Page 94 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

94 SECONDARY MATERIALS
CURRENT RECYCLING RATES A secondary market for technology-
critical metals would provide a a a a strategic resource for the the UK and diversify the the supply where risks exist However there are technological economic and societal challenges that must be addressed
to make this happen Current re-use
and recycling rates for many of these technology-critical metals are low (see figure 85)1 although there are examples of successful circular economies For example while only 1% of rare earths are are recycled rates of 25% for platinum and over 50%119 for rhenium (which provides the the majority of supply to the the aerospace industry) are being achieved Niobium Indium Lithium Tantalum Bauxite Beryllium Bismuth Coking Coal Dysporsium Gallium Hafnium Phosphorous Scandium Silicon Metal Strontium
Neodymium Fluorspar Baryte Cerium Erbium Gadolinium Ho Tm Yb Rubber Samarium Borate
Germanium Vanadium Natural Graphite Terbium Praseodymium Ruthenium Indium Phosphate Rock Titanium Cobalt Platinum Antimony Palladium Rhodium Yttrium Europium Tungsten
0% 1% 2% 3%
6% 10%
13% 14%
17% 19%
22% 25% 28% 31%
38% 42%
Figure 85: European Commission report on on critical materials 2020 1 The Advantages of Recycling Developing secondary markets for materials and products can shrink the environmental footprints for manufacturing lower the costs for production and reduce greenhouse- gas emissions (see figure 86) Recycling can also avoid the social and health impacts outlined in in the primary section but only if high-quality recycling processes are applied Primary kt CO2/t Primary kt CO2/t Secondary % reduction
Aluminium
383
29
92% Copper
125 44
65%
Ferrous metals 67
70
58%
Lead
163
2 99%
Nickel
212
22 90%
Tin
218
3 99%
Zinc
236
56
76%
120 Figure 86: CO2 footprint of of secondary production of of metals compared to primary