Completed project

UrbanMine: Institutionalization processes in times of circular green transitions

Oppdragsgiver
Forskningsrådet

Time period
01.05.2020 - 01.06.2024

Researchers
Arild Gjertsen
Researcher II

Brigt Dale
RESEARCHER I

Anna G. Sveinsdottir
Researcher II, temporary position

Stian Bragtvedt
Researcher II

This research project wants – in collaboration with municipal and private actors – to study institutional frameworks and attitudes towards mineral waste as a resource.

It examines how mineral waste can be reused and become a resource for society. What obstacles stand in the way? What opportunities are open? To get answers to these questions, we need to examine who is responsible, what role consumers, politics and business have, and what laws and regulations affect waste management. In short, what kind of institution is environmentally friendly waste management and how can minerals enter a recycling scheme.

The green shift requires a shift towards lower greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction in the overall burden on nature and the environment. Concepts such as the circular economy and "urban mining" are central to our times and express a need for us as a society to manage our waste in a better way. If waste can be used as raw materials in new products, we will not have to extract new resources from vulnerable nature in the countryside.

Increasing waste production is not only a waste of resources and very land-intensive, but also a climate problem. Using "urban mining" can help achieve climate goals, because it saves resources. Traditional mining is conflict-generating, resource-intensive and involves major interventions in nature. While traditional mining is becoming increasingly expensive, recycling is becoming more and more profitable. Therefore, it is important to have measures and systems that view waste as a resource, and this is precisely the basis for our project.

We see man-made waste products as a new field, which affects the whole of society. The project will map both limitations and opportunities, what works well and what works less well. A key question is therefore how the framework conditions can be changed so that the limitations are removed. Our ambition is to highlight the success stories and increase understanding of how important the reuse of minerals is for the society of the future.