53 Figure 4 - The circularity potential of UMI for buildings in urban areas [6]. By exploiting material resources, humans are significantly interfering with natural cycles. Materials taken from the natural cycle must be processed and used in a way that they can later either be returned to the natural cycle or permanently recycled in technical cycles, as you can see in Figure 4. The UMI is a system for quantitatively assessing the recycling potential and in the design of new products. Throughout the entire life cycle, all input materials and all generated waste materials are considered/assessed in terms of their potential for further use. 3. PROCESSING OF WASTE MATERIALS AND MINERAL RESOURCES By definition, waste recovery techniques are classified as mechanical process technology, which changes the composition and properties of the substance by means of various physical processes. The majority of today's recycling processes come from the processing and enrichment of mineral raw materials. It is necessary to distinguish between mechanical and thermal processes. In the mechanical processing technique, the laws of mechanics are decisive for the change of substances, while the law of thermodynamics in thermal process technology. Sorting and enriching of secondary raw materials from waste is carried out in appropriate installations, which, together with transport devices, comprise production processing facilities. Every process of recycling represents the process of changing the properties of a substance. From the total quantity of waste, it is possible, with separation sorting procedures to obtain individual reusable substances i.e. secondary raw materials of greater or lower purity. By doing so, the recycling process is also a production process for the production, the separation of usable substances from the total mass flow of waste. Each production process consists of various interconnected production processes, thus forming the basis of the process of changing the substance characteristics.
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