One of the most significant factors identified in the literature for low critical metal recycling rates is a lack of knowledge about waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) composition (for example, Salim et al., 2019) and CM flows (for example, van Nielen, 2022). Developing an effective recycling system is extremely challenging in the absence of a database that can provide continuous and granular data on the critical metals contained in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) products purchased, owned and disposed of by households over time. Quantifying critical metal flows is therefore crucial to understanding both domestic demand for critical metals and the potential of domestic critical metal supply from secondary sources, and to developing strategies towards a circular economy of critical metal.

A case study developed by Hu and Yan (2023) to quantify the annual direct critical metal footprint of UK households during 2011 and 2020, defined as the amount of critical metals contained in the EEE products purchased, owned and disposed of by UK households. This critical metal footprint can be used as an approximate measure of the amounts of critical metals that are potentially available from household EEE in the UK if they are managed and recycled properly.

The key novelty of our methodological approach is the estimation of the purchase of different EEE products by households in the UK over time, based on existing and publicly available data. This makes it more 'generalisable' and easier to apply than the ones used in previous similar studies, and more informative as it provides a comprehensive coverage and high level of granularity for a wide range of EEE products and metals. Our findings showed UK households' strong dependence on critical metals and the economic value and environmental impact of their critical metal footprints.

The estimates provided in this study can inform policymakers, businesses and consumers on the current state of critical metal footprints, supporting the development of product- or critical metal-specific interventions that aim to make critical metals more circular and sustainable, such as the current introduction of a nationwide digital waste-tracking system in the UK (Defra, 2022).

Figure 1  Annual amount of UK household EEE purchase, in-use stock and waste by four major EEE groups, measured in number of pieces and mass (Hu and Yan, 2023).
Figure 2  Environmental impact of critical metals contained in purchased EEE by (a) metal and (b) EEE application. The global warming impact is measured in million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) for the years 2011 to 2020 (Hu and Yan, 2023).
Figure 3  Economic value of individual critical metals contained in UK household in-use stock by different EEE aplication groups. Economic value is measured in £millions for the years 2011 to 2020 using the annual average price of each critical metal. The critical metals contained in 2020 WEEE are additionally estimated by the price in the first quarter of 2022. Bar charts present the share of each EEE application group in each year. Note that Ce-La-Gd-Sm is the sum of cerium, lanthanum, gadolinium and samarium. Note the different scales of the y-axes (Hu and Yan, 2023).
Figure 4  Economic value of lithium contained in UK household purchases, in-use stock and WEEE by year and different EEE groups. Economic values are measured in £millions for the years 2011 to 2020 using the annual average price of each critical metal. The critical metals contained in 2020 purchases, in-use stock and WEEE are additionally estimated by the price in the first quarter of 2022 (lines). Bar charts present the share of each EEE group in each year (Hu and Yan, 2023).

More information

References

Defra. 2022. Consultation on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking (pdf). Accessed 09 March 2023.

Hu, X, and Yan, X. 2023. Direct critical metal footprint of the UK households. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 197, 107084. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107084

van Nielen, S S, Kleijn, R, Sprecher, B, Xicotencatl, B M, and Tukker, A. 2022. Early-stage assessment of minor metal recyclability. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 176, 105881. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105881

Salim, H K, Stewart, R A, Sahin, O, and Dudley, M. 2019. Drivers, barriers and enablers to end-of-life management of solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems: a systematic literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 211, 537–554. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.229

Contact

For questions regarding the UK Technology Metals Observatory, please contact Dr Evi Petavratzi.