The Urban Mining Potential of Zinc

Transcription

1 The Urban Mining Potential of Zinc G. Meylan, USYS Transdisciplinarity Lab, ETH Zürich, Switzerland 5th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management Athens, 23 June 2017 G. Meylan 7/3/2017 1

2 Content Introduction Method Results Conclusions & outlook G. Meylan 7/3/2017 2

3 Global trends, Swiss zinc flows 1. INTRODUCTION G. Meylan 7/3/2017 3

4 Prices and ore grades over the last century... Sources: Metals Week and Metal statistics and [1-3] G. Meylan 7/3/2017 4

5 Contemporary Swiss zinc flows Zinc stocks and flows 2010 Flows in kg Zn/cap/a Stocks in kg Zn/cap Sources: [4-7]

6 Research gap relevant for policy making Studies on the zinc cycle focus on material flows Material potentials for better resource management Highly useful discussion base But complementary information is needed for policy, e.g., Economic barriers or environmental issues limiting material potentials Available governance tools Foreseeable technological developments Urban mining potential analysis to inform Canton of Zurich for strategic planning in resource and waste management G. Meylan 7/3/2017 6

7 2. METHOD G. Meylan 7/3/2017 7

8 Method for urban mining potential Adapted from [8] G. Meylan 7/3/2017 8

9 Material potentials, five domains, Urban Mining Potential 3. RESULTS G. Meylan 7/3/2017 9

10 Material potentials: main elements of zinc management in Switzerland 2 steel works Electric-arc furnace as zinc-rich by-product of steel making 1 kg Zn/cap/a 10 out of 30 municipal solid waste incinerators Filter dust further processed to hydroxid sludge through acid washing (FLUWA) 0.09 kg Zn/cap/a In future: zinc recovery in centralized plant in Switzerland (SwissZinc) instead of foreign Waelz kilns G. Meylan 7/3/

11 Ecological domain a) Relative environmental impacts of life cycle stages of primary production [9] b) Life cycle assessment of hydroxide sludge disposal in Waelz kilns (blue, no pattern) and with the SwissZinc process (red, pattern) (b) [10] G. Meylan 7/3/

12 Technological domain Sources: [11-14] G. Meylan 7/3/

13 Economic domain Sources: [15] G. Meylan 7/3/

14 Social domain Zinc recycling is not an important economic sector At the social level, primary (foreign) and secondary (Swiss) production are not comparable Social impacts of a mine opening (South Africa) Macroeconomics (incl. jobs) Social aspects and health Visual landscapes Traffic Cultural heritage, archeology, and paleontology Social impacts of a mine closure (Australia) Economic progress (incl. jobs) Preservation of indigenous culture and traditions Conservation of landscape and environment Social progress and stronger communities Fulfillment of agreement between indigenous population and other stakeholders Sources: [16,17] Exporting acid-washing technology should be scrutinized G. Meylan 7/3/

15 Governance domain Private sector initiatives Öko-Stahl campaign provides environmental impacts of recycling steel to promote its use Zinc is not (yet) included in environmental impact assessment Public sector New (2016) waste regulation prescribes metal recovery from MSWI fly ash Mineral zinc in bottom us remains to be tackled! G. Meylan 7/3/

16 Urban Mining Potential G. Meylan 7/3/

17 4. CONCLUSIONS & OUTLOOK G. Meylan 7/3/

18 Conclusions & Outlook Importance of municipal solid waste incinerators Deployment of acid washing Domestic centralized zinc recycling Problem of fluctuating world zinc prices Study provides new perspectives on material potentials Identification of ways to support two main elements of zinc management Establishment of priorities for zinc management in general Useful for policy-makers and broader public Application to other countries or regions? G. Meylan 7/3/

19 Thanks for your attention G. Meylan 7/3/2017

20 References 1. Mudd, G.M.: The Limits to Growth and finite mineral resources: Re-visiting the assumptions and drinking from that half-capacity glass. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Sustainability Engineering & Science: Transitions to Sustainability. The Sustainability Society, Auckland (New Zealand) (2010) 2. USGS (ed.) Zinc statistics. United States Geological Survey (USGS), Reston, VA ( 2014) 3. ILZSG: World lead and zinc statistics: Monthly Bulletins of the International Lead and Zinc Study Group. International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG), London ( ) 4. Hügi, M., Gerber, P., Hauser, A., Laube, A., Quartier, R., Schenk, K., Wysser, M.: Abfallwirtschaftsbericht Zahlen und Entwicklungen der schweizerischen Abfallwirtschaft Bundesamt für Umwelt (BAFU), Umwelt-Zustand Nr Bern (2008) 5. Kral, U., Vyzinkarova, D., Brunner, P.H.: Schutz und Nutzung von Senken durch die Zücher Abfall- und Ressourcenwirtschaft. Studie im Auftrag des Amts für Abfall, Wasser, Energie und Luft des Kantons Zürich. TU Wien, Wien (2015) 6. Meylan, G., Reck, B.K.: The anthropogenic cycle of zinc: Status quo and perspectives. Resour. Conserv. Recy. (online first). doi: /j.resconrec G. Meylan 7/3/

21 References 7. Schlumberger, S.: Neue Technologien und Möglichkeiten der Behandlung von Rauchgasreinigungsrückständen im Sinne eines nachhaltigen Ressourcenmanagements. KVA-Rückstände in der Schweiz - Der Rohstoff mit Mehrwert, Bern (2010) 8. Simoni, M., Kuhn, E.P., Morf, L.S., Kuendig, R., Adam, F.: Urban mining as a contribution to the resource strategy of the Canton of Zurich. Waste Manage. 45, (2015). doi: /j.wasman Nuss, P., Eckelman, M.J.: Life Cycle Assessment of Metals: A Scientific Synthesis. PLoS ONE 9(7), e (2014). doi: /journal.pone Schlumberger, S., Haupt, M., Jutz, M.: Zinkrecycling aus Hydroxidschlämmen. Stiftung Zentrum für Nachhaltige Abfall- und Ressourcennutzung, Hinwil (2016) 11. Goodwin, F.E.: Zinc and zinc alloys. In: Seidel, A., Bickford, M. (eds.) Kirk- Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ (2012) 12. ZAR: SwissZink - zentrale KVA-Hydroxidschlammverwertung. Projektblatt 1. Zentrum für nachhaltige Abfall- und Ressourcennutzung, Hinwil (2014) G. Meylan 7/3/

22 References 13. ZAR: SwissZink - zentrale KVA-Hydroxidschlammverwertung. Projektblatt 2. Zentrum für nachhaltige Abfall- und Ressourcennutzung, Hinwil (2016) 14. Antrekowitsch, J., Steinlechner, S., Unger, A., Rösler, G., Pichler, C., Rumpold, R.: Chapter 9 - Zinc and Residue Recycling. In: Worrell, E., Reuter, M.A. (eds.) Handbook of Recycling. pp Elsevier, Boston (2014) 15. EZV: Swiss-Impex. Eidgenössische Zollverwaltung (EZV), Bern (2016) 16. ERM: Environmental and social impact assessment for the Gamsberg zinc mine and associated infrastructure in the Northern Cape. Environmental Resources Management (ERM), Cap Town (2013) 17. Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining: Social aspects of the closure of Century Mine. The University of Queensland, Australia, Brisbane (2013) G. Meylan 7/3/