Towards circular economy through the urban mining approach: innovative strategies for characterization and quality control of secondary raw materials

In order to reach sustainable development standards, it is necessary to move the waste management from the linear approach, where materials are definitively disposed after use, to circular economy approach. The goal to transform wastes in resources can be reached not disposing them off at the end of their life cycle, but re-introducing them in the production chain as secondary raw materials. In this perspective, urban mining concept, combining the demand of raw materials for industrial activities with the necessity to reduce waste, is taking root. In order to obtain an effective conversion of waste in secondary raw materials allowing them to be competitive into the market, the achievement of high quality standards is mandatory. Recovered materials from waste are often considered of low quality, therefore a reliable and adequate certification is necessary to solve this problem. A good strategy can be to implement advanced technologies for quality control of secondary raw materials based on HyperSpectral Imaging (HSI) without sample transfer to laboratory, in order to certify recycled product characteristics