Metals are well suited to sustainable development goals. They are not biodegradable and have virtually an unlimited lifespan and the potential for unlimited recyclability. Thus metals can be considered as renewable materials. However mineral resources, the source of primary metals, are “non-renewable” as their supply is finite, but this does not necessarily mean scarcity. In this paper the results from a series of Life Cycle Assessments of primary metal production processes for copper, nickel, lead, zinc, aluminium and steel have been used to examine how metals may contribute to society’s transition to sustainable development. Particular issues considered include: • current metal reserves and how these may change in the future, • some of the environmental impacts (Total Energy, Global Warming Potential and Acidification Potential) associated with primary metal production and how they will be exacerbated by declining ore grades, • new processing technologies with lower energy consumptions and improved metal extraction efficiencies that will reduce reserve depletion and environmental impacts, • increasing the utilization of “metals in use” by recycling, with particular reference to aluminium, • the potential impact of a carbon tax on metal prices and how this may influence the ways in which metals are used in the future.
[1]
G. Lagos,et al.
INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS FOR METALS : NEW CHALLENGES FOR COPPER
,
1999
.
[2]
R. Chipman,et al.
Trends in Consumption and Production: Selected Minerals
,
1999
.
[3]
Debra Wilkinson,et al.
Resetting the Compass: Australia's Journey Towards Sustainability
,
2000
.
[4]
Oh Jae-Hyun,et al.
Recycling of Non-Ferrous Metals
,
2003
.
[5]
H. H. Kellog.
Sizing up the energy requirements for producing primary materials
,
1977
.
[6]
Terry Norgate,et al.
Greenhouse gas emissions from aluminium production - a life cycle approach
,
2001
.
[7]
Sujit Das,et al.
The life-cycle impacts of aluminum body-in-white automotive material
,
2000
.
[8]
Olivier Bomsel,et al.
The recycling of non-ferrous metals
,
1997
.
[9]
Frank R. A. Jorgensen,et al.
Is metal recycling sustainable
,
2002
.