A “very large” number of metals are not be being recycled, potentially leading to shortages for raw materials used in modern technology, according to a study released by the United Nations Environment Program today.
More than two-thirds of 60 metals used in everything from phones to construction have recycling rates below 50 percent, with less than 1 percent of 34 types of raw material being reused, according to the study.
“Recycling rates are low,” Thomas Graedel, director of the Center for Industrial Ecology at Yale University and lead author of the report, said today at the London Metal Exchange. “They’re particularly low for these specialty metals that are so important to the modern technology.”
The study, which Graedel said is the first of its kind to be so comprehensive, found there is virtually no recycling of metals like indium used in semiconductors, energy efficient light emitting diodes and advanced medical imaging.
“We aren’t very good at recovering these materials,” Graedel said. “We’ve got a lot of squirrels around. If we can flush this material out of closets, this would certainly help.
‘‘By failing to recycle metals and simply disposing of these kinds of metal, economies are foregoing important environmental benefits and increasing the possibility of shortages,’’ he said in a statement released with the report.
Better product design for easy recycling and support for waste management programs could also boost the levels of metals being reused, said the report, which was simultaneously released in Brussels by Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director and UN under-secretary general.
‘‘In theory, metals can be used over and over again, minimizing the need to mine and process virgin materials and thus saving substantial amounts of energy and water while minimizing environmental degradation,’’ Steiner said in a statement.
