Environmental sustainability and supply resillience of cobalt
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Author(s)
Earl, Cathryn
Shah, Izhar Hussain
Cook, Simon
Cheeseman, Christopher Robert
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Cobalt (Co) is an essential metal for the development of energy-transition technologies, decarbonising transportation, achieving several sustainable development goals, and facilitating a future net zero transition. However, the supply of Co is prone to severe fluctuation, disruption, and price instabilities. This review aims to identify the future evolution of Co supply through technologically resilient and environmentally sustainable pathways. The work shows that advances in both primary and secondary sources, Co mining methods and recycling systems are yet to be fully optimised. Moreover, responsible sourcing from both large mines and small artisanal mines will be necessary for a resilient Co supply. Regulatory approaches may increase transparency, support local mining communities, and improve secondary Co recovery. Novel Co supply options, such as deep-sea mining and bio-mining of tailings, are associated with major techno-economic and environmental issues. However, a circular economy, keeping Co in the economic loop for as long as possible, is yet to be optimised at both regional and global scales. To achieve environmental sustainability of Co, economic incentives, regulatory push, and improved public perception are required to drive product innovation and design for circularity. Although the complexity of Co recycling, due to lack of standardisation of design and chemistry in batteries, is an impediment, a sustainable net zero transition using Co will only be possible if a reliable primary supply and a circular secondary supply are established
Date Issued
2022-03-30
Date Acceptance
2022-03-24
Citation
Sustainability, 2022, 14 (7), pp.4124-4124
ISSN
2071-1050
Publisher
MDPI AG
Start Page
4124
End Page
4124
Journal / Book Title
Sustainability
Volume
14
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/)
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/)
License URL
Identifier
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/4124
Subjects
12 Built Environment and Design
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2022-03-30