Kritik Metallerin Geri Dönüşüm Sürecini Hızlandırmak, Kıtlıkları ve Çevresel Yükleri Hafifletebilir

Metallerin Geri Dönüşümünün Önemi

Mineral kaynaklar doğası gereği sınırlıdır ve çıkarımları enerji yoğun ve çevreye zarar vericidir. Madencilik sektörü taze suyun büyük bir tüketicisi, sera gazı emisyonu yapan bir sektördür ve ormansızlaşma ile kirliliğe neden olur; bu etkiler on yıllar, hatta yüzyıllar sürebilir.

Teoride, metaller en geri dönüştürülebilir malzemeler olmalıdır, çünkü saf elementlerden oluşurlar; bu, plastik gibi karmaşık organik moleküllerin aksine bir durumdur.

Pratikte ise durum çok farklıdır; metal geri dönüşümü genellikle kusurlu ya da çok enerji tüketicidir. Bu durum özellikle elektronik bileşenlerde geçerlidir; burada atom seviyesinde nadir metaller, kadmiyum, titanyum, tungsten gibi egzotik elementlerin karmaşık karışımları bulunur.

So, it is big news that researchers from Rice University (USA) and Tsinghua University (China) have developed an entirely novel way of recycling metals using intense electric currents. Their results were published in Nature Chemical Engineering on September 25^th, 2024 under the title “Elektrot termal klorlamayla metalin flaş ayrımı”.

Metal Geri Dönüşüm Yöntemleri

Mevcut Metal Geri Dönüşümü

Currently, metal recycling mostly relies on sıvı hidrometalurji, or the dissolution of metals in liquid or alkaline water. However, this technique involves substantial water and chemical consumption with problematic secondary waste streams.

Kaynak: MEAB

Another option is pirometalurji, which essentially melts all the mixed metals together and then re-purifies them according to their physical properties (melting point, etc.). The issue is that this method lacks selectivity, so often, the result is still a mix of different metals. It also requires significant energy inputs, reducing its environmental profile.

Flaş Joule Isıtması (FJH)

Flash Joule Heating is a method that the research team leader, James M. Tour, has previous experience with for graphene synthesis and waste disposal.

Kaynak: India Education Diary

FJH consists of passing an electric current through a material to rapidly heat it to extremely high temperatures. The speed of the heating process transforms the material into different substances.

They discovered that the method could be applied to metal extraction. And it seems that it could be widely applied to a variety of electronic wastes. Notably, the method was proven to be able to separate:

• Kondansatörlerden tantalum.
• LED’lerden galyum.
• Kullanılmış güneş filmlerinden indiyum.

The method achieved these results without using any water, acid, or other solvent, drastically reducing the resulting pollution. Not only this can work on many metals, but it also achieves a purity of 95% for the end result, by precisely controlling the reaction conditions. In total, the yield was a very satisfying 85%.

So even if it would not recover all the metal, this method could drastically reduce the portion of waste that needs to be processed with hydro- or pyrometallurgy.

Gelecek FJH Perspektifleri

Evrensel Elektronik Geri Dönüşümü

This method was here studied for recycling only some types of electronic waste. More work will be needed to assess it for other types of electronics in dire need of more efficient and environmentally friendly options, like for example batteries.

“Bu yöntemi atık akışlarından diğer kritik metallerin geri kazanımı için uyarlamaya çalışıyoruz.”

Dr. Bing Deng – Tsinghua Üniversitesi yardımcı doçent ve çalışmanın ortak birinci yazarı.

It is also likely that more refinement on the method can be developed, like testing it in combination with a smaller amount of acid to find ways to increase the total yield.

“Bu atılım, kritik metal kıtlıkları ve olumsuz çevresel etkiler sorununu ele alırken, daha verimli bir geri kazanım süreciyle küresel ölçekte geri dönüşüm endüstrilerini ekonomik olarak teşvik ediyor.”

Dr. Shichen Xu – Rice Üniversitesi doktora sonrası araştırmacı / co‑first author of the study

Mineral Çıkarımı

Conceptually, there is very little difference between metal recycling and mineral extraction from natural ore. In both cases, the metal is embedded with other elements and needs to be forcefully separated to be purified and made usable by the industries needing it.

In mining too, refining is often achieved through the use of water + acids, or extreme heat, both at a massive scale. This is a key part of what makes mining so controversial and environmentally destructive.

So the method could also hold promises for the extraction of lithium and rare Earth elements, according to Dr. Shichen Xu.

Metal Geri Dönüşümüne Yatırım

While some metals like steel and aluminum are recycled well, other more complex materials like electronic waste are still mostly unrecycled, or processed in unsanitary and polluting conditions in poor countries.

Meanwhile, EVs, solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and small electronic devices are produced in ever larger quantities, accumulating the stockpile of material needing to be recycled in a mere few years.

