| Title |
Circular economy: A sustainable management strategy for rare earth elements consumption in Australia |
| ID_Doc |
3754 |
| Authors |
Mejame, MPP; King, D; Banhalmi-zakar, Z; He, YH |
| Title |
Circular economy: A sustainable management strategy for rare earth elements consumption in Australia |
| Year |
2022 |
| Published |
|
| DOI |
10.1016/j.crsust.2022.100157 |
| Abstract |
Rare earth elements (REEs) are a major constituent of many advanced materials in the information and tele-communication industries, as well as the renewable and energy efficiency sectors. REEs are enablers of speed, performance, durability, and low carbon emissions in these industries. They are required in everyday applica-tions because of their unique chemical and physical properties. Given the rise in environmental concerns and consequent demand for REEs and the limited locations where REEs can be sourced, there is a very high risk of supply disruption.Despite the threat of REE supply risk and its environmental and economic significance, an in-depth exami-nation of the environmental impact and benefits of sustainable consumption of these metals in Australia, as in many other parts of the world, holistically and systematically is lacking, particularly regarding improvement in resource efficiency strategies. Most previous work on REEs has focused either on the politico-economic conflicts over supply and distribution, or the environmental and social impacts of its production and has not holistically examined this problem, as a system.This paper provides a review of REEs' sustainable consumption in Australia. The study highlights Circular Economy (CE) as a scientifically plausible picture of sustainable management strategy to help address the adverse impacts of resource (REEs) shortages while achieving maximum environmental benefits. It provides answers to how sustainable are the current strategies of REEs consumption and how this can be enhanced from a CE perspective. A comprehensive CE framework was developed, followed by an illustrative example of CE as a tool for sustainability management and a practical implementation strategy to close the material loop and improve resource efficiency. |
| Author Keywords |
Rare earth elements; Circular economy; Resource efficiency; Material use; Sustainability; Material efficiency |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) |
| EID |
WOS:000905612500012 |
| WoS Category |
Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies |
| Research Area |
Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2022.100157
|