WEMO24-Compiled Report-Interactive compressed (002) 4154-7882-8116 v.1 - Flipbook - Page 29
Global
Outlook
• By reusing metals from recycles batteries, security of supply
is enhanced as dependence on mining countries and other
suppliers is decreased. It’s why Europe will require new
batteries to contain at least 6% recycled lithium and nickel
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• Battery recycling plants are being built near batteries
Gigafactories in China but also in Europe, for example in
Dunkirk in France.
• Extending solar panels lifetime beyond 20-30 years by
appropriate maintenance or selling used solar panels on
secondary markets.
• If safety allows, extending nuclear plants lifetime to 80 years
or beyond.
• PV solar panels recycling to recover raw materials. According
to the International Energy Agency, 70% of the photovoltaic
sector's silver needs could be covered by recycling, the
coverage rate being 20% for silicon and copper.
• Recycling the carbon fibre contained in windmill blades and
reusing it in other equipment’s.
There are many challenges in implementing a circular economy,
among them: the redesign of products and processes, the
availability of recycling and repairing infrastructures and the
consumer behaviours. This in-depth transformation of our
economies will take a long time, but it has started.
118 https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/what-is-circular-economy-and-how-it-helps-fight-climate-change
119 https://about.bnef.com/blog/global-clean-energy-investment-jumps-17-hits-1-8-trillion-in-2023-according-to-bloombergnef-report/
120 https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2023/overview-and-key-findings
121 https://www.energy-transitions.org/keeping-1-5c-alive/financing-the-transition/
More public and private financing
Global investment in the energy transition hit a new record
of $1.8 trillion in 2023, up 17% on the previous year.119 These
clean energy investments come in addition to $1.05 trillion
investments in fossil fuel120 as a dual economy (renewables and
fossil fuels generation) will remain for at least a decade. This
creates a financial burden on citizens.
According to different institutions (World Bank, IEA) around $3.5
trillion a year of capital investment will be needed on average
between now and 2050 to build a net-zero global economy.121
This is equivalent to around 1.3% of the average annual global
GDP over the next 30 years.
WEMO 2024
• The EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) is designed to provide a
digital record of products throughout their lifecycle. In 2026,
batteries, that use a lot of critical metals, will be the first
product category to be legally required to comply with DPP.
by 2031, and the state of New Jersey made it illegal to discard
EV batteries in landfills.
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Circular economy is essential:
Currently, only 7.2% of used materials are cycled back into
the economies after use. This has a significant burden on the
environment. If current trends were to continue, we would need
three planets by 2050!
A circular economy is essential for fighting climate change.118
Countries and regions (USA, EU, Australia...) have or are adopting
laws to implement such a circular economy.
Circular economy allows to reduce material use, redesign
materials and products to be less resource intensive, and
recapture “waste” as a resource to manufacture new materials
or equipment’s. Moreover, by extracting critical metals (from
used products) and reusing them, countries increase their
sovereignty.
Examples can be given for the energy sector:
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