Minor Metals
Sustainable Road Transportwww.mmta.co.uk

Some Minor Metals Found in Vehicles
Silicon, Tungsten, Molybdenum in alloys
Titanium in paintREEs neodymium and dysprosium in thepermanent magnets of electric vehicles

Vanadium in gears and batteries
Magnesium in transmission casings, seat and door frames,
intake manifold and engine components

Cobalt in measurement devices and rechargeablebatteries
Beryllium in batteries and gears

Gallium in mirrors, transistors and semiconductors

Chromium in decorative parts and alloys
Indium in bearings

Antimony in flame retardants and lead storagebatteries

Lead in batteries

Strontium in dials

Manganese in batteries and alloys
Rhodium in catalysts

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2Key Facts

Road transport contributes significantly to man-made greenhouse gas emissions

Legislation has been introduced in many jurisdictions to reduce emissions fromvehiclesEnd-of-life vehicle legislation helps to sort materials for recycling and re-use,
minimising wasteBy making vehicles lighter with high-strength alloys, they require less power, so
produce fewer emissionsElectric vehicle technology is improving rapidly with infrastructure, such as
charging stations, growing fast

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3Overview
Road transport contributes significantly to man-made greenhouse gases;
this has presented an opportunity for the industry to develop sustainable
practices. Safeguarding the planet for the future depends on the reductionof emissions now.

European Legislation
The fleet average to be achieved

Under continuous scrutiny from governments and NGOs, the road transport
sector must adapt to requirements that vary by jurisdiction, focusing
primarily on lowering emissions and increasing end-of-life recycling.
Already from this year (2015), car manufactures can be fined for exceeding
emission limits on vehicles sold* in the EU.

with the target phased in from

*Legislation applies to all cars sold in the EU no matter where they were manufactured

2012 - and 95g/km by 2021,

Two options to achieve lower emissions include:

phased in from 2020.

Reducing vehicle weight, thereby reducing the resources needed topower the vehicle
Leveraging electric and hybrid technologies

by all new cars is 130 grams of
CO2 per kilometre (g/km) by 2015-

If the average CO2 emissions of amanufacturer's fleet exceed its
limit value in any year from 2012,

Minor metals* are essential for both approaches as they are important raw
materials in the production of vehicles. From the steel and aluminium alloys
in the structure, to batteries and electronics, minor metals play a key role.
Described by governments as ‘strategic’ or ‘critical’ because of their
exceptional characteristics, minor metals are part of the innovative
solutions which will ensure a sustainable future.

the manufacturer has to pay anexcess emissions premium for eachcar registered. This premium
amounts to €5 for the first g/km ofexceedance, €15 for the secondg/km, €25 for the third g/km, and€95 for each subsequent g/km.
From 2019, the cost will be €95
from the first gram of exceedance
onwards.
European regulation first set
binding targets to reduce theCO2 emissions of new cars in 2009
(EC Regulation No. 443/2009).

European Commission*The term 'minor metals' encompasses a vast array of metals, including tungsten, titanium,cobalt and molybdenum, to name just a few. Traditionally, minor metals were those metals
not traded on formal exchanges, although cobalt and molybdenum are now traded on theLondon Metal Exchange along with base metals. Minor metals have a relatively low annual
production volume in comparison to base metals, and very specialist, and often hightechnology, applications.

4

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The ChallengeOver the last 20 years, both safety and luxury features in vehicles
have increased, while at the same time legislation has been
introduced to reduce emissions. Over time, heavier vehicles,
combined with changes in user behaviour, have become a priority
concern for vehicle manufactures.

In 2012, greenhouse gas emissions
from transportation accounted forabout 28% of total U.S. greenhousegas emissions, making it the second
largest contributor of U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions after theelectricity sector.
EPA

In California more than 100,000
rechargeable cars have been sold in
the last four years, representing
about 40 percent of the U.S. plug-in
market. The U.S. government has anambitious target of 1 million plug-in
car sales by the end of 2015.

The weight spiral
The average mass of a European vehicle has been increasing, with asmall drop in 2009 when ‘scrapping schemes’ favoured small vehicles.
Technology, safety and luxury features are proliferating with examples
including; windscreen sensors, digital speedometers, parking sensors,
wing mirror sensors, Bluetooth, Satellite Navigation, and headlightsensors. These, together with customer demand for bigger cars, areincreasing the weight of the engine, transmission and breaks. Thisweight spiral, in conjunction with emissions legislation, is a big
challenge for the automotive industry.
Global macro trends over the last 10-15 years such as economic
growth, population increase and urban sprawl have led to increased
demand for travel.

