REVIEW OF METAL RECYCLING END-OF-LIFE PRODUCTS, RESIDUES, WASTES, SLAGS, DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY, ECO-LABELLING

Metals are an essential and critical component of today’s society: a moment’s reflection on their ubiquitous presence in virtually all energy and material production processes, products, infrastructure, confirms this. Metals play a key role in Enabling Sustainability through societies various high-tech applications. However, the resources of our planet are limited, as is the strain to which we can subject it in terms of emissions, pollution, and disposal of waste. For these reasons, finding ways to lower the environmental footprint of our collective existence and therefore lowering greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate climate change is a vital priority 1,2 . The maximisation of resource efficiency 3 is the principal theme of this contribution. It will be shown what depth and detail that is required to systemically fully understand resource efficiency in the context of material use. Specifically the understanding of Product-Centric recycling is highlighted (setting it apart from the usual MaterialCentric recycling approaches, which focus more on bulk materials), which maximises the economic recovery of especially technologically critical elements but also bulk metals. Design for Resource Efficiency is elaborated on with on the basis of physics rather than simplistic material flow analysis approaches which provide no basis to improve resource efficiency. In support of this, the detailed data that are required, the technological understanding and design rules are among others implicitly highlighted that impact on resource efficiency. The required physics basis for EcoLabelling of products for eco friendliness of design and recycling is briefly mentioned.