Developing a robust indicator to evaluate circular economy through reuse strategy: A case study of using water treatment sludge as a coagulant for dewatering of iron ore tailings slurry

Abstract

Due to the lack of tools, which are simple enough to assess the reuse strategy in the concept of circular economy (CE), in the present paper, reuse efficiency index (REI) was introduced as a new indicator, inspired by previously developed indexes, namely circular economy index (CEI) and value-based resource efficiency (VRE). The REI, as a measure of economic efficiency of reuse strategy, is the ratio of the net value obtained from the reuse of end of life (EOL) product instead of using a new product over the value of materials and energy inputs required to reproduce the EOL product. To calculate REI for any specific EOL product, information regarding mass, physicochemical properties and operational data on the consumption of energy, which are mainly available in the financial archives of companies, is crucial and the market price of EOL product must also be predicted. In another part of the study, the reuse of ferric chloride-based water treatment sludge (FCS) as a coagulant, instead of using high cost polymeric coagulant, for iron ore tailings slurry dewatering was evaluated through REI. The results showed that depending on the market prices of energy and materials as well as the iron (FeCl₃) content in the FCS, the REI could vary between 0.51 and 1.04, corresponding to 51–104% added value. Overall, REI is based on accessible information and its simplicity and comprehensibility makes it applicable for managers and policymakers to invest and create technologies for reaching closed-loop cycles in the concept of CE through reuse action.