PerspectiveGreater circularity leads to lower criticality, and other links between criticality and the circular economy
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Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This perspective paper is the result of an International Round Table on Materials Criticality (IRTC) gathering on the topic of “Criticality and the Circular Economy” organized in Tokyo on October 9, 2018, back to back with the EcoBalance Conference, and an IRTC Round Table on “Secondary sourcing of CRMs” in Bejing on July 7, 2019, back to back with the ISIE2019 Conference. A summary of the Round Tables can be found at https://irtc.info. The IRTC project has received funding from the EIT
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The role of recycling in alleviating supply chain risk–Insights from a stock-flow perspective using a hybrid input-output database
2022, Resources, Conservation and RecyclingCitation Excerpt :Secondary raw material utilization and recycling can also have a role in reducing geopolitical supply risk of metals (Habib and Wenzel, 2014; Sverdrup et al., 2017; Santillán-Saldivar et al., 2021; Gaustad et al., 2018), as it may decrease import dependency and diversify global production. Tercero Espinoza et al. (2020) explored ways in which circular economy can reduce material criticality, with recycling being the most obvious one. On its own, however, recycling does not necessarily lead to reductions in supply risks, since other factors must be considered.
Behind of the criticality for rare earth elements: Surplus of China's yttrium
2022, Resources PolicyCitation Excerpt :However, several factors may induce Y supply disruptions, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, geo-political instability, and environmental constraints (Goldthau and Hughes, 2020; Massari and Ruberti, 2013; Wang et al., 2020a). Recycling can mitigate such risks and improve the overall Y resource efficiency (Binnemans et al., 2013a; Espinoza et al., 2020). Similar to other REEs, the recycling rate of Y is extremely low (Du and Graedel, 2011a).
Critical appraisal of recycling indicators used in European criticality exercises and circularity monitoring
2021, Resources PolicyCitation Excerpt :Recycling indicators are an important means of measuring the efficiency of waste management systems and play a central role in monitoring progress in the transition towards a more circular economy (CE, Talens Peiró et al., 2018). In addition, recycling is seen to not only contribute to resource conservation but also to support security of supply in the context of discussions around critical raw materials (CRM, Schrijvers et al., 2020; Tercero Espinoza et al., 2020). It is important to note that recycling indicators can be prepared from different perspectives.
Reply to correspondence "Circular economy practices may not always lead to lower criticality or more sustainability; analysis and guidance is needed per case"
2021, Resources, Conservation and RecyclingHow recycling mitigates supply risks of critical raw materials: Extension of the geopolitical supply risk methodology applied to information and communication technologies in the European Union
2021, Resources, Conservation and RecyclingCitation Excerpt :Limitations notwithstanding, our extension of the GeoPolRisk method directly addresses the Task Force recommendation to incorporate the potential risk-mitigating effects of material recycling into “supply risk methods.” Thus, we advance considerations of “circular economy” strategies for critical raw materials (e.g., as seen in a recent Perspective paper published in this journal by members (Tercero Espinoza et al., 2020) of the International Round Table on Materials Criticality (IRTC)) and in policy initiatives like the EU Circular Economy Plan, in which domestic recycling is highlighted as a key supply security strategy for reducing import dependency (European Commission, 2011; European Commission, 2015; Mathieux et al., 2018). Further, our automated calculation tool significantly improves the practical applicability of the GeoPolRisk method by facilitating the otherwise burdensome computations required.
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Disclaimer: This paper does not necessarily reflect the opinion or the policies of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA).