University of Indonesia (UI) lecturers have once again made the campus proud through their achievements. This time, Aulia Qisthi, a lecturer in the Environmental Engineering Study Programme, Faculty of Engineering (FT) UI, won the Best Paper Award at “The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society’s (TMS) Light Metals and Extraction and Processing Divisions 2024”. The award ceremony for the achievement, which was announced in early November (8/11), will be held directly at “The TMS 2024 Annual Meeting and Exhibition” in Orlando, Florida, USA, next March 2024.
Aulia received the award for her research entitled “Carbon Footprint Assessment of PCB Waste Recycling Process through Copper Smelting Route in Australia”. She examined the current state of printed circuit board (PCB) electronic waste management in Australia, as well as the potential for reducing carbon emissions from renewable energy sources during the recycling process. The research began while he was still in his doctoral programme at Swinburne University of Technology.
Through collaboration with experts from various disciplines, Aulia’s research reflects multidisciplinary research between academia and industry. Some of the experts involved include Dr Agung Yoga Sembada (Swinburne’s School of Business), Professor M. Akbar Rhamdani and Dr Kwong Ming Tse (Swinburne’s School of Engineering), and Nawshad Haque (Research Leader of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia Mineral Division).
According to Aulia, e-waste is one of the most abundant wastes in Australia. The high potential value of precious metals in e-waste has fuelled the growth of e-waste recycling facilities in Australia.
“A preliminary analysis of environmental impacts using carbon footprint as the main indicator to analyse comprehensive PCB waste treatment facilities in Australia was conducted and presented in this study. We assessed the PCB waste management situation based on three different scenarios, namely PCB waste recycling in small-scale facilities, PCB waste recycling integrated with industry, and PCB waste recycling in large centralised recycling facilities,” said Aulia.
He added that the total carbon footprint of the scenario is estimated to be in the range of 1.96-3.76 (kg CO2-eq/kg Cu). Carbon emission reduction of 18-31% is expected when renewable energy sources are used to supply electricity for the process. Aulia hopes that her research can be developed for carbon footprint analysis in the development of PCB waste recycling process facilities in Indonesia.
On Aulia’s achievement, the Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, said, “This cross-disciplinary collaboration is proof that various existing problems do need to be addressed together to be resolved quickly. Today’s problems are increasingly complex, so they require cross-disciplinary collaboration to produce excellent solutions and have a positive impact on society.”
The TMS Awards are annual awards organised by a leading professional association that connects minerals, metals and materials scientists and engineers working in industry, academia and government worldwide. The association is the largest and oldest in the entire field of materials engineering, from mineral processing and primary metal production to basic research and advanced materials applications. The TMS exhibition will bring together more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, business people and professionals in the field of minerals, metals and materials.
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Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia