Waste and Resource Efficiency (CEGE0064)

Human prosperity is underpinned by extraction, processing, manufacturing, use and reuse/recycling/recovery/disposal of materials resources. In the first part of this module on Waste and Resource Efficiency (before Reading Week), students will learn about global resource use, including flows of materials in major sectors, the implications for environmental, social and economic sustainability, and related concepts such as the circular economy. They will be introduced to the standard quantitative tools that can be used to better understand the sustainability of resource use, including material flow analysis, life cycle assessment, and cost benefit analysis, as well as qualitative assessment of social impacts, and how policy and legislation can influence resource use and avoidance of waste. In the second part of the module, students will learn about waste management technologies, including reuse, recycling, energy-from-waste, landfill, in the context of their sustainability. This module aims to: give students an overall perspective on resource use and waste management in human society; provide an introduction to technologies and systems for waste and resource management.

Learning Outcomes

Discuss quantities of materials used and waste generated, in major sectors of the global economy
	Describe the basic principles of material flow analysis, life cycle assessment, and cost-benefit analysis, and be able to use these techniques in simple examples
	Discuss the environmental, social and economic impacts of resource use and waste management
	Discuss main policy, legislation and other incentives in relation to resource use and waste management
	Discuss the concept of the circular economy
	Discuss the technical principles, and advantages and disadvantages of different waste management practices, with the waste management hierarchy

English as a Second Language|Applied Linguistics

This module is concerned with the intersection of discourse, society and culture, and with the various ways of analysing communicative practices. It offers a...