Opportunities & limits to recycle critical metals for clean energies Christian Hagelüken, Mark Caffarey - Umicore Adjust look to other presentations Trans-Atlantic Workshop on Rare Earth Elements and Other Critical Materials for a Clean Energy Future MIT Boston, 3. Dec. 2010

Boom in demand for most ‘technology metals’ % mined in 1900-1980 % mined in 1980-2010 important for clean energy REE = Rare Earth Elements  Much more than Rare Earth Elements, but little significance of „mass metals“

Clean energy developments will further boost demand for technology metals Multiple examples: Electric vehicles & batteries cobalt, lithium, rare earth elements, copper Fuel cells platinum, (ruthenium, palladium, gold) Photovoltaic (solar cells) silicon, silver, indium, gallium, selenium, tellurium, germanium, ruthenium Thermo-electrics, opto-electronics, LEDs, … bismuth, tellurium, silicon, indium, gallium, arsenic, selenium, germanium, antimony, … … The reverse in part 2?

Urban mining “deposits” can be much richer than primary mining ores ~5 g/t Au in ore Similar for PGMs Urban mining 200-250 g/t Au in PC circuit boards 300-350 g/t Au in cell phones 2000 g/t PGM in automotive catalysts Example gold – principle is valid for many technology metals

Low loadings per unit, but volume counts Example: Metal use in electronics Global sales, 2009 a) Mobile phones 1300 million units/ year X 250 mg Ag ≈ 325 t Ag X 24 mg Au ≈ 31 t Au X 9 mg Pd ≈ 12 t Pd X 9 g Cu ≈ 12,000 t Cu 1300 million Li-Ion batteries X 3.8 g Co ≈ 4900 t Co b) PCs & laptops 300 Million units/year X 1000 mg Ag ≈ 300 t Ag X 220 mg Au ≈ 66 t Au X 80 mg Pd ≈ 24 t Pd X ~500 g Cu ≈ 150,000 t Cu ~140 million Li-ion batteries X 65 g Co ≈ 9100 t Co a+b) Urban mine Mine production / share Ag: 21,000 t/a ► 3% Au: 2,400 t/a ► 4% Pd: 220 t/a ► 16% Cu: 16 Mt/a ► <1% Co: 75,000 t/a ► 19% Tiny metal content per piece  Significant total demand Other electronic devices add even more to these figures

Mass recycling vs technology metals recycling Bottle glass Steel scrap Circuit boards Autocatalysts + Green glass White glass Brown glass Specialty metals PGMs “Mono-substance” materials without hazards Trace elements remain part of alloys/glass Recycling focus on mass and costs ”Poly-substance” materials, incl. hazardous elements Complex components as part of complex products Recycling focus on value recovery from trace elements

Recycling chain - system approach is key Example: 50% X 70% X 95% = 33% End-of-life products Collection Dismantling & pre-processing Smelting & refining Recycled metals Reuse Separated components & fractions Final waste Consider the entire chain & its interdependences Precious metals dominate economic & environmental value  minimise PM losses Mass flows  flows of technology metals Success factors  interface optimisation, specialisation, economies of scale  The total recycling efficiency is determined by the weakest step in the chain

Room for improvement in the recycling chain Example of gold recycling Collection Dismantling & pre-processing Smelting & refining 80% X 50% X 50% = 20% Key slide, as it shows that best combination involves Umicore like refiners. Steven Art project? 50% X 25% X 95% = 12% Are we always doing much better in “the West” today? Future… 85% X 73% 90% 95% =  Doing it the right way offers a huge potential – so how to get there? Figures are illustrative

Example e-scrap: Number of actors in Europe Large number of players in the recycling chain Limited number of technology metals refiners Sufficient capacity for recovery of many technology metals available Make sure that critical fractions reach these plants without major losses during the way Ensure that critical fractions with technology metals are treated at BAT processes High yields, minimal emissions Recovery of multiple metals Example e-scrap: Number of actors in Europe 10,000s 1000’s 100’s 3 Collection Dismantling & Pre-processing Smelting & Refining

Example Umicore: High Tech & Economies of Scale are crucial success factors Umicore‘s integrated Hoboken smelter/refinery Capacity: 100 t Au, 2400t Ag, 50t PGM = 7% of world mine production. ISO 14001 & 9001, OHSAS 18001 Focus PM-containing secondary material, input > 300 000 t/a, global customer basis Recovery of 7 PM & 11 other metals with high yields: Recycled metal value: 3 Bn US-$ Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Cu, Pb, Ni, Sn, Bi, Se, Te, Sb, As, In, Ga. Investments since 1997: 400 M €; Invest. for comparable green field plant: >> 1 Bn €! Value of precious metals enables co-recovery of specialty metals (‘paying metals’)

Technology metals recycling is more complex than in the movies Technical accessibility of relevant components E.g. electronics in modern cars, REE-magnets in electric motors, … Need for “Design for disassembly”, sorting & “pre-shredder” separation technologies Thermodynamic challenges & difficult metal combinations for “trace elements” Laws of Nature cannot be broken E.g. rare earth elements, tantalum, gallium, beryllium in electronics, lithium in batteries Need for recyclability consideration in development of new material combinations Quality/composition of feed streams need to match with capability of recycling process From: Disney/Pixar www.wall-e.com

