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full screen The mountain of electrical scrap is growing in the world. Archive image. Photo: Ben Curtis/AP/TT
Rock foundations are vacuumed in the global race for metals that will fix the green transition. But despite a seemingly insatiable need, the recovery of rare earth metals is limited, according to the UN.
Old television sets. Discarded mobile phones. Broken hair dryers. The mountain of electrical scrap is growing in the world.
If the 62 million tons of waste from electrical gadgets in 2022 were packed into trucks (1.55 million would be needed with room for 40 tons each) they could ring the equator, according to the UN’s Global e-waste monitor .
Lack of recycling
Less than a quarter of the electrical waste was collected and recycled correctly. Among what is thrown away are so-called critical raw materials, mainly metals, which have an important role to play in the world’s green and digital transformation.
In 2022, global e-waste contained around 4 billion kilograms of metals classified as critical raw materials, including aluminum (3.9 billion kilograms), cobalt (34 million kilograms) and antimony (28 million kilograms).
Rare earth metals, which are often used in small amounts and low concentrations in electronics, are particularly difficult to recycle, according to the report. In 2022, there were 12 million kilograms of these metals in the global scrap metal – mostly neodymium and yttrium.
Hot question
Demand for metals and minerals is growing but the risk of disruption is high as production is in the hands of a few countries, especially China, which has become a hot political issue. For example, the EU wants to see increased production on European soil – but increased recycling could also be an addition.
However, it can still be much more expensive to recycle rare earths than to mine new ones. Therefore, recycling currently covers just under 1 percent of rare earth demand, according to the report.