Abstract
Raw material criticality studies are receiving increasing attention because an increasing number of elements of great economic importance, performing essential functions face high supply risks. Scarcity of key materials is a potential barrier to large-scale deployment of sustainable energy and clean-tech technologies as resorting to several critical materials. As physical scarcity and geopolitical issues may present a barrier to the supply of critical metals, recycling is regarded as a possible solution to substitute primary resources for securing the long-term supply of critical metals. In this paper, the main drivers and constraints for critical materials recycling are analyzed from literature, considering indium as a case study of critical materials. This literature review shows that waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) could be a future source of critical metals; however, the reduction of dissipation of critical materials should have much higher priority. It is put forward that more attention should be paid to sustainable management of critical materials, especially improved practices at the waste management stage. This calls for not only more efficient WEEE recycling technologies, but also revising priorities in recycling strategies.
Highlights
Criticality is a research area receiving increasing attention
According to the recent substitutability study of metals [36], the substitution potential of indium varies between its main applications; an adequate substitute—i.e., aluminium-doped zinc oxide—exists for indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film coatings, while certain gallium based substitutes providing a good performance were determined for solders and alloys, as well as electrical components and semiconductors [36]
Because there are no good substitutes for indium to be used in ITO thin-film coatings [36], research has focused on indium recycling from its main applications of LCD screens and photovoltaic modules in order to ensure long-term supply of indium
Summary
Criticality is a research area receiving increasing attention. A raw material is labelled “critical”. When the risks of supply shortage and their impacts on the economy are higher compared with most of the other raw materials [1]. Critical materials are present in a wide range of products across many sectors of the economy. In many cases they appear in relatively small quantities, but they frequently perform essential functions, often in high value goods or strategic technologies [3]. Many of these critical materials are essential components for information and communication technology (ICT) electronics as well as carbon-free energy technologies and clean-tech electronic devices. The EU’s criticality study assessed that supply risks may arise within a time period of 10 years, which would give rise to unrealistic expectations regarding the possibility for policy makers to intervene [1]
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