We live in a disposable society that has long plundered the eco-system of finite resources to sate consumerist culture. Years after years, the products are designed to feed the throwaway culture. The urban machine runs on the linear model that turns raw materials into discarded urban stocks. When a product no longer serves its intended purpose, such as a car gets old, electronic gadgets stop working, or a building becomes hazardous, the materials are incinerated or disposed of in landfills.

According to Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) initiative, e-waste has grown from 20 million to 50 million tons annually since 2000. With continuous innovation and rising demand of e-products, the solid waste has added pressure to the existing waste management infrastructure, especially of less-developed countries. But are the "discarded" really no longer useful? , a question circular economy movement emboldens society to ask. Waste is one of humanity's numerous inventions, probably the most absurd one, because one man's trash can be another man's treasure. Many contemporary technologies depend on rare earth metals with vulnerable supply chains. With the looming climate crisis and rising urbanization, the idea of urban mining sees the city as a mine. It is the process that reclaims and recovers rare materials from the artificial stocks to reuse.

Taiwan, a technological nation lacking natural resources, has long adhered to the vision of "resource recycling, urban mining, and sustainable use". The amendment of the Waste Disposal Act in 1997 incentivized informal collectors and recyclers of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and other Regulated Recyclable Waste (RRW) to formalize their enterprises under a fee-and-subsidy system. The standardization of waste management in 2000 saw the flourishing of several private WEEE recycling plants owned by electronic manufacturers, importers, and retailers.

Former Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Wei Kuo-yen advocated the concept to 'transform trash into gold' as he noted that 'mines deeps in the wild have already been moved to cities.' By the end of 2018, Electric and Electronics waste recycling in Taiwan has retrieved 171,000 tons of iron, 16,800 copper, and 7,500 tons of aluminum, mentions Circular Taiwan Network. Stepping up Island's economic transformation into a circular economy, several companies have joined government efforts in realizing the urban mining approach. Since the national legal framework controls the import of hazardous waste, the domestic supply chain has captured the great interest of public and private players alike.

Chen Ya Resource Technology Corp. is one such enterprise that enables a symbiotic relationship between traditional and modern industries by contributing to silicon sludge recycling. The company procures raw materials from local silicon wafers slicing industries such as the semiconductor and solar energy industry to repurpose them for Taiwan's Iron and Steel Industry. As the kingdom of integrated circuits, Taiwan is one of the major exporters of silicon wafers. The processing of silicon into thousands of utilizable disks each year generates a by-product that is mainly a mixture of silicon swarf and water. Similarly, the solar industry uses silicon wafers to manufacture ready-to-assemble solar cells further. While technological development is actively championed to aid sustainable development, it is not beyond the fundamental waste disposal problem.

In 2014, Cheng Ya Resources collaborated with National Cheng Kung University in Tainan to address the issue and developed technology to give a second life to silicon sludge as a smelting additive. The macaron-like final product is used in the steel industry, replacing costly ferrosilicon, helping the domestic steel industry to replace imported silica and reduce costs. The innovation is undoubtedly a positive push to Taiwan's circular economy plan, but getting the steel industry on board requires effort. The industry is accustomed to an ecology that has lasted for years, so convincing customers in the steel industry is an enormous task, noted a TVBS report. To create a win-win situation for both environment and industry, the company is further looking into the electric vehicle market to recover valuable metals such as cobalt and nickel from the ternary lithium batteries. In addition, it has proposed a plastic reduction plan using aluminum silicon powder to replace plastic raw materials.

In keeping up with the new era, Transcene (Cheng xin), a Tainan-based company, also locks in the local semiconductor packaging industry and the 3,000 tons of waste rubber compression molding it produces yearly. The main component of these waste rubber moldings- silicon (Si)- has vast potential to be upcycled or recycled into high-performance products for sister industries. Cheng Xin Industrial boasts of having created the world's only spherical silica recycling mass production technology, expecting to become an additional resource for the semiconductor industry.

The company develops a range of products such as silicon, silicon carbide, and silicon oxide powders serving the steel industry, Quartz powder reaching the ceramic industry, and biodegradable plastic to be used in the plastic industry. "The core value of Transcene is to treat waste in urban mines, help customers to reduce consumption of raw material from nature, and build up a circular economy eco-system of industries," explains a company representative. Dr. Ya-min Hsieh, the founder of the company, during her career in the industry, led a team of master and doctoral students to assist in the integration of resource utilization technology into factory production lines and later set up Transcene with fellow colleagues to serve customers from different industries.

As a young entrant in the urban mining scene, established in 2019, the enterprise has provided consulting services to customers in Europe, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, it prefers to supply its products locally for a low carbon footprint. Its silica separation technology also adopts non-volatile and non-toxic development formulas to create a triple win for sustainability. The innovative technology significantly reduces industrial waste treatment costs, but the journey has stumbling blocks. Transcene faces low gross profit with high production costs as a company with limited capital. "It takes a lot of time to find financing channels, and the research and development talent recruitment is squeezed out by large companies", a representative states. Despite these challenges, the company firmly believes that the circular economy is the new industrial revolution, and the support for the company will only grow along the way.

Since Taiwan proclaimed its entrance in the 'age of circular economy', the Island is attempting to adopt a model of 'large enterprises leading small enterprises' in resource recycling. Under the Circular Economy Promotion Plan, the government has amped up its commitment via circular economy demonstration parks, and big players are assisting in cementing the idea.

Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC), one of the largest corporate entities in Taiwan, has obtained Island's first carbon footprint certificate for cement products. Inaugurated in 2001, the Heping cement plant, industrial port, and power plant were planned to realize a cross-industrial resource circulation. In a unique circular model, ingredients used in cement went to the power plant for desulfurization and generated coal ash and gypsum channeled back to the cement plant as alternative raw material for cement production.

Considering the pressure of industrial waste on the domestic environment, TCC decided to invest in waste treatment and resource product reuse. Cement production requires the usage of large amounts of natural ores and fuels; the primary raw materials include limestone (calcium oxide), silica sand (silica), clay (aluminum trioxide), and iron slag (iron trioxide). TCC's Heping Branch uses various kinds of slag from the steel and iron industries, waste compression molding and calcium fluoride sludge from the semiconductor industry, inorganic sludge from the paper and water purification plants, coal ash from power plants, desulfurization gypsum and leftover waste dirt from the construction as alternative raw materials for cement production.

"After conversion, it is equivalent to a reuse amount of 218.2 kgs per metric ton of cement, reducing carbon emissions by 72,841.1 metric tons", states the TCC sustainability report. Currently, TCC products have achieved a 5% reduction in carbon footprint in one year, higher than Environment Protection Administration (EPA) regulations require.

The concept of Urban mining provides both valuable resources and economic prospects for labor-intensive sorting, disassembling, and recycling activities. While the idea is compelling and comprehensible, its potential is not easily realized. Both developed and developing economies face various institutional, infrastructural, and technological challenges. Taiwan has taken crucial steps by establishing appropriate policies and encouraging collaboration among universities, civil societies, and industries. 

But, the principles of the circular economy require changes, particularly in the industrial mindset that encourages 'planned obsolescence.' The industry has a significant role as a product provider, designer, collector, and recycler. To keep up with the rising volumes, diversity, and complexity of scraps, the recycling industry will need to continue investing in cutting-edge facilities, but responsible product manufacturing is the necessity of the time to add to urban mining efforts.

(This piece reflects the author's opinion, and does not represent the opinion of CommonWealth Magazine.)

About the author:

Naina Singh is a  project research assistant at Center of Green Economy, Chung-Hua Institute of Economic Research, Taiwan. 

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