The integrated nature of material use and waste management continues to be reflected in research around the world. In this issue we can see how the challenges in different parts of the world are being approached, ranging from fundamental education through to advanced modelling using artificial intelligence. But we can also see the massive disparity between regions and how simple solutions are sometimes required to start the transition to a more sustainable future.
While some argue that the world is, perhaps, on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), which promises to transform many aspects of our daily lives, others consider that it will never achieve levels of “general” intelligence and is more hype than certainty. One thing that is certain is that, if AI is to become truly dominant, there is an assumption that the world can provide the resources to make the computer chips and generate the power and that people will provide the training data and will accept that a machine can make better decisions than they can. New chip factories and renewable power generation to feed growing AI demands will require the use of materials, many of which will hopefully use recycled materials and be cognisant of their impact both during construction and over their lifecycle. General AI may be some way off, or unachievable, but the use of existing computer technology and techniques to help in design and predicting materials performance is something that is considered in a couple of this issue’s papers.
An artificial neural network (ANN), an AI method of machine learning, has been used to model the expansion risks in concretes containing waste glass, providing a method of predicting performance characteristics and reducing the need for experimental studies. In this instance, the use of ANN/AI provides a very cost-effective technique relative to experimentation. Readers can consider this in comparison to the paper looking at experimental results of varying levels recycled coarse aggregate and rice husk ash on concrete properties. But the underlying premise of both papers is that we need to make use of waste materials and need evidence to support the transition to more sustainable construction.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that data centres accounted for 2% of global electricity demand in 2022 and could double their use of electricity in the near future due, in part, to the increased use of AI. Another industry with global impacts is the hotel sector; this issue’s paper on the impacts of a green roof on a hotel cites a United Nations World Tourism Organization estimate that the hotel sector accounts for “about 1% of [carbon dioxide] emissions worldwide”. If this is true then using a conventional lifecycle analysis computer model to determine the carbon dioxide benefits of a green roof on a hotel is timely and less power hungry than using AI.
While green roofs help sequester carbon and conserve energy helping, in a small measure, to tackle a global challenge, they have other local benefits such as helping in rainwater management, which is important in a world where the climate is changing and extreme rainfall events are more common, as well as reducing noise and extending roof life. Similarly, another paper considers how the service life of a material can be improved through the use of recycled waste as described by the durability of hot mix asphalt which can be increased by the addition of recycled waste wollastonite, resulting in increased material performance and reduced maintenance and repair costs.
Readers will doubtless be familiar with the waste hierarchy but, as this issue’s paper from Ghana notes, waste management at its most basic level requires a level of education. Their study of slums in Ghana concluded that the lack of knowledge among residents was a key factor in poor waste management practices, a problem that was exacerbated by the local assemblies not enforcing the bylaws that were in place to manage waste. As global inequality continues to rise, such issues are unlikely to be solved by AI or clever computer algorithms but are likely to be a widespread issue in poorer parts of the world. However, improvements can be made through education and enforcement and, as the authors note, this will support some of the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Note that the journal publishes its most recent articles Ahead of Print on its Virtual Library homepage available here https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/toc/jwarm/0/0.
