Exploiting our urban mine in electronic products

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Exploiting our urban mine in electronic products

– a good opportunity and a complex challenge

material solutions Metals

Application know-how

Recycling

Material solutions Chemistry

Material science Metallurgy

NGU Day Trondheim

6.02.2014

Dr. Christian Hagelüken

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Christian Hagelüken – NGU Day Trondheim, 6.02.2014 2

Umicore – a materials technology company

14,400 people in ~ 80 industrial sites worldwide, turnover 2012 €: 12.5 Billion (2.4 B excl. metals) Ø 50% of metal needs

from Recycling ^Metals ^solutions^material

Application know-how

Recycling

Material solutions Chemistry

Material science Metallurgy

Top 10 ranking in global index companies (Jan. 2014)

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 Significance of technology metals

 Recycling opportunities

& challenges – the system approach

 Technical & economical challenges in extractive metallurgy

 Conclusion – overall

requirements & way forward

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Achzet et al., Materials critical to the energy industry, Augsburg, 2011

Booming product sales

drive demand for (technology) metals

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

1997 1998

1999 2000

2001 2002

2003 2004

2005 2006

2007 2008

2009 2010

2011

Annual global sales of mobile phones

Source: after Gartner statistics (www.gartner.com)

Million units

170 300

470Smart Phones forecast

Accumulated global sales until 2010

~ 10 Billion units

& increasing functionality

Drivers:

• growing population (Asia!)

• growing wealth

• technology development & product performance

… next wave:

tablet computer:

• 2013 tablets will overpass laptops

• 2015 more tablets than laptops + PC

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Massive shift from geological resources to anthropogenic “deposits”

• Electric & electronic equipment (EEE)

Over 40% of world mine production of copper, tin, antimony, indium, ruthenium & rare earths are annually used in EEE

• Mobile phones & computer

account for 4% world mine production of gold and silver and for 20% of palladium & cobalt.

• Cars

> 60% of PGM mine production used for autocatalysts,

increasing significance for electronics (“computer on wheels“) and light metals

• In the last 30 years we extracted > 80% of the REE, PGM, Ga, In, … that have ever been mined

• Clean energy technologies & other high tech applications will further accelerate demand for technology metals

(precious metals, semiconductors, rare earths, refractory metals, …)

without access to these metals no sustainable development

% mined in 1980-2010

% mined in 1900-1980 Mine production since 1980 / since 1900

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Re Ga In Ru Pd Rh Ir REE Si Pt Ta Li Se Ni Co Ge Cu Bi Ag Au

% mined in 1980-2010

% mined in 1900-1980

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Resource scarcity ?

Earth crust is rich in elements, but some occur in very low concentrations only …

no mid term absolute

exhaustion of metal resources, but frame conditions continue to deteriorate:

Declining ore grades

Increasing ore complexity

More difficult mining conditions (depths; mine location; water

& energy access)

Mining in ecological sensitive areas (rain forest, ocean, Antarctica, …)

Quelle: USGS

Rising economic & environmental costs of primary supply

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High footprint of primary metals production

• Energy needs & related climate impact

• Other burden on environment (land, water, biodiversity)

Market imbalances already today cause temporary scarcity, due to:

•

Supply restrictions → political, trade, speculation; regional or company oligopolies, by-product challenges, …

•

Limits of substitution

•

Surges in demand

→ critical metals identification for the EU & others Recycling offers solutions for both challenges

How to achieve clean solutions without dirty feet?

Cu Co Au Pt

In

Sn Ag Pd

Ru t CO2/ t

primary metal

10 000

200

10

0

≈

10 000

200

10

0

≈

How to secure a sustainable supply?

