Issue 2, 2024

A toolbox for improved recycling of critical metals and materials in low-carbon technologies

Abstract

The shift towards renewable energy sources combined with other factors, such as population increase, digitalisation, and a need to decrease carbon footprint, leads to increasing metal consumption. To meet this growing demand and avoid accumulation of waste in landfills, efficient recycling methods are needed. Current pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods achieve complete digestion of end-of-life materials using high temperatures and high consumption of chemicals, respectively. These methods can be applied to recover critical metals from end-of-life materials but suffer from inherent limitations when it comes to complex end-of-life materials made of interpenetrated layers of metals, inorganics and organics. This critical review describes a set of chemical and physical tools for improved recovery of metals from various waste streams, with a strong focus on the renewable energy sector (wind turbines, solar cells) as well as lithium-ion batteries and catalysts for hydrogen production. These tools target weaknesses at the interfaces between different layers to liberate the valuable metals. Physical methods used for size reduction and separation, ultrasound to process brittle materials, hydrogen decrepitation, selective dissolution and bio-metallurgical methods to process metals are among those reviewed. Management of inorganic and organic fractions is also emphasised, with pyrolysis and solvolysis to process organics and ways to recycle these materials. Limitations and future directions are discussed, providing a comprehensive guide to improve recycling of metals with versatile tools.

Graphical abstract: A toolbox for improved recycling of critical metals and materials in low-carbon technologies

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
27 Oct 2023
Accepted
11 Jan 2024
First published
16 Jan 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Sustain., 2024,2, 320-347

A toolbox for improved recycling of critical metals and materials in low-carbon technologies

G. Zante, C. E. Elgar, J. M. Hartley, R. Mukherjee, J. Kettle, L. E. Horsfall, A. Walton, G. D. J. Harper and A. P. Abbott, RSC Sustain., 2024, 2, 320 DOI: 10.1039/D3SU00390F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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