Project details

Our aim is to promote more circular approaches to the extraction, processing and use of technology metals, and innovative technologies for the recovery and re-use of environmentally friendly technology metals obtained from more sustainable sources. Our vision is to help industry, business, policy and society to develop a circular future for technology metals that can decrease the UK's reliance on imports, and help the UK to reach the Government's net zero goals.

Background

The UK Technology Metals Observatory has been developed through the UKRI Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals. It involves world-leading researchers of technology metals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements (REEs) from both primary and secondary (waste and recycled) sources, and leaders in materials stewardship and clean manufacturing and recovery of technology metals from used products, as well as environmental sustainability and economic value chains.

What are we doing now?

The observatory constitutes the main deliverable of Thematic Area 1 of the Met4Tech project (2021 to 2024). The new data and information now available on technology metals will benefit a range of stakeholders, such as businesses, industry, policymakers and civil society. The new information describes the stocks and flows of technology metals in the UK and globally, and is being used within these other Met4Tech thematic areas:

Thematic Area 2: circular geo-models Cornwall case study
Thematic Area 3: design for recycle
Thematic Area 4: Technology Metals Circular Economy Roadmap

Data governance

The data and information within this observatory have been gathered from published sources and from participating organisations. Processes have been established to ensure effective data management throughout the data collection steps, such as validation of sources, accountability for potential adverse effects of poor data quality, and ensuring that the data from an enterprise can be used by the entire organisation and is trustworthy. This process also respects confidentiality and privacy.

Partners

We are proudly part of the the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) Programme, a four-year initiative by UKRI to move the UK towards a circular economy. The Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals (Met4Tech) is an academic consortium working with many government and industry partners on the challenge of gathering data, analysing options and developing a roadmap to improve how we extract, produce, use, re-use and recycle the metals that are vital to develop new low-carbon technologies.