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Supply risks and environmental concerns drive the interest in critical raw material recycling in the European Union. Globally, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is projected to increase by almost 40% until 2030. This waste stream can be a source of secondary raw materials. The determination of the economic feasibility of recycling and recovering specific materials is a data-intensive, time-consuming, and case-specific task. This study introduced a two-part evaluation scheme consisting of upper continental crust concentrations and raw material prices as a simple tool to indicate the potential and limitations of critical raw material recycling. It was applied to the case of light-emitting diodes (LED) lamps in the EU. A material flow analysis was conducted, and the projected waste amounts were analyzed using the new scheme. Indium, gallium, and the rare earth elements appeared in low concentrations and low absolute masses and showed only a small revenue potential. Precious metals represented the largest revenue share. Future research should confirm the validity and usefulness of the evaluation scheme.
Julia Nikulski; Michael Ritthoff; Nadja von Gries. The Potential and Limitations of Critical Raw Material Recycling: The Case of LED Lamps. Resources 2021, 10, 37 .
AMA StyleJulia Nikulski, Michael Ritthoff, Nadja von Gries. The Potential and Limitations of Critical Raw Material Recycling: The Case of LED Lamps. Resources. 2021; 10 (4):37.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJulia Nikulski; Michael Ritthoff; Nadja von Gries. 2021. "The Potential and Limitations of Critical Raw Material Recycling: The Case of LED Lamps." Resources 10, no. 4: 37.
The Wuppertal Institute developed, in the early 1990s, an input-oriented lifecycle-wide resource accounting method, the “Material Input per Service-Unit” concept (MIPS), today also referred to as “Material Footprint”. The official handbook applicable to products, services, and processes describes a MS Excel-based sequential approach for calculating MIPS. Today’s computing power, available to every researcher, and access to software and databases dedicated to lifecycle analysis make calculating MIPS using matrix inversion possible. This also opens up possibilities for enhancing MIPS-models programmatically: parameterizing the foreground and background systems, batch modeling for producing time series, and computational algorithms enhancing interpretation. The article provides (1) an overview of the methods and tools used for calculating MIPS from its origins to today, and (2) demonstrates some of the programmatically enhanced capabilities offered to MIPS-practitioners.
Mathieu Saurat; Michael Ritthoff. Calculating MIPS 2.0. Resources 2013, 2, 581 -607.
AMA StyleMathieu Saurat, Michael Ritthoff. Calculating MIPS 2.0. Resources. 2013; 2 (4):581-607.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMathieu Saurat; Michael Ritthoff. 2013. "Calculating MIPS 2.0." Resources 2, no. 4: 581-607.