Recycling as a Means of Reducing Material Related Supply Risks

Abstract

The energy and transport transition requires a large-scale installation of renewable energy sources as well as storage technologies and the electrification of vehicles. As a consequence, the demand for metallic raw materials also increases substantially. The increased import of 'new' metallic raw materials from primary production is, however, related to stronger geopolitical dependencies on a limited number of supplier countries. Recycling can be a means of mitigating geopolitical dependencies. However, recycling is not 'self-propelled'. The recycling potential of the end-of-life technology stock can differ for different kinds of technologies. While many technical approaches have already been developed (lab scale and possibly low TRL), a system level assessment, which considers technology-specific recycling, is still lacking. In addition to these technical constraints, the location of the recycling facilities is of importance. Materials from domestic recycling can be considered unproblematic in terms of import dependence and geopolitical risk. However, materials from non-domestic recycling only contribute to mitigating geopolitical risk if the recycling countries are related to a lower geopolitical risk than the primary production countries and if the concentration does not increase. The effect of domestic recycling on geopolitical risk has, so far, been given a minor focus in research. Therefore, we focus on this aspect.