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Sustainable Development and Recycling of Rare Earth Resources

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 6227

Special Issue Editor

Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) 124 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34132, Republic of Korea
Interests: resources to materials via environmental management; sustainable secondary resources innovation; hydrometallurgy & urban mining; clean energy technology applications & sustainable energy solutions; establish policy for resources recovery and recycling
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability leads the society in developing stages. It mainly is subject to on society, environment and economy. East Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, Singapore etc having very limited natural resources of rare earths (REs); Recycling subject concern the waste minimization, environmental/economic incentives, energy considerations and industrial ecology.

Rare earths (REs) playing key role in new modern lives; REs were having numerous applications in the areas of electrical, electronic fields. Hydrometallurgy, the aqueous processing of metal ions tool is the cheapest and convenient for REs recovery from primary resources (Ores and Minerals) and secondary resources (Industrial wastes and scraps). Countries like South Korea having many high-tech industries in the fields of electrical and electronic items manufacturing; as well as supply to global needs. At the same time this country have two major problems one is the landfilling problem (generated manufacturing waste and after usage scraps) and natural resources. And the another major concern is the population densities, as per the economic co-operation and development (OECD) organization records (year 2012) top ten nations are as follows (http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/trends/wpp2012): South Korea, The Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Japan, UK, Germany, Luxemburg, Italy and Switzerland. REs having wide range applications in various fields such as metallurgical, electronics, chemical reactions, computers, televisions, glass, alloys, petroleum refining catalysts and permanent magnets etc . And REs demand worldwide in various applications are estimated magnets 26%, metal alloys 19%, polishing 16.5%, catalysts 15%, glass/phosphors 6% and ceramics/others 5.5%. REs reserves and production global wide China occupies the major role the other nations such as India, Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, USA and Russia. 

Four REs recognized by the DoE, USA as critical rare earth elements such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium based on their reserves, supply and demand. Du and Graedel estimated the REs global in-use stocks for the Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets. Out of these four REs neodymium estimated high amount of global in-use stocks followed by Pr/Dy and Tb.

From the periodic table fifteen elements recognized as rare earths elements (REEs), atomic number 57 to 71. Two another elements such as scandium and yttrium having similar properties of above said elements from 57 to 71 (Atomic number); these two were also included in REEs. In 21st century electronics are leading in the human lives as well as industrial developments and countries’ economies mainly depends on electronic goods exports to overseas countries. Primary resources having very limited REEs concentration; the highest amount of RE concentration is cerium, 60 mg/L and the lowest RE concentration is promethium 10-18 mg/L.   

Rare earths elements (REEs), having various industrial applications among all hi-tech and electronic based materials prepared by using REEs. The REEs distribution by end use products are majorly metallurgical applications (29%), electronics (18%) and other REEs based products (12%) were up to 30%. And other sector permanent magnets (4%), those are parts inside the electrical and electronics products.

Prof. Rajesh Kumar Jyothi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Recovery
  • Recycling
  • Extraction
  • Separation
  • Rare earths
  • Secondary resources
  • e-Waste
  • Urban mining
  • Waste management
  • Environmental management

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2240 KiB  
Article
The Experimental Study of the Utilization of Recycling Aggregate from the Demolition of Elements of a Reinforced Concrete Hall
by Katarzyna Kalinowska-Wichrowska and David Suescum-Morales
Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 5182; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12125182 - 25 Jun 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2181
Abstract
The article shows a case study as to whether the thermal and mechanical recycling of concrete is suitable for concrete debris from the demolition of structural elements of a 30-year-old industrial hall. The experiment included 10 series of new composites made from heated [...] Read more.
The article shows a case study as to whether the thermal and mechanical recycling of concrete is suitable for concrete debris from the demolition of structural elements of a 30-year-old industrial hall. The experiment included 10 series of new composites made from heated recycled concrete aggregate (HRCA) subjected to different variants of heat treatment and one additional control series with only natural aggregate (NA). The compressive strength of the new concretes has been determined. The microscopic observations of HRCA have also been made. The test results revealed that proper heat treatment of concrete rubble makes it possible to obtain a high-quality recycled coarse aggregate, which can be used as a 100% replacement for natural coarse aggregates in new concretes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development and Recycling of Rare Earth Resources)
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17 pages, 4729 KiB  
Article
Distribution Kinetics of Rare Earth Elements in Copper Smelting
by Lassi Klemettinen, Riina Aromaa, Anna Dańczak, Hugh O’Brien, Pekka Taskinen and Ari Jokilaakso
Sustainability 2020, 12(1), 208; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12010208 - 25 Dec 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3381
Abstract
The use of rare earth elements (REEs) is increasing, mainly due to the growing demand for electric vehicles and new applications in green technology. This results in annual growth of the in-use REE stocks and the amount of End-of-Life (EoL) products containing REEs. [...] Read more.
The use of rare earth elements (REEs) is increasing, mainly due to the growing demand for electric vehicles and new applications in green technology. This results in annual growth of the in-use REE stocks and the amount of End-of-Life (EoL) products containing REEs. REEs are considered critical elements by the EU, mainly because the rest of the world is dependent on China’s supply. Recycling of REEs can help alleviate the criticality of REEs, however, no REEs are currently functionally recycled. In this study, the time-dependent behavior of REEs in copper matte-slag system in primary copper smelting conditions was investigated experimentally at a laboratory scale. Lanthanum and neodymium were chosen to represent all REEs, as they are generally found in the highest concentrations in EoL products, and because REEs all have similar chemical behavior. The experiments were conducted as a function of time in air and argon atmospheres. SEM-EDS, EPMA and LA-ICP-MS methods were used for sample characterization. The results of this work indicate that the REEs strongly favor the slag and the deportment to the slag begins almost instantly when the system reaches high temperatures. With increasing contact times, the REEs distribute even more strongly into the slag phase, where they may be recovered and recycled, if their concentrations are sufficiently high and a suitable hydrometallurgical process can be found. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development and Recycling of Rare Earth Resources)
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