The objective of this thesis is to propose innovative evaluation and optimization criteria, explicitly integrating the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental, economic, and social. The proposed criteria will be tailored to the specific characteristics of regeneration value chains. Particular attention will be paid to the recycling of materials on the one hand, and the recycling of complex products on the other.
The originality lies in the integration of environmental and social impacts not only in the definition of evaluation criteria and indicators but also in optimization objectives. While economic aspects will be considered, the proposed framework will account for multi-scale levels of decision-making and also analyze the impact of digital solutions.
- Environmental aspects will be addressed through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods, as well as with regard to product lifetime extension, second-life opportunities, pollution reduction, and resource consumption induced by recycling processes. The reuse of products, materials, and by-products generated from recycling is a growing environmental concern reinforced by regulations. Developing indicators that capture these specificities represents a major scientific challenge.
- Social impacts will be assessed with regard to employment (e.g., job creation, societal acceptance), changes in work organization, and territorial effects.
- Economic evaluation will reflect the particularities of the recycling sector, focusing on optimizing cost-benefit ratios and assessing the profitability of proposed solutions. Multiple indicators and optimization criteria will be proposed to measure the economic impact of reusing products, materials, and by-products according to their potential end-uses and different reuse scenarios.
These indicators will be tested on simplified and elementary regeneration chains to assess their relevance and impact. Furthermore, they will be evaluated across multiple reuse scenarios to account for potential recovery pathways of regenerated products and materials.