Overcoming problems, risks associated with rare earth metals
According to Wäger, the scientific community and industry should therefore redouble their efforts to use these raw materials in a more sustainable way. Possible approaches are substitution by non-critical raw materials, increasing material efficiency in production processes and products, and closing material cycles.
Possible solutions for industry
Margarete Hofmann, managing director of ESM, gave an overview of European activities in the field of critical metals and examined possible measures for more sustainable use of critical raw materials in the areas of extraction, material efficiency, and substitution. Important accompanying measures are the setting up of platforms for the exchange of information, training and further training, and the analysis of strategies and systems, for example, using material flow analyses and environmental life cycle assessments.
It is also clear to industry representatives such as Ute Liepold from Siemens, Jensen Verhelle from Umicore, and Andreas Mai from Hexis, that their companies are dependent on critical materials and therefore it is necessary to adopt a more conscious approach in using them. According to Liepold, this includes substitution, a more economical use of materials, and the recycling of production waste as well as reuse and the recycling of discarded consumer goods. With substitution, however, the devil is in the detail because many different factors such as product performance and quality, costs, and energy input have to be taken into consideration. In addition, substitution requires “a long preparatory period,” according to Liepold, and therefore requires a lot of time. Verhelle demonstrated, using germanium as an example, how Umicore is already meeting much of its requirement through recycling.
Possible solutions from the field of research
One focus of the research into critical materials at EMPA is the closure of material cycles, as with “urban mining,” that is, the recovery of raw materials from deposits created by man, such as buildings, or discarded consumer goods, such as old electrical and electronic devices. Patrick Wäger presented ongoing products, including the investigation being carried out in connection with the “revised Ordinance on the Return, Taking Back and Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Devices” (“Revision der Verordnung über Rückgabe, Rücknahme und Entsorgung elektrischer und elektronischer Geräte,” or VREG) on the distribution of rare metals in electronic components in vehicles and fractions from the processing of used vehicles in car shredding facilities. At a European level, EMPA, together with various research groups, has been involved since the start of the year, as part of the “Horizon 2020” project, in the development of a database on the occurrence of critical raw materials in the European “urban mine.” Susanne Rotter from TU Berlin, whose research group is also involved in the project, supported the idea that in future devices should increasingly be designed and produced with respect to their recyclability as well, that is, it should be possible to recover rare metals from devices easily and with little time and expense.
Currently, this is a complex, time-consuming procedure with many devices, with resultant high costs.
In order for companies to take action at all, however, they must first know which critical raw materials they use in their processes and products and what risks are associated within them. This is where a Web tool developed by Ernst Basler + Partner and EMPA researchers for small and medium-sized businesses comes in. Using this tool, it is possible to evaluate the supply risks for more than thirty metals, the environmental and social impacts associated with their production, and the susceptibility of the company to supply interruptions. The Web tool will be available shortly on the swissmem Web site.
