Abstract
Metals are classical examples of non-renewable resources, and their extraction from Earth by mining of ores cannot be seen as sustainable in the strict sense of the word. Mining, by definition, depletes the ore reserves. Through mineral processing and subsequent smelting and refining, ores are disintegrated, and the desired metals are isolated for use in the technosphere. Special and precious metals play a key role in modern societies as they are of specific importance for clean technologies and other high tech equipment. Important applications are information technology (IT), consumer electronics, as well as sustainable energy production such as photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, fuel cells and batteries for hybrid or electric cars (contributions of Helmers (Part III), Schebek et al. (Part IV), Zepf et al. (Part VI) and Jägermann (Part VI). They are crucial for more efficient energy production (in steam turbines), for lower environmental impact of transport (jet engines, car catalysts, particulate filters, sensors, control electronics), for improved process efficiency (catalysts, heat exchangers), and in medical and pharmaceutical applications (Hagelüken and Meskers 2008; Angerer et al. 2009).
The article is an updated and extended version of a contribution by the author entitled “Sustainable Resource Management in the Production Chain of Precious and Special Metals” to the book International Economics of Resource Efficiency, Bleischwitz, Welfens, Zhang (eds.), Heidelberg: Springer, 2011.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Technology metals are crucial for the functionality of many high tech processes while—other than base metals—often are used in low concentrations only. They comprise the precious metals and most special metals, many of which are also regarded as “critical” by the EU [EU Commission 2010].
- 2.
In 2013 a review process for the EU critical elements list was started, the updated list of critical materials was published in May 2014 and is accessible under http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/raw-materials/critical.
References
Angerer G, Erdmann E, Marscheider-Weidemann F, Scharp M, Lüllmann A, Handke V, Marwede M (2009) Rohstoffe für Zukunftstechnologien. Stuttgart
Buchert M, Schüler D, Bleher D (2009) Critical metals for sustainable technologies and their recycling potential. UNEP report, March 2009
Dodd/Frank (2010) H.R. 4173 Dodd/Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. section 1501 “conflict minerals”, US Congress, 5. Jan 2010. Available at www.sec.gov/about/laws/wallstreetreform-cpa.pdf (Accessed on 17 April 2013)
EU COM 699 (2008) The raw materials initiative—meeting our critical needs for growths and jobs in Europe. Brussels: SEC (2008) 2741
EU-Commission (2010) Critical raw materials for the EU. Brussels: June 2010
EU-Commission (2012) COM (2012) 82: Making raw materials available for Europe’s future wellbeing—Proposal for a European Innovation Partnership on raw materials
Gordon R, Bertram M, Graedel T (2006) Metal stocks and sustainability. PNAS 103(5):1209–1214
Hagelüken C, Buchert M, Ryan P (2005) Materials flow of platinum group metals. London
Hagelüken C (2007) Closing the loop—recycling of automotive catalysts. Metall 61(1–2):24–39
Hagelüken C, Meskers CEM (2008) Mining our computers—Opportunities and challenges to recover scarce and valuable metals. In: Reichl, Nissen, Müller, Deubzer (eds.) Proceedings of Electronics Goes Green Conference 2008. Stuttgart, pp 585–590
Hagelüken C, Meskers CEM (2010) Complex lifecycles of precious and special metals. In: Graedel, van der Voet (eds) Linkages of sustainability, Strüngmann Forum Report, vol 4. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA, pp 163–197
Hagelüken C (2012a) Recycling the platinum group metals: a European perspective. Platinum Metals Rev 56(1):29–25
Hagelüken C (2012b) Secondary raw material sources for precious and special metals. In: Sinding-Larsen R, Wellmer F-W (eds.) Non-renewable resource issues: Geoscientific and societal challenges. Heidelberg, London, New York, pp. 195–212
McLean H, Duchin F, Hagelüken C, Halada K, Kesler SE, Moriguchi Y, Mueller D, Norgate TE, Reuter MA, van der Voet E (2010) Mineral resources: stocks, flows, and prospects. In: Graedel, van der Voet E (eds.): Linkages of sustainability. Strüngmann Forum Report, vol. 4. Cambridge, pp 199–218
Meskers CEM, Hagelüken C, Van Damme G (2009) Green recycling of EEE. EPD Congress 2009 at the TMS Annual Meeting. S.M. Howard (ed.)
Meskers CEM, Vandenbroeck K, Vliegen J, De Ruijter I, Dalle T, Rigby P (2010) Recycling Technologies to close the loop for PV materials. In: Proceedings 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition/5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Valencia, pp. 3683–3687
NRC (2008) Minerals, critical minerals, and the US Economy. Committee on Critical Mineral Impacts of the U.S. Economy, Committee on Earth Resources, National Research Council. Washington DC
Puckett J, Westervelt S, Gutierrez R, Takamiya Y (2005) The digital dump—exporting re-use and abuse to Africa. Basel Action Network, Seattle
Reuter MA, Heiskanen K, Boin U, van Schaik A, Verhoef E, Yang Y (2005) The metrics of material and metal ecology. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Tilton J, Lagos G (2007) Assessing the long-run availability of copper. Resour Pol 32:19–23
Rochat D, Hagelüken C, Keller M, Widmer R (2007) Optimal recycling for printed wiring boards in India. R’07, World Congress—Recovery of materials and energy for resource efficiency. Hilty, Edelmann, Ruf (eds.)
UNEP (2011) Recycling rates of metals—a status report. In: Graedel TE et al (ed) A report of the Working Group on the Global Metal Flows to the International Resource Panel
UNEP (2013) Metal recycling—opportunities, limits, infrastructure. In: Reuter M et al (ed) A report of the Working Group on the Global Metal Flows to the International Resource Panel
US Geological Survey (2012) Mineral commodity summaries. Reston, VA, USA
Van Schaik A, Reuter M (2010) Dynamic modeling of e-waste recycling system performance based on product design. Miner Eng 23:192–210
Wellmer FW (2008) Reserves and resources of the geosphere, terms so often misunderstood. Is the life index of reserves of natural resources a guide to the future? Z dt Ges Geowiss 159(4):575–590
Wolfensberger M, Lang D, Scholz R (2008) (Re)structuring the field of non-energy mineral resource scarcity. ETH working paper 43, ETH Zürich: Natural and Social Science Interface (NSSI)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hagelüken, C. (2015). Closing the Loop for Rare Metals Used in Consumer Products: Opportunities and Challenges. In: Hartard, S., Liebert, W. (eds) Competition and Conflicts on Resource Use. Natural Resource Management and Policy, vol 46. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10954-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10954-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10953-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10954-1
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)