Our throw-away culture could soon lead to “landfill mining” becoming a commercial reality, the Australian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development director Professor John Cole says.
Cutting-edge technological devices, such as iPods, computers and hybrid car batteries, use a lot of minerals known as “rare earths”, more than 90 per cent of which are mined in China.
China has drastically cut the amount of rare earths it is prepared to sell on the world market however, pushing the prices of the minerals up as much as sevenfold since the decision was made in July.
Prof Cole says so far we appear to squandering the rare earths we use.
The demand for rare earths was expected to quadruple in the next decade, and they would therefore increase in price.
“The danger in all of that is we will be building a pathway to the future that may not be sustained because some of our critical resources used in it will be exhausted,” he says.
“The point here is that the green pathway to the future could be at risk because of the dependence we are building on rare earth technologies.”
Considering how many iPods and other technological devices are currently thrown away, mining rubbish could become viable.
In South Australia, a $1 billion rare earths processing plant has been proposed for Whyalla, to process ore mined in the Northern Territory by Arafura Resources.
The processing plant is expected to supply about 10 per cent of the world’s demand for the elements, producing 20,000 tonnes a year.
