Mining environment and circular economy (EMEC)

Mining environment and circular economy (EMEC)

EMEC

Mining Environment and Circular Economy (EMEC) is a new entity of the Science & Technology pole of UM6P, headed by Professor Mostafa BENZAAZOUA. Its main objective is to help the mining sector to be more sustainable, innovative, and environmentally responsible. 

EMEC is a transversal and innovative applied research and training program. Through its leading-edge research projects and education, the EMEC program aims to shape and implement new mining thinking based on sustainable mining, circular economy, and life cycle assessment. EMEC benefits from its proximity to the experimental mine of OCP-Group to scale up the novel research ideas and implement new startups in the local ecosystem. EMEC relies also on its strategic partnerships with local and international academic institutions and industries towards a successful impact and an international outreach. 

The program aims to become a reference research center in the mining environment and circular economy. The research projects that will be launched will be the subject of publications in international scientific journals and presentations at international conferences specialized in the subjects treated.

Thus, the missions of the entity are the following: 

- The promotion of industrial ecology and the circular economy approach in mining cycles;

- The development of good environmental management practices on industrial and mining sites;

- The promotion of R&D for training and vice versa.

 

EMEC research activities are developed to intervene in the whole mining life cycle going from the prospecting and exploration to mine closure. Five multidisciplinary axes are prioritized: 

  • Development of geo-environmental models;
  • Environmental assessment and optimal management of flows;
  • Sustainable rehabilitation of extraction sites;
  • Valuation of mining by-products in a circular economy;
  • Life cycle assessment of products and services.

 

 Program Lead: Pr. Mostafa BENZAAZOUA :

Mostafa Benzaazoua obtained his PhD in 1996 at the University of Lorraine in Geosciences and Environment (Ecole nationale supérieure de géologie de Nancy - ENG). Then, he obtained his HDR in the same institution in 2005. He joined the University of Quebec (UQAT) in 1996, became a professor in June 1997 in the same university, and held a Canada Research Chair (CRC 2003-2011) in "Integrated Management of Mining Waste". In 2009, he co-chaired an international research chair funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC 2009-2014) in collaboration with the University of Marrakech (Morocco). He is currently a Full Professor at Mohamed IV Polytechnic University in Morocco (UM6P) leading the Mining Environment and Circular Economy (EMEC) program. He is currently working on the adaptation of circular economy, industrial ecology, and geo-metallurgy to the mining industry.

• Email: Mostafa.BENZAAZOUA@um6p.ma 

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