Recycling Solutions - Thanatia: The Destiny of the Earth's Mineral Resources - page 434

1
H

2
He

3
Li

4
Be

5
B

6
C

7
N

8
O

9
F

10
Ne

11
Na

12
Mg

13
Al

14
Si

15
P

16
S

17
Cl

18
Ar

19
K

20
Ca

21
Sc

22
Ti

23
V

24
Cr

25
Mn

26
Fe

27
Co

28
Ni

29
Cu

30
Zn

31
Ga

32
Ge

33
As

34
Se

35
Br

36
Kr

37
Rb

38
Sr

39
Y

40
Zr

41
Nb

42
Mo

43
Tc

44
Ru

45
Rh

46
Pd

47
Ag

48
Cd

49
In

50
Sn

51
Sb

52
Te

53
I

54
Xe

55
Cs

56
Ba

• 72

Hf

73
Ta

74
W

75
Re

76
Os

77
Ir

78
Pt

79
Au

80
Hg

81
Tl

82
Pb

83
Bi

84
Po

85
At

86
Rn

87
Fr

88
Ra

•• 104

Rf

105
Db

106
Sg

107
Sg

108
Hs

109
Mt

110
Ds

111
Rg

112
Uub

113
Uut

114
Uug

115
Uup

116
Uuh

117
Uus

118
Uuo

57
La

58
Ce

59
Pr

60
Nd

61
Pm

62
Sm

63
Eu

64
Gd

65
Tb

66
Dy

67
Ho

68
Er

69
Tm

70
Yb

71
Lu *Lanthanides

** Actinides

89
Ac

90
Th

91
Pa

92
U

93
Np

94
Pu

95
Am

96
Cm

97
Bk

98
Cf

99
Es

100
Fm

101
Md

102
No

103
Lr

> 50%

> 25-50%

> 1-25%

1-10%

< 1%

Fig. 14.1 The periodic table of global average recycled content for sixty metals. RC, the fraction
of secondary [scrap] metal in the total metal input to metal production). Unfilled boxes indicate
that no data or estimates are available, or that the element was not addressed as part of this study.
Reprinted from Graedel et al. (2011b)

75%, 50-55%, 29-33% and 85-90%); platinum 15/85 (75% e ciency) and beryllium
10/90 (5% e ciency). Recycled metal commodities in the US have been consis-
tently documented by the USGS over time, the latest of which forms the basis of
Fig. 14.2.

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

Percent Primary
Recycling Rate

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Fig. 14.2 Flow studies for recycled metal commodities in the US. Adapted from Sibley (2011)

A historical analysis for the case of aluminium made by Gerber (2007) 2 as shown
in Fig. 14.3 helps one understand the correlation between extraction and recycling

2 J. Gerber is a former chairman of the Global Aluminium Recycling Committee.