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 Significance of technology metals

 Recycling opportunities

& challenges – the system approach

 Technical & economical challenges in extractive metallurgy

 Conclusion – overall

requirements & way forward

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Focus circular economy

- metals can be recycled „eternally“ without losses of properties

Residues

Residues Residues

Residues

Historic wastes (tailings, landfills) Dissipation

Residues

Historic wastes (tailings, landfills) Dissipation

End-of-Life Product

manufacture

Use

Natural resources Metals, alloys

& compounds New scrap

Raw materials production Recycling from

industrial materials

from Concentrates

& ores product

reuse

 reduce metal losses

along all steps of lifecycle

• Reduce generation of residues

• Collect residues comprehensively &

recycle these efficiently

• Improve metal yields by using high quality recycling processes

Based on: C.E.M. Meskes:

Coated magnesium, designed for sustainability?,

PhD thesis Delft University of Technology, 2008

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Recycling of most technology metals still lags way behind …

End-of-Life recycling rates for metals in metallic

applications WEEE:

precious metal recycling rates below 15%

UNEP (2011) Recycling Rates of Metals – A Status Report, A Report of the Working Group on the Global Flows to the International Resource Panel.

New report (April 2013):

Metal Recycling: Opportunities, Limits, Infrastructure

http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Publications/MetalRecycling/tabid/106143/Default.aspx

http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Publications/AreasofAssessment/Metals/Recyclingratesofmetals/tabid/56073/Default.aspx

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Recycling & circular economy as key contributors

Primary mining

• ~ 5 g/t Au in ore

• Similar for PGMs

Urban mining

• 150 g/t Au, 40 g/t Pd & Ag, Cu, Sn, Sb, … in PC motherboards

• 300 g/t Au, 50 g/t Pd … in cell phones

• 2,000 g/t PGM in automotive catalysts

factor 40

& more

State-of-the-art recycling …

• improves access to raw material

• is for many technology metals far less energy intensive than mining

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What is Recycling?

Million € loss by „Recycling“ of coinage scrap in China

“…old 1 & 2 € coins were

shipped… as scrap metal to China.

But there – instead of smelting and refining – the coin rings and centres were „repaired“ and shipped back.

They were then exchanged at the German Bundesbank against real money“

More transparency needed about real activities – not only for coin scrap

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Is this recycling?

example “low tech” gold recycling in India …

photo: EMPA/CH Gold-yield ≈ 25%,

dramatic impacts on health

& environment (Rochat, Keller, EMPA 2007)

… “Standard” for many backyard processes

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Where Should We Draw The Line?

Google Hits "Electronics Recycling”

7

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Recycling needs a chain, not a single process

- system approach is crucial

Collection 10,000’s

Prepro- cessing 1000‘s

100‘s

Example recycling of WEEE Recovery of technology metals

from circuit boards

<10 Number of

actors in Europe

Dismantling

Total efficiency is determined by weakest step in the chain

Make sure that relevant fractions reach most appropriate refining processes Global smelting & refiningof

technology metals (metallurgy)

Example: 30% x 90% x 60% x 95% = 15%

products

components/

fractions

metals

Investment needs

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:

Challenge 1: relevant products/fractions don‘t reach suitable recycling processes

a) Low collection

b) “Deviation” of collected goods

 dubious exports low quality ”recycling”

ambitious targets & new business models are required

“Tracing & Tracking“, controls & enforcement, stakeholder responsibility, transparency

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Bottle glass

Green glass White glass Brown glass

Steel scrap

+

Circuit boards Autocatalysts

• “Mono-substance” materials without hazards

• Trace elements remain part of alloys/glass Recycling focus on mass & costs

• ”Poly-substance” materials, incl. hazardous elements

• Complex components as part of complex products Place focus on trace elements & value

Technology metals need smart recycling

- traditional mass focussed recycling does not fit

PM & specialty metals PGMs

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source: Markus Reuter, Outotec & Antoinette Van Schaik, MARAS (2010)

Challenge 2: How to recover low concentrated technology metals from complex products?

