About the Workshop...

A responsible stewardship of earth's resources for a sustainable future must include manufacturing processes and manufactured goods that strive towards minimizing waste. While this is motivated primarily by the need to avoid additions of harmful waste to water, land and air, there are also economic benefits in utilizing waste streams to reduce raw material needs. There are also major savings in energy consumption as things synthesize, even embedded energy as a by-product. In many cases, the reduction in waste in industry and society is also accompanied by reduced water consumption. In order to achieve a society that truly progresses towards a zero-waste goal, innovation has to be in material and product design, synthesis, and in the entire manufacturing industry (to include the materials recovery industry). Since manufacturing accounts for approximately a quarter of all employment worldwide, this will also impact factories and workforces of the future. Finally, since, extraction of resources and manufacturing/synthesis of materials are energy intensive processes, there is a strong impetus from energy efficiency and resource efficiency and sustainability points of view to progress towards a zero-waste society. This must translate into factories of the future being constructed and staffed by a work-force which is engaged and informed in the advantages of a circular economy, lean-manufacturing, and bio-degradable materials.

Strategies for achieving zero waste can be categorized into:

• Preventing waste generation
• Recycling and recovering materials at end of life
• Re-using and refurbishing products and components
• Reducing mine waste rock and waste to landfills

Workshop Focus

This workshop will focus on four distinct production chains with the motivation of identifying knowledge gaps and potential pathways for progressing towards zero-waste and energy-efficient processes.

• Plastics
• Electronics (e-wastes)
• Metals
• Mining and mineral processing

More information is available. Learn more...

Workshop Agenda

A draft agenda for the Workshop is available for download.
Download...

Location

The Workshop will be held at Fossil Trace Golf Club in Golden, Colorado USA. Learn more...

Registration

Registration for this Workshop is open now. There is no registration fee; however, those wishing to participate in the Workshop must register using an online registration form. Learn more...

Travel and Transportation

Registrants are responsible for their own travel arrangements, transportation, and meals. Additional information is available. Learn more...

Technical Information

For information about the content of the Workshop and other technical information, please contact:

Ryan M. Richards
Colorado School of Mines
rrichard@mines.edu
Phone: 303.273.3612

Registration Information

For general information or registration assistance, please contact:

Continuing and Professional Education Services
Email: Learn@mines.edu
Phone: 303.384.2690