Metal stocks in society - Scientific Synthesis

The continued increase in the use of metals over the twentieth century has led to a substantial shift from geological resource base to metal stocks in society. This report reviews the relevant literature on this topic. From a compilation of 54 studies, it is clear that a reasonably detailed picture of in-use stocks and in-use lifetimes exists for only five metals: aluminum, copper, iron, lead, and zinc. Limited data suggest that per capita in-use stocks in more developed countries typically exceed those in less-developed countries by factors of five to ten. Reliable data on metals stocks in society and their lifetimes are essential for building a global recycling infrastructure in the future.

This report is a rewritten and enhanced version based on M. D. Gerst and T. E. Graedel, Environmental Science & Technology, 42, 7038 – 7045, 2008. Parts of it were developed at a workshop held August 15 – 16, 2008.

The lead author of this report is T.E. Graedel and it was edited by the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, Working Group on the Global Metal Flows.

Website:

http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/8438

Date (Creation)

Date (Publication): 2010-01-01

Date (Revision)

Citation identifier: https://www.mica-project.eu/ / MICA_B2-58
MICA WP3 2017-09-25T10:33:00 Record extracted from Batch 2 spreadsheet

Other citation details: The quality of the data reviewed by this synthesis report are discussed and as stated in the abstract the quality of data for the named metals is reasonable to allow for a metals in-use estimation to be undertaken. The report states that data uncertainty was looked by some of the reports reviewed in this study.

Purpose: To review data availability and estimate metal stocks in society. This information is used for estimating what quantities of primary materials could potentially be offset by the use of existing metals from in-use stocks and waste.

Status: Completed

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
United Nations Environment Programme, International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, Working Group on Global Metal Flows			Resource provider

Maintenance and update frequency: Not planned

dataCentre

MICA
MET4TECH

MICA ontology (TemporalScheme)

Mixture of historic (up to 2005) and recent (2006 onwards)

MICA ontology (DataScheme)

General descriptive information / Report / Government organisation (Report)

Keywords

Requirement for data generation: Voluntary

Keywords

Method of data or information generation: Academic research

GEMET Concepts

Stocks

INSPIRE commodities

Gold

INSPIRE commodities

Silver

INSPIRE commodities

Platinum

INSPIRE commodities

Palladium

INSPIRE commodities

Other platinum group metals (iridium)

INSPIRE commodities

Other platinum group metals (osmium)

INSPIRE commodities

Other platinum group metals (rhodium)

INSPIRE commodities

Other platinum group metals (ruthenium)

INSPIRE commodities

Aluminium

INSPIRE commodities

Copper

INSPIRE commodities

Lead

INSPIRE commodities

Zinc

INSPIRE commodities

Chromium

INSPIRE commodities

Cobalt

INSPIRE commodities

Iron

INSPIRE commodities

Manganese

INSPIRE commodities

Molybdenum

INSPIRE commodities

Nickel

INSPIRE commodities

Niobium

INSPIRE commodities

Tungsten

INSPIRE commodities

Vanadium

INSPIRE commodities

Antimony

INSPIRE commodities

Beryllium

INSPIRE commodities

Bismuth

INSPIRE commodities

Cadmium

INSPIRE commodities

Magnesium

INSPIRE commodities

Mercury

INSPIRE commodities

Rare earths (undifferentiated)

INSPIRE commodities

Titanium