UK critical minerals security challenged by near-term supply of end-of-life materials
This could make it difficult to hit the UK Government's target by 2035 for 20% of annual demand to be met through recycling and recovery.
Analysis from the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, hosted by the British Geological Survey, assesses the UK’s future demand and secondary supply availability for the key technology metals required for clean energy technologies and electric transportation.
The research highlights that, by 2035, only a small number of critical minerals used in photovoltaic technologies are expected to be found in sufficient quantities to theoretically reach or exceed this ambition.
The prospects improve dramatically, however, when the timescale is extended out to 2050. By then, end-of-life material is forecast to meet or exceed domestic demand for several critical minerals.
Between 2040 and 2050, secondary raw material availability could provide:
- more than 60% of the cumulative demand for battery metals
- more than 85% of the cumulative demand for rare-earth elements used in magnets (neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium)
- more than 90% of the cumulative demand for silver and 75% for tin used in photovoltaics (solar panels)
