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Seminar: Lessons from the Cycles of Metals

Professor Thomas Graedel Clifton R. Musser Professor of Industrial Ecology Center for Industrial Ecology Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies March 10, 2005, 3:00 pm, 1047 ERF

Seminar Details

Supplies of virgin materials are thought be some to be limited, but quantitative information on rates of extraction, use, discard, and recycling is in short supply. To better characterize the cycles of metals, the Stocks and Flows research team at Yale has been evaluating current and historical flows, determining the stocks available in different types of reservoirs and the flows among the reservoirs, and assessing the environmental and policy implications of the results. In this presentation, I will report on copper, zinc, and silver from our complete cycle characterizations for all countries using significant amounts of these materials (more than 50), nine world regions including Europe, North America, and Asia, and the planet as a whole. The results speak to opportunities for recycling, levels of emissions of these metals to the environment, and the potential availability of the materials over the next several decades.