Product manufacturing



manual/mechanical  metallurgical recovery preprocessing

Technical-organisational improvement needs along entire chain:

 Inappropriate product design

 Insufficient alignment within recycling chain (system & interface management)

 Insufficient use of recognised high-quality recycling installations

 Laws of nature (thermodynamics) prohibit recovery of all metals in some complex “inappropriate” material mixes (“composition conflict”)

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Pre- processing

Precious + special metals Fe-

recovery

Al- recovery

Cu- recovery

PM- recovery

plastics- recycling

Disposal of hazardous materials

Slags &

other residues EoL product

Rare Earth recycling

from magnets

Co-Li recycling from rechargeable

batteries

Indium from LCD screens

„versatile“ integrated smelter processes for Cu, PM & some

special metals

Dedicated processes for certain components & special metals

Avoid dissipation of trace elements

Gold losses of up to 75% if PC- motherboards are not removed prior to shredding 100% gold losses in a car shredder

End-processing

The mechanical pre-processing challenge

- materials separation for final metallurgical recovery

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Multi-metal recycling with modern technology

 High tech & economies of scale

• Recovery of 20 metals with innovative metallurgy from WEEE, catalysts, batteries, smelter by-products etc.

Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Cu, Pb, Ni, Sn, Bi, Se, Te, Sb, As, In (via versatile multi feed process).

Co, REE (via specialised process for battery materials)

• Value of precious metals enables co-recovery of specialty metals (‘paying metals’)

• High energy efficiency by smart mix of materials and sophisticated technology

• High metal yields, minimal emissions & final waste

Umicore‘s integrated smelter-refinery in Hoboken/Antwerp Treatment of 350 000 t/a, global customer base

ISO 14001 & 9001, OHSAS 18001

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 Significance of technology metals

 Recycling opportunities

& challenges – the system approach

 Technical & economical challenges in extractive metallurgy

 Conclusion – overall

requirements & way forward

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Umicore Precious Metals Refining flowsheet

- pyrometallurgy as initial process for most materials

The Precious Metals Operations (PMO) focus on fast throughput and maximized yields at optimized cost.

The Base Metals Operations (BMO) focus on flexibly processing by-products from the PMO at low cost and with optimal

throughput times.

?

What happens with al these elements

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Focus on the 2 mayor smelting steps

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Element distribution at the smelter

Sulfuric acid

Removed to deposit

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Element distribution at the Pb blast furnace

In Recovered out of Flue dust

As, Sb, Sn, Bi Recovered from

Pb bullion

Ni As Recovered out of speiss

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Elements reporting to the end slag

Zn, Ga, Ge, Co, Rare Earths, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, W, Ta need to be separated before entering the main flowsheet and/or need to be treated in a separate process.

⇒ Make sure that beforehand separation of such elements does not lead to

unintended co-separation of precious metals etc.

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Example:Umicore

Battery Recycling Plant

Special process for recycling of cobalt, copper, nickel, generation of REE concentrates

Inauguration Sept. 2011

Capacity 7000 t/a

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Christian Hagelüken – NGU Day Trondheim, 6.02.2014

Recycling success factors

- products & treatment processes must match

Product: Sufficient (extractable) value

•

Composition (what is in?)

•

Concentration (how much of it?)

•

Material prices

Process: Performance & costs

•

Technological efficiency for value recovery (yields, energy, …)

•

Process robustness & flexibility

•

Environmental & social compliance

•

Available volumes

→ Economies of scale

•

Factor costs (labour, energy, capital)

•

Process chain organisation / interface management

Depending on:

Product & technology development

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Process quality

Legal, societal

& other frame conditions Market development

→

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- Metal prices of Sep. 2013 - indicative compositions

Plastics, Cu, Fe, Al dominate the weight

Precious metals dominate the value

<1% 1- 5 % 5 -10 % 10 - 20% 20 - 50% 50 - 70 % > 70%

weight-% plastics Fe Al Cu Au [ppm] Ag [ppm] Pd [ppm]

TV-boards

dismantled 39% 6% 9% 16% 20 450 14

printed circuit

board 26% 8% 5% 19% 150 815 40

mobile phone

handset 41% 10% 2% 12% 350 1600 50

value-share plastics Fe Al Cu Au Ag Pd Sum PM

TV-boards

dismantled <1% <1% 3% 36% 27% 10% 10% 47%

printed circuit

board 0 <1% <1% 14% 65% 6% 9% 80%

mobile phone

handset <1% <1% <1% 5% 81% 6% 6% 94%

Value vs. weight distribution in electronics

Precious metals + copper = “paying metals”, can enable co-recovery of other metals in case of metallurgical (thermodynamical) fit

