Looking into the Future

There are alternatives to compensate for the exponential increase in raw material consumption. Substitution is the most straightforward one, replacing an element with another that is less critical or more abundant. This situation will be explored for electric vehicles, different renewable energies, printed circuit boards and lighting, as each technology requires a good number of scarce elements. Then, circular economy will also be discussed due to the opportunities it may rise in the energy transition to close material cycles. Recycling could be an essential ally. Still, current recycling rates are far from ideal. We will then explore how much recycling efforts should increase to avoid potential material bottlenecks in the future. Using the vehicle as an example, we will describe what spiral economy is, as according to the laws of thermodynamics, circles can never be closed. The possibility of recovering valuable metals from vehicles and eco-design measures for the automotive sector will be analysed. Finally, urban mining, the recovery of metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment, and asteroid mining will be discussed.