Economic recycling challenges Most precious metals containing waste materials have a positive net value Value of metals contained outweighs cost of recycling Technology metals containing waste materials may have negative net value in the absence of certain “paying metals” (e.g. Au) in the same metal feed Value/price of metal not sufficient to compensate for cost of recycling Negative net value due to low critical metal concentrations in products E.g. lithium in batteries, indium in LCDs & PV-modules  Create economic recycling incentives (subsidies) & improve technology (costs & efficiency) Dispersed use inhibits economic recycling (regardless of price level) E.g. silver in textiles or RFID chips  Avoid dispersed use or look for non-critical substitutes  Legislative initiatives required in certain cases

Main flaws in EU WEEE recycling Poor collection Deviation of collected materials  dubious exports backyard treatment ► :

To what extent does current (EU-) legislation help? Legislation helps Awareness raising, supportive legal framework Development of take-back infrastructure, collection targets, EU wide reporting Resource aspect of recycling is on the radar screen now, beyond the traditional waste/environmental aspects Legislation can be improved Weak enforcement of legislation Poor monitoring of end-of-life flows Illegal exports Collection targets not ambitious enough, collection remains well below potential Mass based targets do not help for technology metals (“trace elements”) Neither clear definitions nor reliable supervision of recycling standards exist Example of ELV & WEEE directive in voice over As long as the majority of ELVs, old computers, mobile phones etc. are exported from Europe legislation remains a “paper tiger”. However, more ambitious targets combined with strict monitoring and enforcement could boost business for state-of-the-art EU recyclers (Umicore)

Legislation needed for certain recycling drivers Criticality, a new driver for recycling? Current recycling-drivers Value: Taken care of by the market, pays for itself Set EHS frame conditions! EHS & volume Society driven Negative net value Future recycling drivers: “Critical metals” Macro economic significance Enhanced recycling worthwhile also without volume or EHS risks Value Economic incentive e.g. : autocat, Al-wheel rim, Cu-scrap, precious metals, … Recycling Sustainable access to critical metals Driven by legislation Environment Volume Too much to dump e.g. : household waste, debris, packaging, … Risk for EHS (Environment, health & safety) e.g..: asbestos, Hg, airbags, waste oil, …

Next steps: Time for fundamental changes Attitude: from waste management  to resource management Targets: from focus on mass  to focus on quality & critical substances Practice: from traditional waste business  to high-tech recycling Vision (OEMs): from burden  to recycling as opportunity Recycling requires a holistic and interdisciplinary approach  Ensure consistency between different policies

Ready for questions Mark.Caffarey@am.umicore.com, Christian.Hagelueken@eu.umicore.com www.preciousmetals.umicore.com

Recycling recommendations developed by the RMI critical metals group Undertake policy actions to make recycling of critical raw materials more efficient, in particular by: Mobilising relevant EoL products for proper collection instead of stocking, landfill or incineration Improving overall organisation, logistics & efficiency of recycling chains by focussing on interfaces and system approach Preventing illegal exports of relevant EoL products & increasing transparency in flows Promoting research on system optimisation & recycling of technically challenging products & substances Source: DEFINING CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS FOR THE EU: A Report from the Raw Materials Supply Group ad hoc working group defining critical raw materials; July 30, 2010

RMI: Eurometaux Proposals Enforcing trade-related aspects of environmental legislation Ensuring level playing field for processing 2nd raw materials Improving management of raw materials and their efficient use Economic viability of recycling Existing EU policy framework Improving access to secondary raw materials 10 concrete proposals under 4 pillars: (1): Trade aspects Customs identification of second hand goods Improved enforcement of Waste Shipment Regulation End-of-Waste (2) Level playing field Certification scheme to ensure access to secondary RM Facilitate & encourage the re- shipping of complex materials to BAT-recycling plants in Europe (3) Improved EoL management Promote the Efficient Collection and Recycling of Rechargeable Batteries The eco-leasing concept Better recycling data Research on recyclability (4) Economic viability of recycling

Gold recovery in printed circuit board fraction, after pre-processing Western technology not always perfect as well – Choice of pre-processing technology is crucial Gold recovery in printed circuit board fraction, after pre-processing Choice of dismantling & pre-processing technology strongly impacts recovery rates Materials must be steered into most suitable refining processes Challenge for complex products Precious- & special metals are lost unless directed into PM- & Cu-refining. To maximise recovery of precious & special metals certain losses of plastics & base metals are inevitable (& should be tolerated). Manual Low intensity mechanical High intensity mechanical 75% gold loss High recovery in St2: due to very selective process and removal of material from different Parts of the product. Notice impact of feed material and pre-processing route. Source: Rotter et al. Elektronik Ecodesign Congress München (10/2009) 20

R & D started to recover Li Continuous technology innovation - Umicore recycling process for rechargeable batteries R & D started to recover Li Source: Eurometaux’s proposals for the Raw Materials Initiative, annex, a case story on rechargeable batteries, prepared by Umicore & Recharge, June 2010