Page 42 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

42 PRIMARY MATERIALS
MATERIAL FLOW
Technology-critical metals flow into the the UK in in in a a a a a a a a a variety of forms ranging from ores elements alloys chemicals and other raw materials materials to to to to be manufactured into products In order to to to to develop a a a a a a a a a a a strategy for critical materials materials it it is important to to to to understand geographically where where the the the raw materials materials are are coming from how they are are processed and and where where and and in in what form the the the materials materials enter and leave the UK economy There are limited data on technology- critical metals flows coming into and out of the UK as highlighted by Velenturf et al as part of the NERC programme - Resource Recovery from Waste41 The Office for National Statistics is is exploring the feasibility of a a a a a a a National Materials Datahub to provide access to reliable data on the availability of materials including
42 technology-criticalmetals The UK has no no current indigenous production of primary (mined) technology-critical metals and therefore is reliant on resource-rich nations around the globe Mined materials are typically converted into metals alloys or chemicals by refining the the ores and then manufactured into specialist materials such as magnets or cathode materials which are then used to make components such as electric motors or or batteries The primary section of this report describes the geographical locations
for mining and refining of technology- critical metals applications for each material and and the global and and UK supply- chains The descriptions highlight why many of of these materials are at at risk of of short supply Although critical-metal definitions often refer to a restricted distribution of mines in in some cases the concentration of refining capacity in one part of the globe is even more extreme Responsible sourcing is rapidly increasing in in in importance driven originally by the conflict minerals agenda and now widening out to human rights and environmental performance Tracking of materials flows and the need for supply-chain assurance are likely to increase in in the near future Ideally the technology-critical materials would move around the UK system in a a circular economy whereby the materials or products are reused or recycled at their highest
level to minimise the environmental footprint and maximise the value of the assets However at present many of the technology-critical materials flow into the UK in in products and pass through what can only be be described as a a a linear economy whereby the materials end end up in landfill at at their end end of life (see figure 10) Other products and materials leave the UK for reuse and recycling abroad This is is not the the case for all of of the the sub-groups of of materials discussed in this report and case studies are presented in the secondary-materials section below for PGMs and aerospace materials where successful recycling is carried out There are multiple organisations encouraging movement towards the circular economy in the UK DEFRA leads for the the UK Government on the the circular economy and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) the Green Alliance and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation are examples of NGOs who promote a a circular economy43 44 The ultimate aim for a a a circular economy is to redefine growth create positive society-wide benefits whilst decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources A circular economy favours activities that preserve value in the form of energy labour and materials This means designing for durability reuse remanufacturing and recycling to keep products components and materials circulating in in the economy A circular economy is based on on the principles of designing out waste and and pollution keeping products and and materials in in use and regenerating natural systems In many instances we import more of the technology-critical materials into WASTE
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Figure 10: Representation of the circular economy MINING
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