Mining metals has a rising environmental cost. But high losses and low recycling rates mean that many last only a short time.
Metals can be lost at any stage of their commercial lifespan — including during smelting. Credit: He Huawen/VCG via GettyA study looking at the economic lifetimes of 61 commercially used metals finds that more than half have a lifespan of less than 10 years. The research, published on 19 May in, also shows that most of these metals end up being disposed of or lost in large quantities, rather than being recycled or reused.
“The longer we use metals, the less we need to mine,” says Helbig. “But before we can identify how to close those loops, we need to know where they are.”The fact that the economy haemorrhages metals is well documented, says Thomas Graedel, an industrial ecologist at Yale University in New Haven. Losses can occur at any stage of a metal’s lifespan. Some metals are dug up as by-products during mining but are never made into products.
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