Poster Presentations

The upcoming EU Waste Framework Directive and Extended Producer Responsibility will significantly increase textile waste in Europe, exposing gaps in current recycling infrastructure. Nonwoven recycling technologies can help close these gaps by efficiently processing mixed and low-grade textile waste into valuable products, offering a flexible, cost-effective and energy-efficient route to circularity. Case studies include high-performance padding from post-consumer textiles for workwear and outdoor use, and snow insulation covers from Swedish wool waste, providing sustainable alternatives to fossil-based materials. These examples highlight the importance of integrated approaches and cross-sector collaboration to build new circular markets.

Maria Ström, CEO at The Loop Factory, is an experienced and entrepreneurial leader in sustainable materials and circular innovation, with a Tech.Lic. in Chemical Engineering. With over 20 years in the pulp and paper industry, she has held key roles in process development, technical sales, procurement, and project management. As the former operations manager at a Science Park, she played a pivotal role in establishing a test and demonstration facility for textiles and bio-based materials. Today, Maria is at the forefront of advancing circularity in textiles, utilising nonwoven technologies to transform textile waste into valuable resources. She will share insights on innovative recycling solutions, including high-performance padding from textile waste and wool-based snow covers for ski resorts.

This study explores pyrolysis as a pretreatment for recycling spent Lithium-ion batteries. It investigates the impact of pyrolysis on various size fractions of black mass, revealing heterogeneous behaviour under consistent conditions. Using TGA, XRD, SEM, and off-gas composition analysis, the results highlight the need for careful consideration of size fractions in direct recycling processes.

Mohazzam Saeed is an Erasmus Mundus graduate in Resource Engineering with professional focus on Geo-metallurgy. He is currently contributing towards circular economy of lithium-ion batteries at Aalto University, Finland. He has industrial and research experience in the domain of circular economy of Lithium-ion batteries, mineral processing, raw material value chain, surface mine planning and in-situ leaching. 

Solution combustion synthesis (SCS) emerges as a promising route for the low-carbon production of high entropy oxides (HEOs). In this study presents the sustainable synthesis of (CoCuMgNiZn)O high-entropy oxide via solution combustion synthesis using various fuels. By optimizing fuel-to-oxidizer ratios and calcination temperatures, single-phase products were synthesized. Post-synthesis calcination effects on crystallinity and microstructure were systematically characterized via XRD, SEM-EDS, and TGA. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to provide a preliminary evaluation of the environmental performance of the SCS route in terms of energy use and CO₂ emissions.

Ahmet Turan is an Associate Professor at Yeditepe University and Director of its Technology Transfer Office. He was elected to the UCTEA Metallurgical Engineers Board in 2022 and 2024. He holds a BSc from Sakarya University (2006), and an MSc (2009) and PhD (2014) from Istanbul Technical University. He worked as a project engineer in London (2006–07), researcher at ITU (2007–10), lecturer at Yalova Vocational School (2010–14), and Assistant Professor at Yalova University (2014–21). He was a postdoc at Heriot-Watt University (2017–18). Ahmet Turan’s research covers metallurgy, waste recycling, advanced ceramics, and CO₂ capture. He has over 150 publications.

As companies embrace circular economy principles, understanding steel’s environmental impact is vital. This study develops a novel life cycle assessment method to quantify ISO 59020 circularity indicators and assess alignment with EU sustainability reporting standards. A case study on industrial equipment shows that using recycled steel can cut impacts by up to 11% and increase recycled content in products, though shorter lifetimes and data gaps remain challenges.

Yasemin Atmaca holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from METU and a master’s from Tampere University, specialising in sustainable water and waste management, LCA, and circular economy. She completed her thesis with Ramboll Finland and worked in their Climate and Foresight team. Yasemin will soon join VTT as an Associate Research Scientist and continue as a teaching assistant. Yasemin has experience in environmental impact modelling (SimaPro), process engineering (Excel, MATLAB), and water/sewer system modelling (WaterCAD, SewerCAD, Fluidit). She is passionate about advancing sustainability through LCA and circularity research.

Indonesia, holding the world’s largest nickel reserves, is poised to significantly expand its laterite nickel open-pit mining operations. This expansion aims to supply the growing demand for the energy transition, including clean energy, electric vehicles, and infrastructure. However, nickel mining, smelting, and refining cause direct land use change (dLUC). While not as extensive as palm oil deforestation, these activities lead to a substantial carbon stock difference, placing considerable pressure on Indonesia’s forests and rich biodiversity. This work addresses the critical lack of life cycle inventory (LCI) data for Indonesian laterite nickel. Leveraging dLUC measurements from Heijlen et al., we estimate the dLUC carbon footprint of Indonesian laterite nickel production. The goal is to create a national average LCI for this nickel sourcing, specifically focusing on its dLUC carbon footprint. We then compare this sourcing with other global locations and eco-design strategies in the light of key EU policies such as ESPR or the Critical Raw Materials Act.

M.Sc. Miguel Montero Alonso is an environmental and energy engineer and a PhD candidate at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. His work focuses on sustainable energy and environmental impact assessment.