High-tech Minerals Research Articles

Mapping the social stock and spatiotemporal distribution of high-tech minerals from wasted mobile phones in China: 2001-2019.

In the twenty-first century, mobile phones have become one of the most indispensable electronic products in the international community. The pollution of wasted mobile phones has become an urgent problem worldwide and needs special attention. In this paper, we applied the consumption and usage method to calculate the high-tech mineral elements in China from 2001 to 2019. To analyze the spatial distribution of per capita high-tech minerals in China, we proposed a model (3D GHM) through which a 3D grid of high-tech minerals in wasted mobile phones can be obtained in 1km resolution. The results showed that the total amount of wasted mobile phones in China from 2001 to 2019 was 8.6 billion, with a growth rate of 1026.7% in 2019 compared with 2001. Moreover, the spatiotemporal distribution of wasted mobile phones is characterized by more in the east and less in the west. The total amount of cobalt, palladium, antimony, beryllium, neodymium, praseodymium, and platinum in wasted mobile phones from 2001 to 2019 reached 42,422.4 tons. Based on our results, we proposed a system for efficient collecting and recycling of wasted mobile phones in China.

Analyzing present and future availability of critical high-tech minerals in waste cellphones: A case study of India

Critical high-tech minerals (CHTMs) are raw materials that are essential for a future clean-energy transition and the manufacture of high-end products. Cellphones, one of the fastest growing electronic products, contain various CHTMs. Since 2019, India has surpassed the United States to become the second largest smartphone market in the world. An increasing and alarming number of excessive waste cellphones will be generated in India in the near future. In this study, the dynamic material flow analysis approach and the Weibull distribution are adopted to analyze the volumes of accumulated waste cellphones and the contained CHTMs based on the differentiation between smartphones and feature phones in India. Moreover, a market supply model is adopted to predict the future trends of CHTMs in waste cellphones. The results show a general upward tendency of waste cellphone volume in India, which indicates that various CHTMs contained in cellphone waste can be properly reused or recycled. Future implications based on the analysis results are provided for efficient cellphone management in India.

Life cycle cost analysis for recycling high-tech minerals from waste mobile phones in China

Abstract High-tech minerals (HTMs) used for manufacturing mobile phones are indispensable raw materials for emerging Chinese national strategic industries. China is the world’s largest mobile phone market, and increasing amounts of HTMs are found in the country’s excessive mobile phone waste. Thus, it is important to investigate the life cycle cost (LCC) of recycling HTMs from waste mobile phones. In this study, material flow analysis (MFA) and LCC assessment were conducted to analyze the recycling of waste mobile phones and the contained HTMs. The LCCs of recycling two types of mobile phones, i.e., feature phones and smartphones, were investigated. The results show that the LCCs of recycling one waste feature phone and one waste smartphone are approximately US$ 2.34 and US$ 6.60, respectively. The LCCs of extracting HTMs from one waste feature phone are US$ 6.035 for 1 g of cobalt and US$ 0.014 for 1 g of palladium, while the LCCs of extracting 1 g of cobalt, palladium, antimony, beryllium, neodymium, praseodymium and platinum from one waste smartphone are US$ 10.106, US$ 0.024, US$ 0.135, US$ 0.005, US$ 0.08, US$ 0.016 and US$ 0.006, respectively. Based on the LCC results, constructive suggestions and policy implications are provided for future mobile phone management in China.

Strategic evaluation of recycling high-tech metals from urban mines in China: An emerging industrial perspective

High-tech minerals are essential for strategic emerging industries, and urban mines have become principal potential reservoirs of secondary high-tech mineral resources. In order to evaluate high-tech urban mines to understand their criticality and determine their potential and priority for high-tech minerals recovery, this paper develops a model with three dimensions - resource index, technology index, and environmental index. This model is applied to data from China, and a Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to estimate uncertainty. The results show that high-tech urban mines in China are divided into three clusters. The first cluster includes urban mines which have high scores in all three indices, they should be the top priority of collection and recycling. The second cluster covers high-tech urban mines with middle scores in resource index and technology index, and environmental index span from low to high. They are important second resources reservoirs of high-tech metals and should be paid significant attention. In the third cluster, high-tech urban mines have low scores in all three indices, they are not the focus of development but can't be ignored. Spent batteries, mobile phones and magnet motors are key reservoirs of high-tech metals. Furtherly, this paper presents that the evaluation model construction and evaluation results are deeply affected by consumption behavior, technology level, industrial development and the policy direction of the country. Based on the results, this paper proposes that urban mining should be treated as a national strategy to release the dual constraints of resources and environment, catalogue of key urban mining should be made, and to build a dynamic evaluation system and adjust the catalogue over time, and develop technologies for more effective and environment-friendly extraction material of urban mines.

The present and future availability of high-tech minerals in waste mobile phones: Evidence from China

Abstract High-tech minerals are key raw materials in national strategic emerging industries. Waste mobile phones contain a variety of high-tech minerals. With rapid economic development and improvements in living standards, mobile phones are becoming one of the most commonly used electronic devices among all electrical and electronic products. Since 2004, China has been world's largest mobile phone-producing and phone-consuming country, and correspondingly, it has generated excessive waste. In this paper, the dynamic material flow method and the Weibull distribution are used to analyze the quantity of waste mobile phones generated and the quantities of the high-tech minerals they contain based on the differentiation between feature phones and smartphones. Additionally, future trends regarding high-tech minerals in waste mobile phones are predicted using a market supply A model. Our research results show an increasing trend of waste mobile phone generation, indicating that a considerable amount of the high-tech minerals they contain can be recycled. Finally, the following recommendations were proposed to further improve the management and development system of waste mobile phones in China: the development of a high-tech mineral data base is urgent; policies should be formulated and implemented by governments to improve the overall waste management system; the ecological design of products should be improved by manufacturers; dismantling and refining technologies should be enhanced by recycling companies to improve the recycling rate; and the public awareness of recycling should be strengthened.