Rethinking the lifecycle of materials and metals

It is estimated that for every European an average of 10 tons of steel, 200 kg of copper, 60 grams of gold or 3 kg of nickel have been extracted from the earth crust and are still immobilized in the Anthroposphere (UNEP, Metal Stocks in Society, 2010) . The lifetime of these metals is highly variable and ranges from several centuries for the most remarkable steel structures to only a few days for aluminium in single-use packaging.
While in the natural environment metals are usually found in a reasonably small number of valuable mineral forms (ex. (Zn,Fe)S or (Fe,Ni)9S8) the diversity and variability of man-made phases is truly horrendous. Moreover, these phases are often extremely fine grained (nanomaterials, microelectronics) and strongly bound together in a plastic or glass gangue material. Classical mineral processing techniques applied to man-made artefacts usually achieve very poor performance in terms of phase separation and selective concentration. This is particularly true for the most recent technologies of lighting and energy storage which are being deployed at great pace and in the most distant places to satisfy the ambitious targets of the Green Deal. It is our belief, that if we do not take adequate action to redesign our products and rethink the way we disseminate our technologies, future generations will be faced with enormous challenges to efficiently build and recycle the urban mine.
In this talk we will have a closer look at recycling challenges posed by some of the most recent technologies. Based on the necessity of adopting a “geomimetic” approach, we will also list some important criteria to be considered in building the Anthropogenic mines of the future. Finally, we will share some thoughts on key technologies to be developed in order to facilitate recycling and to improve sorting and selective concentration of components, phases and ultimately metals at end-of-life.