1. Mining waste in circular economy - legislative aspectSenko Pličanič, Ana Mladenovič, Alenka Mauko Pranjić, Petra Vrhovnik, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: One of the common European commitments is a transition towards a green circular economy in which waste is not discarded and considered to be just an environmental problem, but should be recognized as an important potential source of raw materials for industry. In a priority order in waste management activities, introduced by the Waste Directive in 2012, recycling is set just behind the waste prevention and reuse. Many types of waste can be recycled, the most perspective being construction, industrial and mining wastes. The latter are produced and disposed of at mine sites during the excavation and processing of ore and are extremely perspective due to large quantities and remaining of different metals, however still underutilized, with low recycling rate. Many mining wastes are inert and do not releases contaminants into environment, however, some of them are problematic and even require monitoring. Reprocessing of these wastes, which include beneficiation and sequential extraction of valuable metals in the first phase and recycling of residues in both structural and civil engineering in the second phase establishes a zero waste model with several benefits for economy, environment and society. Out of the South-East European countries, North Macedonia has great potential to establish this model. As a consequence of long mining tradition and abundant ore resources, there are many mining and metallurgical tailings, on the other hand vivid economy and numerous sinks for use of recycled materials in construction sector can accommodate these quantities. However, there are open questions in terms of administrative procedures and legislation. What are those obstacles that accompany the smooth establishment of the proposed model from a legislative point of view? This paper deals with the situation in North Macedonia, in terms of opportunities, legislative options and the need to adopt new legislation, taking also into account the current problems in this field in Europe.
Keywords: circular economy, zero-waste approach, mining waste, construction sector, legislation, krožno gospodarstvo, pristop ničelnega odpadka, rudarski odpadki, gradbeništvo, zakonodaja
Published in DiRROS: 04.12.2023; Views: 224; Downloads: 131
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2. The importance of educating younger generations about raw materials and their uses in our daily lifeKim Mezga, Petra Vrhovnik, Janja Žmavc, Lidia Gullon, 2021, original scientific article Abstract: Raw materials are of great importance for humankind as they enable the development of technology, drive industry and economy, and overall the lifestyle we know today. The paper is addressing the topic of interactive learning about the mineral raw materials, i.e. metals and non-metals. Due to population growth and consequently in-creased global demand for raw materials, there is a need to educate younger generations about the raw materials and their properties and origin, so they would know from an early age where the mineral products they use come from and how purchase decisions affect the social environments of people who live in countries with resources exploitation.Todayʼs trends in mining are oriented towards more sustainable exploitation and management, taking into account the economic, social and environmental aspects. An example of such is exploitation of secondary raw materials from tail-ings and heaps. But in some countries, mining is stuck in the past, using obsolete technologies causing increased pol-lution and strongly present linear economy approaches of take-use-dispose attitudes or even unethical approaches, such as children being exploited as a cheap workforce, people being abducted, tortured and even killed over minerals (min-erals being exploited in such way are called blood or conflict minerals). Further, due to the potential negative impacts on health and safety, due to the emissions in air, water and surface disturbance, the public perception of mining is still perceived as negative in most cases. School curriculums most often lack description of current situations in the global mining. Therefore, within the EIT RawMaterials BRIEFCASE and 3D BRIEFCASE projects the project partners provide the comprehensive view of the issues of todayʼs mining and use of raw materials. The paper presents the description of both projects and the non-conventional teaching methods - the hands-on and digital tools for pupils and teachers, i.e. the briefcases, the "Briefcase of mineral applications" game, workshops and the supporting materials. The main objective of projects is to raise the pupils awareness about the utility and indispensability of minerals and mining and the consequences of their uses and production systems, which would increasein the long term the awareness about the social and environmental consequences of raw material production.
Keywords: raw materials, mining, pupils and students, non-conventional teaching tools, BRIEFCASE, 3D BRIEFCASE, curricular planning, EIT RawMaterials
Published in DiRROS: 04.12.2023; Views: 239; Downloads: 110
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3. Explore the briefcase - learning about raw materials through non-conventional teaching toolsKim Mezga, Petra Vrhovnik, Dragana Šolaja, Lidia Gullon, Alenka Mauko Pranjić, Ainara Garcia Uriarte, 2019, original scientific article Abstract: We live in a material world where the markets are flooded with all kinds of products. At the same time, we are facing a population growth, as well as a product demand growth. But, are we aware of the raw materials needed for our favourite daily products? In which part of the world are they extracted? Do we recognize the value chains from the mine to the product? And, where do these products end up after we use them? Many school curriculums include this topic only briefly, thus there is a need to raise awareness among youngsters about mining and raw materials in general. EIT RawMaterials funded by the European Commission, is the largest community dealing with raw materials in Europe. One of its main objectives is to raise awareness among general public about the raw materials and their indispensability, about the consequences of their uses, about the mining and production systems as well as about the utilization and recycling. Innovative and attractive pathways are employed in the process. One of the projects bringing raw materials and mining closer to pupils is the BRIEFCASE project. Using non - conventional teaching methods, tools and guided workshops, the project provides pupils with a unique hands - on experience. It draws their attention to raw materials and their applications and helps pupils recognize minerals in products we use every day. Besides emphasizing the importance of minerals in our everyday life and addressing sensible issues like conflict minerals, the consequences of our purchase decisions, the sustainability of mining operations and their environmental implications are also presented.
Keywords: Project BRIEFCASE, minerals, raising awareness, non-conventional teaching tools, EIT RawMaterials, award
Published in DiRROS: 21.11.2023; Views: 805; Downloads: 152
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