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Chapter

Economic, Environmental and

Societal Issues in Material
Science and Engineering
Intended Learning Outcomes

After studying this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

1. Identify recyclability issues relative to different types of materials.
2. Determine the factors over which an engineer an engineer has control that affect the cost of a
product.
3. Draw the total materials cycle and briefly discuss relevant issues that pertain to each stage of
this cycle.

This chapter primarily deals with a variety of materials science and materials engineering issues
that are considered in the material selection process. In engineering practice, other important criteria
are considered in the development of a marketable product. One of these are the economic
considerations which involve scientific principles used to design components and systems that perform
reliably and satisfactorily. Other criteria that should be addressed involve environmental and societal
issues such as pollution, disposal, recycling, toxicity, and energy which are equally important in
engineering practice.

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATION
There are three factors over which the materials engineer has control and that affect the cost of
a product; they are:
1. component design,
2. the material(s) used, and
3. the manufacturing technique(s) that are employed.
These factors are interrelated in that component design may affect which material is used, and
both component design and the material used will influence the choice of manufacturing
technique(s).

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Component Design

• Some fraction of the cost of a component is associated with its design. In this context,
component design is the specification of size, shape, and configuration, which will affect
in-service component performance.

• Component design is a highly iterative process that involves many compromises and
trade-off. The engineer should keep in mind that an optimal component design may not
be possible due to system constraints.

Materials
• Once a family of materials has been selected that satisfy the design constraints, cost
comparisons of the various candidate materials may be made on the basis of cost per
part. Material price is usually quoted per unit mass. The part volume may be determined
from its dimensions and geometry, which is then converted into mass using the density of
the material.

• In addition, during manufacturing there ordinarily is some unavoidable material waste,

which should also be taken into account in these computations.
Manufacturing Techniques

• The entire manufacturing process will normally consist of primary and secondary
operations. Primary operations are those that convert the raw material into a recognizable
part (i.e., casting, plastic forming, powder compaction, molding, etc.), whereas secondary
ones are those subsequently employed to produce the finished part (i.e., heat treatments,
welding, grinding, drilling, painting, decorating).

• The major cost considerations for these processes include capital equipment, tooling,
labor, repairs, machine downtime, and waste.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIETAL ISSUES

Important stages in the materials cycle where materials science and engineering play a
significant role are recycling and disposal. The issues of recyclability and disposability are
important when new materials are being designed and synthesized. Furthermore, during the
materials selection process, the ultimate disposition of the materials employed should be an
important criterion.
Another of the problems of recycling involves separation of various alloys types (i.e.,
aluminum from ferrous alloys) after dismantling and shredding; in this regard, some rather
ingenious separation techniques have been devised (i.e., magnetic and gravity). Joining of
dissimilar alloys presents contamination problems; for example, if two similar alloys are to be
joined, welding is preferred over bolting or riveting. Coatings (paints, anodized layers, claddings,
etc.) may also act as contaminants, and render the material non-recyclable.

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What is recycling?

• Recycling is a process in which waste materials are treated in a way that they can be used
again.

• Recycling is a key component of modern waste management and is the third component
of the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" waste hierarchy.

• Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles,
and electronics.

• Materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection center or picked up from the
curbside, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for
manufacturing.

Where to Recycle?

Curbside Collections

Reverse Bending Machines

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Drop – Off Centers

Deposits

Pick-Up by Volunteers

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Process of Recycling

• Collection

The first step required for recycling is collecting recyclable materials from
communities. Families who recycle items such as paper, bottles and cans, place the items
in recycling collection bins. These bins usually have the recycling symbol on them.

• Processing

The second step involves processing the recyclable materials. This includes sorting the
materials into groups, cleaning them and getting them ready to be sold to manufacturers who
will turn the materials into new products

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• Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the third step in the recycling process.

Many items you may see every day are made from
recycled materials. Newspapers, paper towels, office paper,
plastic bottles and aluminum cans are not only made of
recycled materials, but they can also be recycled again.

• Purchasing

The last step, but certainly not the least, involves the purchasing of recycled products. When
consumers purchase products that have been made with post consumer material the
recycling process has been completed and can then
be repeated. If you have the choice to purchase a
product made from recycled materials, instead of one that
was not, what do you think you should do? It takes
education andawareness to remember to
recycle and purchase recycled products.