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5

Where minor metals help
Some minor metals used - chromium, magnesium,manganese, silicon, niobium, molybdenum, tungsten
The solution
Lightweight - Lighter car structures using stronger, thinner and, therefore,lighter alloys. The use of minor metals in alloys improves their mechanicalproperties. For example, molybdenum added to high strength steel makes
not only a high strength product, but also one with good formability andweldability, which are important qualities for automotive manufacturing
processes.
Electric Vehicles - Increased adoption of electric vehicles, with benefits asfollows:Energy security
Fuel economy
Infrastructure development with more charging stations installed
Emissions reduction - with the exact figure depending on the sourceof electricity used to charge the vehicle

What about using moremagnesium?

Used sensibly, magnesium could
lighten a medium sized car by 18 to50 kilograms depending on whether
iron/steel or aluminium wasreplaced, if magnesium was also
used in the car body and interiorthen the gains could be more.
These figures indicate a reduced

Minor metals are essential for both reducing the weight of vehicles and inelectric vehicles.
The importance of weight saving was recognised early on in the automotive
industry. Henry Ford’s Model T was made of steel containing vanadium forstrength. With its aluminium bonnet, the vehicle weighted less than 2,000
pounds (approx. 900kg) so it could meet ambitious performance targets
with its 20 horsepower engine.

fuel consumption of around 0.10.25 litres/100km. [European Commission]

A more recent weight saving example is the Ford F-150 using aluminium
alloys containing small amounts of chromium, copper, iron, magnesium,manganese, and silicon. This alloy has good mechanical properties, a highstrength to weight ratio and corrosion resistance.

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6

What happens at the vehicle end-of-life ?
For many precious and minor metals there is an economic incentive toretrieve the material at end-of-life, with strong markets for recycled metals.
Designers need to consider the end-of-life of vehicles, making it easier toretrieve valuable metallic elements so they can be recycled into similarcomponents, rather than downgrading their usage, which happens when
the components cannot be fully separated.
Every year, end-of-life vehicles (ELV) generate between 7 and 8 million
tonnes of waste in the EU which needs to be managed correctly. The
directive on end-of-life vehicles (ELV) aims at making dismantling andrecycling of ELVs more environmentally friendly. It sets clear quantified
targets for reuse, recycling and recovery of the ELVs and their components.
It also pushes producers to manufacture new vehicles without hazardous
substances, thus promoting the reuse, recyclability and recovery of wastefrom vehicles.

About 75% of end-of-life vehicles,
mainly metals, are recyclable in theEuropean Union. The rest (25%) is
considered waste and generally
goes to landfills. Environmental
legislation of the European Union
requires the reduction of this waste
to a maximum of 5% by 2015.

End-of-Life legislation - Global Differences
There is no U.S. federal law governing extended producer responsibility (EPR). Also known as ‘product stewardship’,this calls upon all parties involved in a product’s life cycle (i.e., producers, manufacturers, retailers, users and disposers)
to share responsibility for reducing the product’s impact on the environment. The focus of most product stewardshipprogrammes related to vehicles at the national level in the U.S. has been on voluntary measures to address contaminants of particular concern or to further specific recycling goals. [EPA]
There is also specific legislation by country in the EU, as well as similar laws in Asia. In Japan, the 2002 recycling law isbased on the idea of shared responsibility with the consumers paying a fee when they buy the car. An electronic manifest helps to ensure the end-of-life vehicles are properly recycled.
South Korea, with its law of 2007, holds producers and importers responsible for their use of resources, and looks at
the use of hazardous substances, recyclability of materials, collection of ELVs, recycling rates, and informationexchange through an on-line database.

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7

Looking forward
Recent news has focused on driverless vehicles as a potential ‘game
changer’ for the automotive industry, with the current project byGoogle a prominent example, however it seems likely that we will
have to wait a while before driverless technology means a stress-freecommute.
Electric vehicles, however, are already making an impact on themarket. The materials used need to be considered throughout theirlife cycle and the opportunity is there to recover and reuse metals andcomponents.
At the same time, lightweighting will continue to be a priority evenwith a move towards electric or hybrid vehicles. The lighter thevehicle the further it can travel on the same size battery.
Recovering battery materials
There are predictions that the lithium-ion battery recycling market will
be worth £1.3bn by 2022 and Umicore has developed a low-energy
smelting technology that separates the valuable elements frombatteries and removes harmful toxins. The extracted cobalt, nickel andcopper can then be converted into active cathode materials in thenext generation of rechargeable batteries. Tesla and Toyota will use
this technology to recycle lithium-ion batteries in their European
all-electric and hybrid vehicles.
Numerous other minor metals are used throughout vehicles, but
recycling systems still need to be developed further. Not only arelithium and cobalt used in electric car batteries, but germanium may
also be used more frequently in the future. Tantalum can be foundthroughout a vehicle, as it is used in capacitors because of its
resistance to corrosion and chemical inertness. And LED devices
include alloys that incorporate gallium. These are just a few examplesof the minor metals that can be found in a variety of vehicle
components. (See p. 2 for other minor metal usage in an average car)

