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Recycling rare metals from ICT wastes - Urban mining

Recycling rare metals from ICT wastes - Urban mining. Eunsook Kim (Eunah) Dave Faulkner WP3/5 Technical Session. Contents. Introduction Rare metals in ICT Recycling of rare metals Designing green standards for recycling rare metals. Waste Management with Smart ICT.

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Recycling rare metals from ICT wastes - Urban mining

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  1. Recycling rare metals from ICT wastes- Urban mining Eunsook Kim (Eunah) Dave Faulkner WP3/5 Technical Session

  2. Contents • Introduction • Rare metals in ICT • Recycling of rare metals • Designing green standards for recycling rare metals

  3. Waste Management with Smart ICT • In the context of ICT, there is • Industrial waste during production • Waste due to obsolescence • ICT producers are major consumers of minerals, which has environmental and economic implications • The most commonly used metals in terms of volume are aluminium, iron, copper, nickel, zinc and the lead in cathode ray tubes in televisions and monitors. • But other metals, only used in very small amounts, such as beryllium, europium, indium, tantalum and the platinum group are essential for today’s ICT • Extraction and mining of these commodities, largely in developing countries, is known to involve poor working conditions and to create serious health and environmental concerns

  4. Definitions of rare metals • Definition 1: Rare metals are those metals which are expensive or whose price has increased dramatically • Definition 2: Rare metals are metals with a low current availability • Definition 3: rare metals are metals which are only extracted in a few countries Source: TEXTE, 23/07 ISSN 1862-4804, Rare metals: Measures and concepts for the solution of the problem of conflict-aggravating raw material extraction – the example of coltan

  5. Rare metals in ICT (1/4) • A large number of rare metals are used in ICT products • A tonne of cell phones contains more gold than a tonne of ore from a typical gold mine. • An average gold mine produces 5 grams of gold per tonne of rock • whereas cell phones contain 150 grams per tonne or more. • In addition, 100 kilograms of copper and 3 kilograms of silver, as well as other valuable metals—all of which have been soaring in price.

  6. Rare metals in ICT (2/4) • Rare metals in a mobile phone

  7. Rare Metals in ICT (3/4) • Selected rare metals in ICT goods and manufacturing Source: OECD, based on Angerer et al., 2009; Steinweg & de Haan, 2007; USGS, 2009

  8. Rare metals in ICT (4/4) • Rare metals are essential not only in existing ICT products but also in emerging new ones such as electric vehicles • ICTs are used for control systems, sensors, instrument panels, etc. • Benefits of ‘Green car’ • Low emission • High energy efficiency • Smart/active driving • Luxury

  9. Recycling of rare metals (1/5) • Urban mining: The process of reclaiming compounds and elements from products, buildings and waste Disused cell phones, LCD television and computers contain valuable rare earths, such as neodymium, which are in high demand, especially for hybrid vehicles. For example, each Toyota Prius requires approximately 2.2 pounds of neodymium.

  10. Recycling of rare metals (2/5) • Urban mining (cont’d) Recently the Japanese government launched an advertising campaign that included prizes offered, to get their citizens to recycle their unused cell phones. Over a half million were collected in 100 days, enough to yield close to - 50 pounds of gold - 175 pounds of silver - 2 pounds of palladium and - over 5 tons (10,000 pounds!) of copper Sources:http://electronicrecyclers.com/urban-mining.aspxhttp://www.ban.org/main/about_BAN.htmlhttp://www.ifat.de/link/en/23890451

  11. Recycling of rare metals (3/5) Source: urbanmining.org

  12. Recycling of rare metals (4/5) • A typical example of urban mining Figure source: L.rareMetals For efficient ‘collecting’ and ‘recycling’, related information from ‘production stage’ will give huge benefits for recycling rare metals To harness the potential of urban mines, manufacturers are seeking to reintegrate used products and their components into the production cycle

  13. Recycling of rare metals (5/5) • A ‘cradle to cradle’ raw material and recycling approach aims to keep all the materials in circulation [1] • Design includes easy disassembly • Obsolete products returned to factory • No need for mining of raw materials • Reducing unstable supply of rare metals [1] “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things” [Paperback] William McDonough[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste

  14. Design for recycling rare metals • Make it easy to disassemble products • Keep all materials in constant circulation (a closed loop system) • Avoid the need to extract raw materials by mining which is highly energy intensive, especially for electronics • Ensure a sustainable supply of scarce resources • Requires complete knowledge of the supply chain and raw materials used http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/29/content_9736158.htm

  15. L.rareMetals • WP3 of SG5 is working on • L.rareMetals, draft Recommendation of a method to provide recycling information of rare metals in ICT products • Scope • necessity and importance of rare metal recycling • recycling procedure for rare metals • communication format for providing recycling information of rare metals in ICT products

  16. Focus Requirements Drive up volumes for competitive supply Reduce cost Reduce risks (e.g stranded assets) Any GHG savings can be multiplied worldwide across the whole industry Can be used in procurement to help specify what is required Ensuring you are not asking for an expensive ‘special’ Benefits of Standards

  17. Benefits of ‘Green’ Standards • Provides purchasers with a readily available tool for sustainable procurement • No need to start from scratch • Examples of international standards bodies in this area • WRI, ISO, ITU-T, ETSI, EPEAT/IEEE • Makes (sustainability) requirements universal • Drives down cost • Reduces risk

  18. Rare Metal Recycling and Global Warming • Recycling and reprocessing reduces the fossil fuel energy needed to build a new product • A closed loop system is needed then • Quantity of raw materials needed in a product is reduced • Mining energy is reduced • Embodiment energy is reduced • CO2 emissions are reduced • More studies/contributions are needed in this area

  19. Your contributions are invited.Thanks!eunah@etri.re.krdavewfaulkner@googlemail.com

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