Products that are Usually Recycled

1. timber products (e.g. furniture)

2. metal products
3. Aluminum products (like soda, milk and tomato cans),
4. Plastics (grocery shopping bags, plastic bottles),
5. Glass products (like wine and beer bottles, broken glass),
6. Paper products (used envelopes, newspapers and magazines, cardboard boxes)

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Metals

• Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74 percent of the

energy used to make them. Metal is pretty cool
(no pun intended).
• Metal is the easiest “element” to recycle and it is used
in everything. From tin cans to car parts, you can find
metal that is recycled from something or another.
• Over 80 tons of metal are scrapped each year and they all
go into the recycling yards.
• Basically, metal is melted down and poured into molds. Now that is cool. You can’t argue
with how cool that is because you’re essentially taking a solid object, making it liquid, then
shaping it back up. Recycling at its best.
How is it recycled?

• Through Metal-Eco.Net, we buy old or no longer used metal products from factories or
offices.
• Metal products that are collected via Metal-Eco.Net are sorted and pressed into ingot
before being transferred to raw material manufacturers.
• The raw materials are then sent to manufacturers and made into new products.
• The recycled metals then come on the market as new products. (Return to Step 1)

Glass

▪ Glass is a relatively inert material, and, as such, it does not decompose;

thus, it is not biodegradable.
▪ Glass recycling is often separated into colors because glass keeps its color
after recycling.
• Mixed color glass “cullet” is used for glass phalt, a glass/asphalt
mixture.
• For every ton of recycled glass turned into new products, 315
kilograms of extra carbon dioxide that would have been released
during the creation of new glass are saved.
• Recycling one glass bottle can save 20% air pollution and 50% less
water pollution than making new bottle from raw materials
• Advantages of utilizing recycled glass include more rapid and
increased production rates and a reduction in pollutant emissions.

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How is it recycled?

• Glass is collected from curbsides or drop-off points

• Glass is transported to recycling plant where metal caps and plastic sleeves are
removed
• The glass is then crushed into small pieces and transported to the glass factory
• At the glass factory it is mixed with sand, limestone and soda ash and melted in a large
furnace
• The hot glass is molded into new bottles

Aluminum

• Recycling old aluminum uses only 5% of the energy used to make new aluminum.
• Approximately 2/3 of cans are recycled each year, saving 19 million barrels of oil
annually.
• Aluminum can be recycled from cans, bicycles, computers, cookware, wires, cars,
planes and other sources.
• Recycling a single aluminum can save enough energy to run a TV for three hours, or
run a 100watt light bulb for four hours

How is it recycled?

• Aluminum cans are picked up from cash-can centers or

curbside bins
• Cans are sorted and squashed together in large bales
• The bales are shredded into small pieces and cleaned
and are then melted down into large blocks of aluminum
• The large blocks are rolled like pastry into very thin sheets
• New cans are then made out of these thin sheets

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Papers

• Recycled paper can be made from three different types of

paper; mill broke (paper scrap and trimmings), pre-consumer
waste (paper that was discarded before consumer use), and
post-consumer waste (paper discarded after consumer use,
such as old newspapers).

• The process of recycling paper instead of making it from new

materials generates 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50
percent less water.

• Manufacturing recycled paper uses 60 percent of the energy

needed to make paper from new materials.

• Recycling one tonne (2204 lb) of paper saves 17 tress, 6,000

gallons of water and produces 73% less air pollution than if it
were made from raw materials

How is it recycled?

• Used papers are picked up from curbside bins and taken to the paper factory
• At the paper mill conveyer belts feed the paper into giant pulpers

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• Water and chemicals are mixed with the paper to remove ink and contaminants and turn
the old paper into pulp
• The pulp is then placed between two wire meshes and left to dry where it becomes new
paper
• The dried paper is polished and rolled into jumbo reels

Recyclable Plastics

Plastics are synthetic polymers, which are substances composed of a chain of molecules---for
instance, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and silicon---hooked together. Plastics are components of
countless products, such as electronics, furniture and beverage containers. U.S. residents used
nearly 13 million tons of plastic containers and packaging in 2008, according to the EPA.
Recycling plastic beverage containers greatly decreases the amount of discarded plastics in
landfills and conserves natural resources.

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How is it recycled?