You can invest in recycling companies through many brokers, and you can find here, on securities.io, our recommendations for the best brokers in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, as well as many other countries.

If you are not interested in picking specific companies, you can also look into ETFs like the Mast Global Battery Recycling & Production ETF (EV), the VanEck Circular Economy UCITS ETF (REUS), or the WisdomTree Recycling Decarbonisation UCITS ETF – USD Acc (WRCY) (WT )  which will provide a more diversified exposure to capitalize on the recycling industry.

Metal Geri Dönüşüm Şirketleri

1. Li-Cycle Holdings Corp 

Among all types of electronic waste, batteries may be the most problematic one.

This is because not only are they extremely complex devices containing many different polluting metals, but also because they are always potentially a safety risk due to the risk of fire or explosion of charged batteries. So while batteries are mostly safe in normal conditions, getting shredded or melted for recycling is obviously perfect for creating such danger.

And the volume of batteries needing recycling is going to explode 6x by 2030 in North America alone.

Kaynak: Li-Cycle

It is a crucial selling point of Li-Cycle that their method can process fully charged full battery packs, without the need to dismantle or discharge.

This is also a “battery form Agnostic” process, meaning that it can work on any type of lithium-ion battery, regardless of the manufacturer or status of the battery. As the industry is still far from having consolidated around a specific design, and innovation is happening very fast, it is crucial for a recycler to stay able to work efficiently in the long run.

Overall, the company achieves a 95% recovery rate and can produce high-quality materials like battery-grade lithium carbonate from the used batteries.

Kaynak: Li-Cycle

In 2023 and early 2024, the company hit an obstacle with massive cost overruns for the building of an important processing facility in Rochester, NY. This came after a very quick expansion with facilities built across North America, Europe, and Asia.

If finished and running at full speed, the Rochester Hub could process up to 35,000 tons of so-called black mass (essentially crushed batteries) per year.

This would be a massive step up from the only 1,394 tons of black mass produced in Q2 2024.

Kaynak: Li-Cycle

To get enough money to finish Rochester, Li-Cycle, Mart 2024’te madencilik devi Glencore’dan 75 milyon dolar yatırım güvence altına aldı. It is also looking for a $375M loan from the US government as part of the push for green policies and re-industrialization in the of the U.S. IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The DoE Loan process is now quite advanced, having reached step 5 out of 6 in total. Construction at Rochester is expected to restart if the loan is approved.

Kaynak: Li-Cycle

Another headwind for the company has been low material prices, which have hit the whole supply chain, including lithium miners. In response, the company has reduced its headcount and cut costs where possible.

If Rochester Hub is successful, the company is aiming to build three additional third-generation hubs (Rochester is second-generation) in Alabama, Arizona, and Germany.

Kaynak: Li-Cycle

2. Enviri

Formerly known as Harsco, the company is a giant in waste recycling, with a focus on industrial and mining waste, including metals (40% of its total sales).

The company is split into 3 parts:

• Harsco Environmental: Yılda 20 milyon ton cürufu işleyerek asfalt, kaldırım blokları, aşındırıcılar, çatı shingle’ları ve gübreler üretir.
• Clean Earth: Tehlikeli atıkların yönetiminde uzmanlaşmıştır; yıllık 5,6 milyon lamba, 5,3 milyon pound pil, 5.000 ton elektronik, 3,4 milyon kontamine toprak ve 71 milyon galon atık su gibi miktarları işler.
• Rail: demiryolu bakım ve inşaat çözümleri sunar.

Kaynak: Enviri

Overall, the recycling/cleaning segment makes up the majority of the business, with 62% of total revenues coming from North America. Clean Earth has been growing quickly, moving from just a few percent of the company’s revenues in 2019 to almost a third in 2024.

Kaynak: Enviri

The company sees a large growth opportunity in the treatment of PFAS (Per- ve polifluoroalkil maddeler), or “forever chemicals” which are increasingly a concern and in need of better processing. The market for PFAS disposal that could be addressed by Enviri’sClean Earth is expected to grow to 3-5B.

Şirket, PFAS’ı çöplüğe atmak veya derin kuyu enjeksiyon yöntemleri yerine yok edebilecek ek yöntemleri belirlemeye odaklanmaya devam etmektedir.

Uzun vadeli riskleri ve sorumlulukları azaltmak için yok etmenin üstün bir teknoloji olduğuna inanıyoruz.

Elizabeth Peterson – Clean Earth Baş Ticari Yetkilisi

As more and more regulations are tackling the problem of unaddressed pollution (like PFAS), it is likely that companies like Enviri will benefit from it. Other opportunities can be found in green steel and carbon-negative asphalt.

In the long-term the company is considering selling its rail assets, to finalize its transformation from an industrial group to a green economy company. But it might take time, due to regulations and threats to long-term contracts in Europe in case of a sale, bu da demiryolu segmentinin satışının şu an için durdurulmasına yol açıyor.