PostDoc Project
Title:
Research Engineer ⬓ Multi-Level Value Chain Analysis for Circular Economy Systems
Dates:
2025/11/03 - 2028/10/14
Student:
Supervisor(s):
Other supervisor(s):
Pr Sébastien LIARTE (sebastien.liarte@univ-lorraine.fr)
, Pr Alexandre CHAGNES (alexandre.chagnes@univ-lorraine.fr)
Description:
Context
Recycling value chains in France and Europe face significant challenges due to the diversity of actors involved, the fragmentation of management systems, the heterogeneity of material flows, and increasing economic and regulatory constraints. This structural complexity is further amplified by the interdependence of processes, variability in available resources, and the growing need for industrial and technological sovereignty. While the literature on the circular economy is extensive, much of the existing research remains focused on local process optimization (e.g., energy efficiency, waste reduction, yield improvement) or on individual actors, without fully addressing the systemic dynamics and multi-scale interactions required to build robust and resilient recycling networks.
To address these challenges, recent studies emphasize the need to move beyond siloed approaches and develop systemic models capable of integrating the entire product life cycle, delayed decision feedback, sector-specific constraints, and multi-level governance mechanisms. These approaches must consider not only the physical and economic characteristics of materials but also the collaborative dynamics between heterogeneous actors, the uncertainty of material flows, market unpredictability, and the rapid evolution of technologies and regulations.
Research Problem Addressed
Current recycling value chains are characterized by fragmented stakeholder engagement, heterogeneous technical infrastructures, variable material flows, and diverse economic constraints. Most analytical and decision-support approaches tend to focus on single-dimensional improvements, such as optimizing sorting technologies, reducing processing costs, or quantifying material flows, without accounting for the dynamic interdependencies across multiple layers of the value chain, including material properties, process efficiency, and management/business strategies.
However, designing robust, adaptable, and sustainable recycling systems requires a multi-level, holistic analytical framework that can:
⬢ Integrate physical flows and metabolic patterns through methods such as Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and MuSIASEM-inspired multi-scale accounting
⬢ Combine technical, economic, and social indicators across scales to enable evaluation of trade-offs and system-wide effects.
⬢ Capture and reconcile heterogeneous stakeholder perspectives (e.g. recyclers, manufacturers, policymakers, consumers) to identify opportunities, bottlenecks, and conflicting objectives.
⬢ Provide reusable analytical methods and decision-support tools that can be generalized across value chains and regions.
Hence, the core research problem is: How to develop and implement a multi-level, systemic methodology for analysing and guiding recycling value chains that simultaneously accounts for material flows, process configurations and economic/organizational trade-offs, while integrating stakeholder priorities and enabling adaptability across contexts? This approach aims to fill a critical gap in current research, by moving beyond siloed or mono-level analysis toward a framework capable of supporting informed decision-making, trade-off analysis, and method reuse in complex, multistakeholder recycling ecosystems.
Recycling value chains in France and Europe face significant challenges due to the diversity of actors involved, the fragmentation of management systems, the heterogeneity of material flows, and increasing economic and regulatory constraints. This structural complexity is further amplified by the interdependence of processes, variability in available resources, and the growing need for industrial and technological sovereignty. While the literature on the circular economy is extensive, much of the existing research remains focused on local process optimization (e.g., energy efficiency, waste reduction, yield improvement) or on individual actors, without fully addressing the systemic dynamics and multi-scale interactions required to build robust and resilient recycling networks.
To address these challenges, recent studies emphasize the need to move beyond siloed approaches and develop systemic models capable of integrating the entire product life cycle, delayed decision feedback, sector-specific constraints, and multi-level governance mechanisms. These approaches must consider not only the physical and economic characteristics of materials but also the collaborative dynamics between heterogeneous actors, the uncertainty of material flows, market unpredictability, and the rapid evolution of technologies and regulations.
Research Problem Addressed
Current recycling value chains are characterized by fragmented stakeholder engagement, heterogeneous technical infrastructures, variable material flows, and diverse economic constraints. Most analytical and decision-support approaches tend to focus on single-dimensional improvements, such as optimizing sorting technologies, reducing processing costs, or quantifying material flows, without accounting for the dynamic interdependencies across multiple layers of the value chain, including material properties, process efficiency, and management/business strategies.
However, designing robust, adaptable, and sustainable recycling systems requires a multi-level, holistic analytical framework that can:
⬢ Integrate physical flows and metabolic patterns through methods such as Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and MuSIASEM-inspired multi-scale accounting
⬢ Combine technical, economic, and social indicators across scales to enable evaluation of trade-offs and system-wide effects.
⬢ Capture and reconcile heterogeneous stakeholder perspectives (e.g. recyclers, manufacturers, policymakers, consumers) to identify opportunities, bottlenecks, and conflicting objectives.
⬢ Provide reusable analytical methods and decision-support tools that can be generalized across value chains and regions.
Hence, the core research problem is: How to develop and implement a multi-level, systemic methodology for analysing and guiding recycling value chains that simultaneously accounts for material flows, process configurations and economic/organizational trade-offs, while integrating stakeholder priorities and enabling adaptability across contexts? This approach aims to fill a critical gap in current research, by moving beyond siloed or mono-level analysis toward a framework capable of supporting informed decision-making, trade-off analysis, and method reuse in complex, multistakeholder recycling ecosystems.
Department(s):
| Modelling and Control of Industrial Systems |