Advancing Resource Recovery and Valorisation Technologies for Waste-to-Resource Systems

Funding: Self-funded

Project description

Resources embedded in waste streams are often poorly recovered and are commonly sent to landfill or converted solely into low-value energy through energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities. This results in significant resource losses and limits the potential contribution of waste management systems to a circular and low-carbon economy. Innovative resource recovery strategies are urgently needed to maximise resource efficiency, reduce reliance on landfilling and EfW, and create economically viable pathways for waste valorisation. The prevailing linear take-make-dispose economic model has led to excessive resource consumption and inefficient waste management practices. Existing strategies largely focus on pollution control and end-of-pipe treatment, which do not fundamentally improve resource efficiency. Moreover, many waste treatment facilities operate on marginal profits and depend heavily on government subsidies. For example, products from anaerobic digestion of food waste, such as biogas and digestate, typically have low market value, making current business models unsustainable in the long term.

This PhD project addresses these challenges by developing innovative strategies to upgrade existing waste treatment systems into integrated resource recovery platforms capable of generating value-added products. The research adopts a whole-systems perspective, considering the full waste management chain including collection, sorting, transportation, reuse, recycling, and final disposal.

The project can be offered in two main research areas:

1. Revamping anaerobic digestion systems: Development of advanced pathways to convert organic waste such as food waste into higher-value products, including volatile fatty acids, upgrading methane into value-added chemicals, and recovering nutrients from digestate.

2. Upgrading municipal solid waste treatment facilities: Exploration of innovative strategies for valorising residual waste from municipal solid waste treatment into chemicals and fuels, integrated with nutrient recovery to enhance overall system performance.

The research will integrate process modelling, optimisation, and sustainability assessment to evaluate technical feasibility, environmental performance, and economic viability under different system configurations and policy scenarios. Key research components include:

• Computational modelling and optimisation: Process simulation and optimisation using tools such as Aspen Plus, Matlab, and GAMS. The project will also involve software development and data analysis using Python.

• Sustainability assessment: Rigorous sustainability evaluation including techno-economic analysis (TEA) and environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). Life-cycle assessment software such as SimaPro will be applied.

Related Publications

1. Ng, K.S., Phan, A.N., Iacovidou, E., Wan Ab Karim Ghani, W.A., 2021. Techno-economic assessment of a novel integrated system of mechanical-biological treatment and valorisation of residual municipal solid waste into hydrogen: A case study in the UK. J Clean Prod. 298: 126706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126706

2. Ng, K.S., Phan, A.N., 2021. Evaluating the techno-economic potential of an integrated material recovery and waste-to-hydrogen system. Resour Conserv Recycl. 167: 105392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105392

3. Ng, K.S., Yang, A., Yakovleva, N., 2019. Sustainable waste management through synergistic utilisation of commercial and domestic organic waste for efficient resource recovery and valorisation in the UK. J Clean Prod. 227: 248-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.136