I en ny rapport fremhæver International Energy Agency (IEA), at opskalering af genanvendelse af kritiske mineraler kan styrke energisikkerhed og reducere udledninger. Kritiske mineraler som kobber, kobolt, lithium og nikkel er afgørende for grønne teknologier som solceller, vindmøller og elbiler.
IEA skriver: “The report, Recycling of Critical Minerals: strategies to scale up recycling and urban mining, shows that the growth in new mining supply for critical minerals could be brought down by between 25-40% by mid-century by scaling up recycling. In a scenario in which countries around the world deliver on all the announced national climate pledges, recycling reduces new mine development needs by 40% for copper and cobalt, and by 25% for lithium and nickel by 2050”
Og konkluderer: “While critical mineral recycling can have positive impacts on the expansion of clean energy technologies and their sustainability, they are not free from environmental and social impacts, the report finds. Poorly managed battery recycling may result in pollution, water contamination and other harmful emissions.”
Rapporten kan læses her.
