wish to get relatively quick results as most students can’t work on the project for a long time, ideal would be 12 months A.K.A. 1 year of study. The first research on the project was done by September 2013 and most of the recruiting and acquiring finances still has to be done at this point in time. As a result of this the student team will face several problems. They have to adapt to working with a quickly changing group as the Twentesat student project experiences a generally high workforce turnover, and they need speedy access to money while still being highly unknown to the outside world. This paper analyses the group’s activities and future plans on how to achieve their goal of quickly building a flat-sat. As it is not possible to trust on the fact that students will stay involved for a long time projects will have to be divided in small tasks that students can start on quickly, won’t take too long, and can be done independently from other tasks. This will help future educational student projects to launch more successfully and with less problems

Perceived value of student participation in the field of aerospace engineering from a student's perspective

The importance of student participation in space projects is well known. New students are needed to supplement the future workforce and both experience and enthusiasm are important factors to join any industry. Students can also offer fresh perspectives to existing problems in any field of engineering. It is also argued that it is very beneficial for the students themselves. This paper will clarify the point of view from students on student participation in aerospace engineering for their own interests, both personal and professional, as well as their general opinion on space research and development. Qualitative interviews were held with several groups of (former) students: Students not (yet) engaged in a large project; Students in the concept stage of a large project and students at the end stages of a large project. Both engineering and non-engineering students are of interest for this research. A broad range of questions is asked to the participants as this is mostly explorative research. The aim of this paper is to increase student participation by means of a better understanding of student expectations and experiences. Projects better suited to student needs could be developed in the future. With this better understanding and improved projects, more student projects could be successfully launched by both universities and corporations. This should benefit both educational and corporate interests in active student involvement as more research will be done by the students and more students will be engaged and motivated in the space industry. Due to the nature of qualitative interviews students will come with ideas on how to increase student participation and make student projects more successful, so we can relay these to educational institutions and companies

Inter-satellite communication link for a space based interferometer

Radio astronomy has been moving towards lower frequencies in recent years. This trend started with Earth bound large arrays like the low frequency array called LOFAR. After that an initiative to measure even lower frequencies started like the Orbiting Low Frequency Array (OLFAR) in space using a swarm of nano-satellites. Inspired by these initiatives, the goal of the TwenteSat student project is to create a space based interferometer using two tethered nanosatellites. A crucial part of this project is the inter satellite communication which allows data to be shared and control signals to be send between the separated satellites. The possibility of wired communication is examined, as well as wireless communication. In this paper a simple low power wireless communication system is proposed, with the use of commercial off the shelf (COTS) parts