A report published on April 25 by Eurométaux, the European association of metal producers, warns that “Europe has a window of opportunity to avoid bottlenecks for several materials that are likely to be subject to global shortages at the end of this decade”. By 2030, several materials are likely to be in short supply worldwide due to the global boom in renewable energies and electric vehicles. Demand for metals needed for the energy transition is set to explode between now and 2050: +3,500% for lithium, +2,600% for dysprosium (rare earths), +330% for cobalt.
According to the researchers, solutions do exist, but we need to act quickly. Indeed, by 2050, 40% to 75% of needs could be covered by recycling, provided Europe invests in infrastructure and raises its mandatory recycling rates.
Still on the subject of recycling, scientists believe it is urgent to speed up the recycling of electronic waste, as extracting precious metals from the earth to manufacture new gadgets is not sustainable. One study has estimated that the global mountain of discarded electronics will weigh 57 million tonnes in 2021 alone. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) believes that a global effort is now needed to exploit this waste, rather than exploiting the Earth.