Catalytic Converters
More than ever, highly variable compositions and volatile prices of platinum (Pt),palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh) are important factors in the purchase and recyclingof spent catalytic converters. In 2010, the global sales of Pt, Pd, and Rh totalled,respectively, 245, 299, and 27.2 tons. About 46% of the total Pt, 57% of the total Pd,
and 77% of the total Rh were consumed by the automotive catalyst industry. That same year, 33.7 tons of Pt, 41.2
tons of Pd, and 7.3 tons of Rh were recovered from the recycling of spent catalytic converters, representing a total
value of $3 billion at the 2010 cumulative average price of fine metals.

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8Promising Recycling Projects
Some recent projects to identify the economic viability of recycling minor
metals in ELVs included the involvement of organizations such as EMPA
(the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology),
FOEN (Switzerland’s Federal Office of the Environment), SARS (theFoundation Auto Recycling Switzerland), and VASSO (the Association of
the Official Car Collection Proprietors). Efforts are focusing on how toprocess ELVs with current technologies, so that materials can be better
sorted and recovered. Needless to say, some of the sought aftermaterials are very hard to recover in comparison to others and thetechnology to recover these materials may not yet available.

Will the recycling rates of minor
metals approach those of othermetals?

According to the American Iron andSteel Institute (AISI), in 2004 over
14.5 million tons of steel was recycled
and reused from end-of-life vehicles.
From World Aluminium - Aluminium
can be recycled again and again,

One model that may show promise in this field is the Advance Recycling
Fee (ARF). Already implemented with great success in the U.S. state ofCalifornia, consumers pay a fee for electronics at the point of purchase.
The fee is then placed into a state-wide fund which is then distributed torecyclers handling the electronic items at their end-of-life. This strategy
is also currently implemented in Switzerland, Belgium and parts ofCanada, and could possibly be applied to vehicles, especially those thatare electric, to make recycling of electric ELVs more economically viable.

saving about 95% of the energy
required for primary production.
Over 70% of the aluminium
ever produced worldwide is still in use
today.

It should be noted that there are not many facilities that are capable ofprocessing a wide variance in input materials containing minor metals (by-product and post-consumer). Most are in Europe and Japan, and include
companies such as Boliden, Umicore and DOWA. Therefore, a massive
investment in technology must be made over the proceeding decades toensure that the processing capacity and recycling of materials found inELVs is even possible. The U.S. may have an opportunity to lead futureinitiatives since it currently has zero treatment capacity for e-wastes,such as those found in ELVs, and development of new technologies would
need to adhere to strict environmental regulations.

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9

The Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) has made every effort to ensure that the information presented is technicallycorrect. However, MMTA does not represent or warrant the accuracy of the information contained in this case study or its
suitability for any general or specific use. The reader is advised that the material contained herein is for information purposes
only; it should not be used or relied upon for any specific or general application without first obtaining competent advice.
MMTA, its members, staff and consultants specifically disclaim any and all responsibility of any kind for loss, damage, or injury
resulting from the use of the information contained in this publication.

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10Further Reading
http://www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/wtert/sofos/Namias_Thesis_07-08-13.pdf
http://www.bmub.bund.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Abfallwirtschaft/jahresbericht_altfahrzeug_2010_en_bf.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/mobile/index.php#Page?title=End-of-life%20vehicle%20statistics&lg=en
http://www.erie.pa.us/pdf/recycling/FactSheetAutoRecyclingFacts.pdf
https://www.niton.com/docs/literature/autocatalyticconverter_hirez_2012july18.pdf?sfvrsn=0
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/09/16/the-iphone-6-is-really-made-up-of-these-elements/
http://www.bmub.bund.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Abfallwirtschaft/jahresbericht_altfahrzeug_2010_en_bf.pdf
http://www.preciousmetals.umicore.com/PMR/Links/
http://www.unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/DTIx1202xPA-Critical%20Metals%20and%20their%20Recycling%
20Potential.pdf
http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/*/149574
file:///C:/Users/bdulin/Downloads/technical-report-swico-sens-slrs-2013.pdf
http://www.worldresourcesforum.org/files/publications/WRF2013_UBA,%
20ELVManagementGlobalPerspective_UBA2013_10_09_final.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/oswer/international/factsheets/200811_elv_directive.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/research/transport/news/items/
drive_an_mg_and_lose_weight___it_s_better_for_the_environment_en.htm
https://www.niton.com/docs/literature/autocatalyticconverter_hirez_2012july18.pdf?sfvrsn=0
http://www.erie.pa.us/pdf/recycling/FactSheetAutoRecyclingFacts.pdf

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11