Mind the E-Waste: A Case for Switzerland
As demand for critical minerals rises, an increase in recycling capacities can mitigate potential supply shortages. Switzerland has a strong track record in e-waste recycling, which it should capitalize on with a bigger emphasis on critical minerals, argues Julian Kamasa in this issue of the CSS Policy Perspectives series.
Key Points
- In their ambitions to reduce dependencies on authoritarian states, European countries should increase circularity of strategic raw materials.
- Urban mining can play an important role in these ambitions, and Switzerland should capitalize on its recycling capacities and put a stronger emphasis on strategic raw materials.
- Capacity and know-how in this area are what Switzerland can bring to the table in exchange for benefits that the EU or the US can offer in terms of the long-term goal of minimizing dependencies.
The decarbonization of large economies in many parts of the world is a huge commodity transition. While demand for commodities such as oil, gas, or coal is expected to shrink, the reverse will be true for minerals that are key for renewable energy sources and the electrification of transport. Urban mining can play a crucial role here, as it can help to mitigate supply shortages and be part of the overall transition from linear to circular economies. This is because urban mining is the extraction of raw materials from used electronics, bringing these minerals back to the supply chain and, thereby, enabling the circular use of raw materials. In Switzerland, the recycling rate of electronic waste (e-waste) is above 90 per cent, making the country a global leader in this field. This creates an opportunity for the country to recycle so far unrecycled minerals that might be in short supply in the future as demand for them rises rapidly.