Continuing Education – Evening Lecture
Life Cycle Analysis to Support Risk Assessment and Circular Economy
Presenter: Gerardo J. Ruiz-Mercado, Ph.D.
Senior Research Chemical Engineer
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
5:30pm-6:30pm – Presentation (Eastern time)
6:30pm-6:45pm – Q&A Session & Closing Remarks
PDH Credit: 1 credit
Location: This will be an online presentation only.
Price:
$10 each for all attendees
Abstract:
Industrial and commercial chemical products play crucial roles in the economy and society. However, these substances need proper management during their manufacturing, use, and end-of-life stages to maximize economic and social benefits while minimizing harmful effects on human health and the environment. Chemical risk and life cycle sustainability assessments look to find events, exposure scenarios, and processing steps that may result in adverse environmental, economic, and human health outcomes by understanding, minimizing, and preventing their causes. Therefore, estimating comprehensive material and energy flow data and activities is crucial in performing life cycle assessments for guiding industrial, government, and community stakeholders toward circular economy initiatives.
This talk will describe current efforts on developing material life cycle inventories to estimate potential environmental releases during manufacturing, recycling, disposal, and energy recovery activities and describe exposure scenarios. In addition, this presentation intends to illustrate how these potential releases, hazards, and risks aid in developing safer recycling infrastructures to oversee chemicals and support sustainable materials management efforts to achieve a U.S. chemical circular economy.
Biography:
Dr. Gerardo J. Ruiz-Mercado is a Senior Research Chemical Engineer in the Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Gerardo leads projects on decision support tools, techniques, economics, and planning for the sustainable management of end-of-life materials.
Gerardo holds a Ph.D. from the University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez and a B.S. from Universidad del Atlántico – Colombia. Also, Gerardo volunteers his time as an Adjunct Professor at the Universidad del Atlántico and an executive member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). His publications and presentations include over 70 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, a book, and more than 160 talks at technical conferences and meetings. Moreover, he is a peer reviewer for 50 indexed journals and a mentor for Ph.D., MSc, and B.S. students. Gerardo received the EPA Scientific and Technological Achievement Award 2021, 2015, and 2014 and the 2022 Federal Service Excellence Diversity Award.
Registration:
Please register no later than Tuesday, May 14 2024 at 12 noon. Cancellation requests received by the registration deadline will be fully refunded.
Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Cynthia Tarun at tarun.aichedvs@gmail.com, 832-341-4960 (Mobile).