• Plastic bottles are picked up from curbside recycling bins

• The bottles are taken away to be sorted and crushed into big blocks
• The bottles are then taken to a factory where they are crushed into small flakes
• The flakes are washed and dried and then melted and made into new bottles

Advantages of Recycling

▪ Recycling helps reduce the amount of trash that

is disposed of in landfills.

▪ Recycling, rather than throwing things away, is

also better for the environment.

• Currently it is believed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the

earth’s atmosphere is causing global warming which can have
devastating long term effects.
Recycling is one of many ways that people can cut down the amount of carbon dioxide that is
released into our atmosphere.
Purchasing recycled paper is also better for the environment because it takes less energy to
produce recycled paper and saves some trees along the way.

Disadvantages of Recycling

• Not always Cost Effective: Recycling is not always cost-effective. Sometimes, there
may be a need to establish separate factories to process reusable products. This may
create more pollution in terms of cleaning, storage and transportation.

• Recycled Products May not Last for Long: Recycled products are always not of
durable quality. Such items are mostly made of trashed waste, picked up from heaps
other waste products which are of fragile or overly used. For this reason, recycled
products are cheap and last for a shorter period

• Unsafe and Unhygienic Recycling Sites: Recycling sites are often unsafe and
unhygienic. Places where all sorts of waste is dumped are conducive for debris
formation and spread of disease and other dangers caused by harmful chemicals and
waste. This not only causes widespread pollution but is harmful for dedicated people
who recycle such products. Such waste if mixed with water, leads to leachate
formation and leads to toxication of water bodies including drinking water.

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• Not widespread on Large Scale: Although recycling is an important step to

minimize pollution, unfortunately this process is just a small part of long-term success.
Recycling often occurs at a small scale- homes or schools and has failed to be useful
at a large level such as at industries or holistically at a global stage. Saving paper at
schools cannot be compared to oil spills or massive tree felling at at industrial level.

• High Initial Cost: Setting up new recycling unit involves high cost. This huge cost can
come up as a part of acquiring different utility vehicles, upgrading the processing
facility, educating residents by organizing seminars and other programs, disposing of
existing waste and chemicals etc.

Composition of Daily Wastes

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Easy Ways to Recycle and Use

How to use waste materials:

• Plastic jars and tins can be used as piggy banks and pen holders.
• Cartons can be used to store many things.
• Old cloth can be used as shopping bags. Mats could also be made.
• Waste paper can be recycled or used in artwork. You can also make files with old
chart paper.
• Spoilt toothbrushes can be used for spray- painting.
• Papier- Mache can be made with waste paper, old newspapers, torn chart papers
(which are not in use) etc.

Other things to know:

• Protect your environment! Find many ways to save materials.
• You can write an article about recycling waste materials.
• Do not pollute your environment!

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Total Material Cycle

Adapted from Fig. 23.1, Callister and Rethwisch 9e

• Raw materials are first extracted from natural earthy resources through drilling, mining,
etc.
• Later-on these are subjected to purification, refining to convert them into metals, ceramics,
rubber, fuel, etc.
• These primary products are further processed to obtain engineered materials like metallic
alloy, glass, plastics, semi-conductors, etc.
• Now the engineered materials are shaped, heat treated to make components which are
assembled into products, devices that are ready for use by society.
• During the service, products become old, out fashioned, break down, or may not serve the
purpose efficiently. So they are discarded. This competes the life cycle.

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REFERENCES

Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction, 10th Edition by William D. Callister Jr and
David G. Rethwisch

Park, C. S., Fundamentals of Engineering Economics, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle
River, NJ, 2008.

Cohen, M., “Societal Issues in Materials Science and Technology,” Materials Research Society
Bulletin, September, 1994, pp. 3–8.

Ackerman, F., Why Do We Recycle?: Markets, Values, and Public Policy, Island Press,
Washington, DC, 1997.

Newnan, D. G., T. G. Eschenbach, and J. P. Lavelle, Engineering Economic Analysis, 10th

edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 2008.

Ashby, M. F., Materials and the Environment: Eco- Informed Material Choice,
ButterworthHeinemann/Elsevier, Oxford, 2009. White, J. A., K. E. Case, and D. B. Pratt, Principles
of Engineering Economics Analysis, 5th edition, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2009.

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