A new report warns the UK must scale up materials recycling for low-carbon industries or risk facing severe shortages of key metals.
The use of lithium, cobalt, silver and rare earth elements by the UK’s low carbon industries is expected to skyrocket in the coming decades. China controls 60% of global mine production and 40% of rare earth metal reserves, raising concerns about a significant threat to supply chains for businesses.
However, the Green Alliance thinktank says the UK can limit the threat by building up a domestic recycling of valuable materials and reducing energy use.
The rapidly increasing recycling of green products and their components will result in most of the critical raw material demand for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and solar panels, the report said. secondary materials by 2050.
Susan Evans, senior policy adviser at the Green Alliance, said: “With net zero, there is also a huge opportunity for the UK to become much more resilient and self-sufficient.
“By investing in making our homes more efficient and improving public transport, we can cut down on the amount of energy we use and, therefore, reduce our reliance on raw materials. important import.
“This is also about ending unnecessary waste. It means keeping these valuable materials in use, creating jobs in new recycling industries and at the same time reducing energy bills for households.”
In 2019, the country’s fleet of small electric vehicles contained more than 1,400 tonnes of lithium and 800 tonnes of cobalt, worth £26.3 million and £31.5 million respectively. Green Alliance analysis shows that, if recycled, that volume of lithium and cobalt would be enough to produce 220,000 batteries for electric cars, or 10% of new sales projected by 2035.
The opportunity to use secondary materials will increase as the number of electric vehicles increases. The adoption of a circular economy in the raw materials sector can contribute to job creation and reduce dependence on China for key raw materials.
By cutting energy needs and introducing measures such as insulating homes, increasing car sharing, increasing use of public transport and walking and cycling, the UK can halve the use of some critical resources by 2030.
“By scaling up recovery and recycling, through circular economy approaches, an increasing share of residual demand can be met with secondary raw materials,” the report said. , resulting in less environmental damage”. “This will allow the UK to retain and maximize the value of key raw materials, build more resilient supply chains and create more good jobs across the country, contributing to both the programme. green recovery and upgrading agenda.”
Mining, processing, and refining critical raw materials – such as lithium for a low-carbon economy – can cause significant environmental and social harm, the report said. targets on climate change, biodiversity and human rights, the report said.
“The UK should adopt a strategy that ensures long-term supplies of key raw materials, prioritizing both reducing energy demand and a circular economy approach. Under this strategy, primary mining will have a higher risk, the last option to meet industry requirements,” the report said.
Tom Tugendhat, Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, said: “We know China dominates rare earth processing. However, as the Green Alliance points out in this important report, the UK can significantly reduce supply chain risks by creating an appropriate scheme for the recycling of pure products such as solar panels. solar and electric vehicles, and get smarter with our energy use. ”
