Quantitative assessment of dissipative losses of 18 metals

Dissipative losses of metals are unrecoverable material flows representing the real consumption of metals. They occur during any process in the global metal cycle from primary production to waste management and have different receiving mediums. Avoiding dissipative losses can reduce both primary material requirements and potential negative environmental impacts of metals. However, there are currently no quantitative indicators available for the assessment of global dissipative losses of metals covering all processes before and after the use-phase. Here we present three indicators, the Dissipation-to-Extraction Ratio, the Dissipation-to-Final-Production Ratio, and the Expected Lifetime in the Anthroposphere. These indicators are further applied to 18 metals. The results show that the severity of dissipative losses throughout the periodic table differs a lot. Dissipation ratios are lowest for mass metals like iron, aluminum, and nickel, and highest for technology metals like gallium, germanium, and tellurium. Expected lifetimes vary between just months for metals with high dissipation ratios and up to a century for aluminum and iron. The assessment shows that there are important measures in material efficiency and recycling efforts to be taken to decrease dissipative losses for a wide range of metals. For each metal, the most effective options for action can be identified based on our results.