The Inorganic Circular Economy

Modern technologies rely heavily on a number of inorganic elements. From the lithium in your laptop battery to the helium that cools hospital MRI machines inorganic materials are crucial to many parts of life. The supply of these materials that we can extract from the environment is finite and many of them present an environmental hazard when concentrated in landfill waste. Recycling is therefore key to being able to continue to sustainably use these elements.

Examining in detail the many materials that can be classified as inorganic, and for which recycling is either non-existent or only in its infancy this book will help you to understand whether such materials can be re-used in some way, and how we might make advances into the recycling, re-use, and possible repurposing of any such materials or objects. Throughout, the discussion of how or if these materials can be recycled is balanced with economic and practical considerations.