Pb, Ni, Sn < 2%

Sb, Bi, Ga, As, Ta in ppm level Pt, REE, In = negligible

→ In in LCD screens

→ REE in magnets

Negligible value Contribution from other metals

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Extractable metals value

- a closer look on economic challenges in metallurgy

Metals that follow the paying metals,

e.g. Te, Se, Bi, PGMs

•

Some extra separation & refining steps

•

modest extra costs (major part already covered)

Metals extractable from intermediates,

e.g. Pb, Ni, Sn, Sb, (In, As)

•

Additional smelting, extraction & refining steps

•

Higher extra costs

Metals reporting to slag,

e.g. Ta, Ga, REE, W, (In)

•

Technical hurdles to overcome

→ pre-, inter- or post-metallurgy process

•

High extra costs (capex + opex)

→ supply & price security is key for investment

•

Beware of counter-effects (compositon conflicts)

→ e.g., don’t lose Pd/Ag to recover Ta

30

•

Sufficient concentration or value?

•

Sufficient contribution

potential to metals supply or better focus on lower

hanging fruits?

•

Sufficient societal value for R&D efforts

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 Significance of technology metals

 Recycling opportunities

& challenges – the system approach

 Technical & economical challenges in extractive metallurgy

 Conclusion – overall

requirements & way forward

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Christian Hagelüken – NGU Day Trondheim, 6.02.2014 32 source: UNEP Resource Panel, press conference presentation, New York City, May 13, 2010

Closing the loop - example palladium

– business models are key → challenge for consumer applications

„Closed loop“, benefits of an industrial business model & built-in transparency

„Open loop”  high & avoidable losses

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

Channelling into high quality* processes along the entire recycling chain



Secure supply of valuable and critical raw materials & avoid environmental damage



Creating a level playing field



Positive differentiation for quality recyclers (on all steps)



Allows reporting & documentation of real flows



Provides security for manufacturers, municipalities and consumers

Objective: Transparent flows & high quality recycling

 Certification of recycling processes down to end-processing





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Need for more responsibility & business ethics

- a role to play for all stakeholders in the chain

Manufacturers, retailers, municipalities:

•

Don’t take just the cheapest way, secure quality recycling for your products/streams

•

Understand & check downstream activities, require real transparency on flows

•

Support recycling by appropriate business models and improving product design

Recyclers (collection – pre-processing – end-processing)

•

Follow the rules & walk the talk

•

Take real responsibility for your own outflows

Authorities:

•

Set appropriate legal frame conditions and ensure their enforcement

•

Take international responsibility and stop illegal/dubious exports

•

Be consequent in own procurement policy

Consumers:

Give products into recycling & buy preferentially sustainable products

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 Achieving more quality & transparency is key in recycling chains (as in food & textiles, finance flows, mining of conflict metals, …)

 Metals sourced from quality recycling are inherently “conflict free”.

→ New approach for extended producer responsibility

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Metallurgy

Mechanical processing

Costs &

revenues Collection

& logistics Product design &

business models Consumer-

behaviour

Material & technology perspective

Product perspective

Concluding – Overall recycling success factors

Prerequisites:

1. Technical recyclability as basic requirement

2. Accessibility of relevant

components → product design 3. Economic viability

intrinsically or externally created 4. Completeness of collection

business models, legislation, infrastructure

5. Keep within recycling chain

→ transparency of flows 6. Technical-organisational set-

up of chain → recycling quality 7. Sufficient recycling capacity

Complex products require a systemic optimisation & interdisciplinary approaches

(product development, process engineering, metallurgy, ecology, social & economic sciences)

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Focus circular economy

- significant improvements still needed at every step

Improve collection

Increase transparency of flows

Ensure quality recycling

Go beyond mass recycling (more focus on technology metals)

Develop innovative technologies to cope with technical recycling challenges

manufacture

Use

Geological resources Metals, alloys

Recycling Reuse

RM production from Industrial materials

from ores

manufacture

Use

Geological resources Metals, alloys

Recycling Reuse

RM production from Industrial materials

from ores

Residues

Dissipation

Residues

Dissipation

Improve range & yields of recovered metals

Improve efficiency of energy & water use

Consider recycling in product design

Develop business

models to close the loop

Recycle production scrap

Avoid dissipation

Minimise residue streams at all steps & recycle these effectively

Take a holistic system approach

Mining & Recycling are complementary systems!

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Thanks for your attention!

Contact:

[email protected] www.umicore.com;

www.preciousmetals.umicore.com

For more information:

Hagelüken, C., C.E.M. Meskers: Complex lifecycles of precious and special metals, in: Graedel, T., E. van der Voet (eds): Linkages of Sustainability, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010

Hagelüken, C.: Recycling of (critical) metals, in: Gunn, G. (ed): Critical Metals Handbook, Wiley & Sons, 2014 ERA-MIN Research Agenda, 2014, www.era-min-eu.org

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Christian Hagelüken – NGU Day Trondheim, 6.02.2014 38 H

K Be

Sc Ca Li Na

Ti Mg

V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr Al Si P S Cl Ar B C N O F Ne

He

Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe

Cs Ba ^La-Lu Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

K Ca ^Ac-Lr Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt

Precious Metals (PM)

Rare Earth Elements (REE)

Technology metals: descriptive expression, comprising most precious and special metals

• crucial for technical functionality based on their often unique physical & chemical properties

(conductivity; melting point; density; hardness; catalytic/optical/magnetic properties, …)

•mostly used in low concentrations and a complex substance mix (‘spice metals’)

• Key for “Hi-Tech” and “Clean-Tech”

Semi- conductors

Technology metals

Edelmetalle Halbleiter Seltene Erden

Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu

Confusion in public debate about metals

– ? critical metals – rare metals – rare earths - …?

*

Be

Sc Li

Co Ga Ge As Se

Si

Mo Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te

Re Ir Pt Au Bi

La*

Ac-Lr

Ta Nb Y Zr

Hf Mg

W

EU critical metals

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a) Mobile phones 1800 million units/ year X125 mg Ag ≈ 225 t Ag X 25 mg Au ≈ 45 t Au X 5 mg Pd ≈ 9 t Pd X 9 g Cu ≈16,000 t Cu 1800 million Li-Ion batteries

X 3.8 g Co ≈ 6,800 t Co

a+b) Urban mine Mine production / share Ag:23,500 t/a ► 3%

Au: 2,800 t/a ► 4%

Pd: 230 t/a ► 17%

Cu: 16 Mt/a ► 1%

Co: ~100,000t/a ►21%

b) PCs & laptops 365 Million units/year X1000mg Ag ≈ 365 t Ag X 220 mg Au ≈ 80 t Au X 80 mg Pd ≈ 29 t Pd X~500 g Cu ≈183,000 t Cu

~220 million Li-ion batteries X 65 g Co ≈ 14,300 t Co

Low metal content per unit but volume counts

Example: Metal use in electronics

• Containing additionally many other technology metals.

• Other electr(on)ic & equipment (and cars!) add to these figures → significant total demand.

• Intrinsic value per mobile phone < 1 €  little economic recycling incentive per unit Global sales 2011

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technical solutions to improve resource efficiency & mitigate climate impact will need more, not less technology metals (PV, EV, catalysis etc.)

Many technology metals are by-products from “carrier” base metals, their supply will drop in case of:

Successful decoupling for base metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Al, Pb)

Improved recycling of base metals

Supply restrictions for lead, nickel etc.

 Double challenge to secure supply of technology metals

source: Next steps for EU waste and resource policies, R. v.d.Vlies, DG Env., Brussels 17.6.2009