KEMS9616 CH2: Critical Raw Materials in Circular Economy (JSS33) (2 cr)

Critical raw materials in circular economy-course will give insights into some of the challenges and opportunities we today face in availability of raw materials and the necessary transition to a circular economy. The course will look at these aspects from a chemistry point of view, and we will learn how chemistry can help us move towards circular economy. During the course, we will cover what are critical materials, and what is needed from waste and resources management to transition to a circular economy. We will also look at how advanced materials and recovering raw materials from secondary sources can be used to replace fossil fuels and other virgin raw materials. Some important analytical chemistry tools will also be discussed, and we will see how these techniques help us to characterize waste materials and find the valuable components to be recovered. We will also hear about real-life examples of processes where inorganic and organic feeds are treated to gain some valuable end products.

The student will get detailed understanding about the interdisciplinary circular economy topic and associated analytical, process chemistry and engineering aspects. They can rationalize the characterization, identification and valorization of different critical raw materials containing feeds.

Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Engineering in Chemistry, Chemical/Materials/Process Engineering, or similar