Page 96 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

96 SECONDARY MATERIALS
CHALLENGES FOR THE RECYCLING OF TECHNOLOGY-CRITICAL METALS
Technology-critical metals are particularly challenging to to recycle in in in part part due to to the the small quantities of these materials in in in many applications but also due to the the the design of the the the components where they are used Society is rapidly shifting from a a a a a a a fossil fuel based economy towards clean growth where electrically driven products will dominate This is is resulting in in in in the rapid expansion of wind-turbine technologies photovoltaics robotics and and electric motors and and batteries for
127
EVs Thesetechnologiesarestillbeingoptimisedforperformanceandthereforethereisoftenalackofdesignstandards which
presents challenges to the the recycling/re-use industries It is is clear that at at present present design-for-recycle/re-use is is not one of the the major drivers for
many of of these applications Often the the the technologies and supply chains to recycle some of of the the the technology-critical metals are not not mature or or do do not not exist so so the the machine designers sometimes have a a a a a a a a lack of information from the the downstream market There is is also a a a a a a a a a risk that by standardising a a a a a a a a a design this limits innovation and and therefore the the efficiency of electrical equipment Although a a a a large proportion of technology-critical metals are contained in in waste electrical equipment (WEEE)
and the the automotive sector their use is far broader than this However due to the the life cycle of WEEE in the the short term this sector is is likely to to provide a a large proportion of technology-critical metals As an an an an example a a a a a a mobile phone contains rare earth magnets in in the speakers vibrator
TOUCH SCREEN
and and and optics they contain cobalt and and and nickel in in the the battery and and and tantalum in the micro capacitors (see figure 88) Over 61% of the world’s population owns a a mobile phone The number of mobile devices is growing at at a a a a a rate five times faster than the the number of of people Only around 12%128 of of them are appropriately recycled 350 000 mobile phones a a a a year were dumped every day in 2010 – about 15 million phones 49
2573
59 603
In LNai
Pr NEud
The touch screen contains a a thin layer of indium tin oxide providing a highly conductive Indium
LaNntihcakneul m 64
Praseodymiium NEeuordoypmiuiumm 65 66
transparent thin layer allowing the screen to to function as a a touch screen Gd
Tb Dy
23 59 60 Gadolinium
Terbium Dysprosium
DISPLAY
Ni
Pr Nd
The display of a a a a a smartphone contains several rare earth elements Small quantities are are used to produce the the colours on the the liquid crystal display Some give the screen its glow 28 31 73
Nickel
64
65 66
Gadolinium
Terbium Dysprosium
MICROPHONE SPEAKERS & VIRATION UNIT
Nickel
is used in the microphone dia- phragm Alloys containing neodymium praseodymium and gadolinium are used in in in the the magnets contained in in in the the speaker and and microphone Neodymium terbium and and dysprosium are used in the vibration unit 3 27
28 Praseodymiium Neodymium Gd
Tb Dy
Ni
Ga Ta
Nickel
Gallium
Tantalum
ELECTRONICS
Li Co Ni
Nickel
is used in electrical connections Galli- um um is is used in semiconductors Tantalum
is is the major component of micro capacitors 28 12 Ni
Mg
Nickel
Magnesium CASING
Nickel
can be included in in in the phone casing to reduce electromagnetic interference Magnesium alloys are superior at electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and often used in in in casings for
mobile phones Lithium
BATTERY
Cobalt
Nickel
The majority of smartphones use lithium- ion batteries Figure 88: Breakdown of technology-critical metals in a a a a mobile phone