Last week, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a study on the recycling rates of some 60 metals. Based on the results, hybrids and electric vehicles (EV) generate more pollution than previously claimed despite their zero-emission performance.
A total of 34 elements, including neodymium, dysprosium, lanthanum and lithium, are below 1 percent recycling, yet many of them are crucial to clean technologies such as batteries for hybrids and EVs.
Gallium, indium and selenium used in the increasingly-popular light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are also recycled at less than 1 percent.
Meanwhile, lead is the most recycled metal according to the UNEP. Nearly 80 percent of products that contain this harmful metal, like car batteries, are recycled when they reach the end of their useful life.
"By failing to recycle metals and simply disposing of these kinds of metal, economies are foregoing important environmental benefits and increasing the possibility of shortages,'' wrote Thomas Graedel, a professor of Industrial Ecology at Yale University and one of the eight authors of the report.
However, it's not yet possible to estimate how close the industry is to a shortage of these specialty or rare earth metals, mainly because so little is known about the potential of mining.
The UNEP has just raised an interesting debate that automakers will need to address in their efforts to become greener and gain competitive edges by other means than improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emission levels.
Source : PNUE via Cartech
A total of 34 elements, including neodymium, dysprosium, lanthanum and lithium, are below 1 percent recycling, yet many of them are crucial to clean technologies such as batteries for hybrids and EVs.
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| Photo: Toyota |
Gallium, indium and selenium used in the increasingly-popular light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are also recycled at less than 1 percent.
Meanwhile, lead is the most recycled metal according to the UNEP. Nearly 80 percent of products that contain this harmful metal, like car batteries, are recycled when they reach the end of their useful life.
"By failing to recycle metals and simply disposing of these kinds of metal, economies are foregoing important environmental benefits and increasing the possibility of shortages,'' wrote Thomas Graedel, a professor of Industrial Ecology at Yale University and one of the eight authors of the report.
However, it's not yet possible to estimate how close the industry is to a shortage of these specialty or rare earth metals, mainly because so little is known about the potential of mining.
The UNEP has just raised an interesting debate that automakers will need to address in their efforts to become greener and gain competitive edges by other means than improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emission levels.
Source : PNUE via Cartech