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Evaluation of the Metals Industry's Position on Recycling and its Implications for Environmental Emissions

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  • Colin A. McMillan
  • Steven J. Skerlos
  • Gregory A. Keoleian
Abstract
A healthy debate on the treatment of metals recycling in the life cycle assessment (LCA) community has persisted for more than a decade. While no clear consensus across stakeholder groups has emerged, the metals industry has endorsed a set of recycling “facts” that support a single approach, end‐of‐life recycling, for evaluating the environmental benefits of metals recycling. In this article we draw from research conducted in several disciplines and find that three key tenets of the metals industry capture the theoretical potential of metals recycling from a metallurgical standpoint rather than reflecting observed behavior. We then discuss the implications of these conclusions on environmental emissions from metals production and recycling. Evidence is provided that, contrary to the position of the metals industry, metals are not necessarily recycled at high rates, are recycled only a small number of times before final disposal, and are sometimes limited in recycling potential by the economics of contaminant removal. The analysis concludes that metal recycled from old scrap largely serves as an imperfect substitute for primary metal. As a result, large‐scale displacement of primary production and its associated environmental emissions is currently limited to a few specific instances.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin A. McMillan & Steven J. Skerlos & Gregory A. Keoleian, 2012. "Evaluation of the Metals Industry's Position on Recycling and its Implications for Environmental Emissions," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(3), pages 324-333, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:16:y:2012:i:3:p:324-333
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00483.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Millar, Neal & McLaughlin, Eoin & Börger, Tobias, 2019. "The Circular Economy: Swings and Roundabouts?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 11-19.
    2. Daniel R. Cooper & Nicole A. Ryan & Kyle Syndergaard & Yongxian Zhu, 2020. "The potential for material circularity and independence in the U.S. steel sector," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(4), pages 748-762, August.
    3. Joseph Palazzo & Roland Geyer & Sangwon Suh, 2020. "A review of methods for characterizing the environmental consequences of actions in life cycle assessment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(4), pages 815-829, August.

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