Shortage of metals predicted

Not just Peak oil, we are entering an era of Peak everything. Peak water, Peak metals! Failure to advance metal recycling, especially of rare metals used in high-tech products, could produce a global shortage of many metals within two decades, according to a series of reports by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Thomas Graedel, a member of UNEP’s International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management and a Yale University professor, cited the example of indium, a metal used to create transparent electrodes used in liquid crystal displays, touch screens, semiconductors, and photovoltaic cells. Global demand for the metal is expected to grow from 1,200 tons this year to 2,600 tons next year, he said. Yet, like most specialty metals, recycling rates for the metal are below 1 percent, he said.

Graedel cited information from microchip maker Intel Corp. that the number of elements it used for computers rose from 11 in the 1980s to around 60 now, indicating that it would be hard to maintain current levels of computer performance if newer specialty metals became unavailable.

Other metals whose recycling rates the panel said needed to be improved included neodymium, used in wind turbine magnets, and gallium, used for light emitting diodes in indicator lamps and lighting.

In a separate report, the U.N. panel detailed what it said was a substantial shift in metals stocks from underground ores to existing products. "These 'mines above ground' have growing potential for future metals supply," it said.

Above-ground copper amounts to about 50 kg (112 pounds) for every person on earth, compared with more than two tons of iron, the panel said. The recycling rate for steel is about 75 percent but for copper between 25 and 50 percent, it found.

After the frenzied discovery of the magic materials has come the discovery that everything is limited. Reduce and reuse has to become more than a fad. A dedicated workforce for recycling could be among the major changes in the way we do sustainable business in future.