21 issue for the 21st century

Changing the Face of Waste: Solving the Impending Scarcity of Strategic Minerals and Avoiding Electronic Waste

Why a UNEP foresight project?UNEP Science Strategy – UNEP stronger leadership role in identifying and prioritizing emerging global environmental issues Ensure that UN community and & environmental policy community are aware of most critical emerging issues having to do with the environment

Help set policy agenda

Make identification of issues more systematic for POW

Input to Rio +20

What is the UNEP Foresight process?A systematic procedure for canvassing top experts every two

years identify and rank critical emerging issues. Coordination: Chief Scientists Office & DEWA. Foresight Panel – 22 distinguished scientists/experts – Broad regional & disciplinary representation

21 p

riorit

y iss

ues

UNEP community identified 68 issues

Foresight Panel meeting debated 98

issuesBroad Electronic consultation 933

scientists worldwide 428 responses

What is an emerging issue?It is critical to the global environment, can be positive or negative.

Must be environmental in nature, or environmentally-related.

Should be given priority over the next one to three years in work programmes of UNEP and/or other UN institutions and/or other international institutions

Has to be of large spatial scale (global, continental, "universal")Must be recognized as very important by the scientific community, but has not yet received adequate attention from the policy community. Hence it is considered an "emerging issue" from the perspective of the policy community.

Changing the face of waste: Current condition

Increased demand for

some strategic minerals,

including rare elements i.e. lanthanum,

cerium, lithium, neodymium, indium and

gallium.

Hazardous chemicals and materials from

product made of the above

creates new management

problems.

e-waste

Changing the face of waste:Importance

Large demand for rare

elements has

resulted in

depletion

Environmental and

health risk

Estimated 200%-

500% increase

of e-waste by

2020

Changing the face of waste: Options for action

Resource manageme

ntMining Recycle

“Planned capacity

for evolution”

Life cycle approach

Changing the face of waste: Consequences of inactionManufacturing trend continues next 10-20 years accelerated depletion of key minerals

Build up of hazardous and e-waste

Risk to public health and environment

Heightened competition of strategic mineral

References http://www.unep.org/science/chief-scientist/Portals/76/docs/alcamo-foresight-geneva-15-12-11.pdf European Union (EU). 2011. Waste electrical and electronic equipment. Directive on waste electrical

and electronic equipment. http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/ environment/waste_management/l21210_en.htm

GBI Research. 2010. E-waste Management Market to 2020 - Emerging Economies Poised to Capitalize on E-waste Recovery and Recycling Market. The Electronic Industry Market Research and Knowledge Network. GBI Research.

Guiltinan, J. 2009. Creative destruction and destructive creations: environmental ethics and planned obsolescence, Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 19-28 Humphries, M. 2010. Rare earth elements: the global supply chain. CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41347.pdf

Long, K.R., Van Gosen, B.S., Foley, N.K., Cordier, D. 2010. The principal rare earth elements deposits of the United States - a summary of domestic deposits and a global perspective. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010 – 5220. http://pubs.usgs.gov./sir/2010/5220.

Nnorom, I.C., Osibanjo, O. 2010. Overview of prospects in adopting remanufacturing of end-of-life electronic products in the developing countries. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 1, 328-338

UNEP. 2009. Recycling – from e-waste to resources - solving the e-waste problem. Sustainable innovation and technology transfer industrial sector studies. United Nations Environment Programme. http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/E-Waste_publication_screen_FINALVERSION-sml.pdf

US Department of Energy (DOE). 2010. Critical materials strategy, US Department of Energy. http://www.doe.gov/sites/prod/files/edg/news/documents/ criticalmaterialsstrategy.pdf