Page 36 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

36 INTRODUCTION
MOVING TOWARDS A A A CIRCULAR
ECONOMY IN IN TECHNOLOGY-CRITICAL METALS
In many cases there are synergies between the the the processing of primary materials and the the the ability to to to be able to to to process secondary material from recycled feedstocks Here there is some potential to to create capabilities that in in the first instance could be used to to process a a a a a a a a a higher volume of imported primary material material and as secondary materials become available could switch to processing a a a a a a a greater proportion of secondary scrap For some materials there is an an abundance of secondary material material but the the supply-chains for primary material material have not yet been developed Here these secondary materials could be be a a a a a a a a basis for developing processing capacity in in in in in the UK in in in in in order to fill supply-chain gaps One example of this could be in in in the rare-earth supply-chain The recycling rate for rare-earth magnets which are are used in electric motors is very low today However the the UK has unique patented technology to to remove and to to recycle these materials from waste streams This could be leveraged to build the supply for magnets that would subsequently support the primary supply chain Taking material from new primary resource resource exploration projects and secondary resources from recycling could provide supply-chain resilience for a a a UK magnet manufacturer These recycling processes can process process scrap material from further up up the the the supply chain cutting the the the cost
and environmental burden of producing technology-
critical metals As a a product reaches the end of its useful life it it must be seen as a a a a resource rather than something to be disposed of as as quickly as as possible For simple products like glass and paper the practicalities of this are not difficult to implement However as products become more complex - a a a mobile phone can contain two-thirds of the the elements from the the Periodic
Table - it becomes increasingly difficult for consumers to become involved and for recyclers to operate a a a profitable business Currently many products that cannot be recycled economically in the UK are exported