Thesis start: 2024
Thesis end:

Expected defense date:

Abstract

Waste recovery addresses a dual challenge: reducing the impacts associated with end-of-life materials management and relocalising territorial metabolisms, by enabling the use of local resources that can substitute for non-renewable materials or fossil energy. As such, waste recovery—whether through reuse, recycling or energy recovery—is at the heart of public policies and industrial strategies aimed at establishing more “circular” supply chains. Nevertheless, due to the heterogeneous characteristics of waste streams, industrial constraints, complex value chains and specific market dynamics, new material recovery sectors may struggle to become established. Moreover, the proliferation of these sectors and the range of possible outlets for a given waste stream presents a significant risk to their long-term availability if this is not addressed appropriately. This thesis therefore aims to develop a systemic model for end-of-life materials management, integrating the necessary interaction between resources and needs, supply and demand, in order to propose waste recovery scenarios that are suited to a territory and its uses, while reducing pressures on waste resources. This applied research work will require: understanding and modelling the socio-technical system associated with waste recovery within a territory, namely its territorial metabolism (waste streams, uses, collection and treatment routes, stakeholders) as well as the regulatory, economic and technological context specific to the waste streams considered; developing spatialised indicators to characterise the potential for competition over waste streams; building and assessing forward-looking waste recovery scenarios, integrating the emergence of new recycling sectors, by using and enriching the models and databases already available in the Territoire platform developed within the School. This project is part of the PEPR programmes (Priority Research Programmes and Equipment), operated by the ANR (French National Research Agency) and included in the France 2030 investment plan at national level. More specifically, this project falls within the theme “Packaging – Recycling, Recyclability, Reuse of paper and cardboard”, which brings together a consortium of six research laboratories, including the École des Mines de Saint-Étienne. As a result, paper and cardboard waste recovery sectors will be the primary application field for this work. Collaborations with the other laboratories in the consortium, as well as with stakeholders in the relevant sectors, are planned.

Keywords

Systemic model; Waste recovery; Spatialised indicators; Forward-looking waste recovery scenario; Metabolism

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals

Publications

News

Supervision

Valérie LAFOREST

Associate Professor
Thesis supervisor

Audrey TANGUY

Assistant Professor
Co-supervisor

See also

Author

Maxime MACHURAT
Organisation and Environmental Engineering (GEO)
UMR CNRS 5600 – EVS – Environment, City, Society

Year

2025

Subject

What decision support tool can facilitate the development of a land strategy that takes into account territorial public policy objectives and the planetary boundaries framework, in a context of limited resources?

École doctorale

Doctoral School 488 - Science, Engineering, Health
Environmental Science and Engineering

Supervision

Natacha GONDRAN
Associate Professor (80%)
Thesis supervisor

Author

Amaury FIEVEZ
Organisation and Environmental Engineering (GEO)
UMR CNRS 5600 – EVS – Environment, City, Society

Year

2025

Subject

Organisational conditions for success and reproducibility in implementing low-tech approaches in public schools. Experimentation on adaptation to overheating.

École doctorale

Doctoral School 488 - Science, Engineering, Health
Environmental Science and Engineering

Supervision

Valérie LAFOREST
Associate Professor
Thesis supervisor