Recycling Rare Metals

UN: Failure to recycle rare metals is damaging green economy

Report finds elements crucial for solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars are disposed of more than 99 per cent of the time

27 May 2011 - The UN has warned that low rates of recycling of rare metals could damage the growth of global clean tech industries, urging nations to improve recycling technologies and collection systems.

A report released yesterday by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that less than a third of 60 metals studied have an end-of-life recycling rate above 50 per cent, while less than one per cent of 34 rare elements are recycled.

It also found that many of the elements with the lowest recycling rates are widely used in clean technologies. For example, tellurium and selenium are used in high efficiency solar cells, neodymium and dysprosium are commonly found in wind turbine magnets, lanthanum is widely used in hybrid vehicle batteries, and gallium is typically deployed in energy efficient LED lighting systems.

The report said that overall recycling rates were "discouragingly low", particularly given that most metals are "inherently recyclable". It added that tapping virgin ores to produce metals uses up to 10 times more energy than recycling, while extraction accounts for seven per cent of the world's energy consumption and significant carbon emissions.

"By failing to recycle metals and simply disposing of these kinds of metal, economies are foregoing important environmental benefits and increasing the possibility of shortages," said Dr Thomas Graedel, professor of industrial ecology at Yale University and one of the report's eight authors. {continued}

Recycling Rates of Metals: A Status Report. 48page PDF.