Critical Elements: Summary and Further Reading

Many elements that are utilized in chemical manufacturing and other industries are becoming more and more expensive and harder to source, and hence strategies should be adopted that promote the efficient use of those elements. At present, primarily we have a linear system for obtaining elements, i.e. extraction, manufacture, use and then at the end-of-life, the product becomes waste. It is essential that we begin to use a more holistic approach including development of sustainable methods for extraction, manufacture, utilization and recovery, in order to close the resource loop within the chemical manufacturing industry and promote a circular economy (Figure 1), whereby these critical elements are available to be used over and over again. 

Figure 1: A simple material flow cycle demonstrating the areas that must be addressed to meet the challenges of elemental sustainability, which could lead to a circular economy.  Reproduced from A. J. Hunt [1] with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry