IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v98y2024ics0301420724006755.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

End-of-life nickel recycling: Energy security and circular economy development

Author

Listed:
  • Sun, Hongying
  • Wu, Xingyu
  • Wang, Xiaolei
  • Liu, Jia
  • He, Guanyuan

Abstract

This study examines the consumption of nickel resources in China from 2004 to 2022 and utilizes data from the International Energy Agency as a foundation to predict future consumption and End-of-life (EoL) nickel recycling volumes by a novel dynamic material flow analysis (D-MFA) model. Distinguished from the preceding MFA studies, we highlight the future nickel stocks and flows, and the logistic function as well as linear step-length method are applied to assess EoL nickel recycling under five different demand scenarios and recycling assumptions. The findings show that the share of EoL nickel secondary supply currently stands at 27% of overall nickel demand. In addition, the nickel demand curve under different recycling conditions also reveals a projected gap of approximately 4.4 million tons between nickel supply and demand until 2050. The empirical results demonstrate a significant growth of nickel demand in the new energy battery industry, while nickel consumption in the stainless steel is tending towards saturation. Moreover, although the recycling rate of nickel is expected to keep rising, the consumption of nickel remains significantly higher than the recycling volume, entailing a long-term dependence on imported nickel.

Suggested Citation

  • Sun, Hongying & Wu, Xingyu & Wang, Xiaolei & Liu, Jia & He, Guanyuan, 2024. "End-of-life nickel recycling: Energy security and circular economy development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:98:y:2024:i:c:s0301420724006755
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105308
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420724006755
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105308?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gondia Sokhna Seck & Emmanuel Hache & Clement Bonnet & Marine Simoën & Samuel Carcanague, 2020. "Copper at the crossroads : Assessment of the interactions between low-carbon energy transition and supply limitations," Post-Print hal-03118509, HAL.
    2. Elshkaki, Ayman & Reck, Barbara K. & Graedel, T.E., 2017. "Anthropogenic nickel supply, demand, and associated energy and water use," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 300-307.
    3. Trevor Zink & Roland Geyer, 2017. "Circular Economy Rebound," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 593-602, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Ryter & Xinkai Fu & Karan Bhuwalka & Richard Roth & Elsa Olivetti, 2022. "Assessing recycling, displacement, and environmental impacts using an economics‐informed material system model," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 1010-1024, June.
    2. Wang, Xiao-Qing & Wu, Tong & Zhong, Huaming & Su, Chi-Wei, 2023. "Bubble behaviors in nickel price: What roles do geopolitical risk and speculation play?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Etienne Lorang & Antonello Lobianco & Philippe Delacote, 2023. "Increasing Paper and Cardboard Recycling: Impacts on the Forest Sector and Carbon Emissions," Post-Print hal-04690101, HAL.
    4. Monia Niero & Charlotte L. Jensen & Chiara Farné Fratini & Jens Dorland & Michael S. Jørgensen & Susse Georg, 2021. "Is life cycle assessment enough to address unintended side effects from Circular Economy initiatives?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1111-1120, October.
    5. Myrto Kasioumi & Thanasis Stengos, 2023. "A Circular Model of Economic Growth and Waste Recycling," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 321-346, March.
    6. Seck, Gondia Sokhna & Hache, Emmanuel & D'Herbemont, Vincent & Guyot, Mathis & Malbec, Louis-Marie, 2023. "Hydrogen development in Europe: Estimating material consumption in net zero emissions scenarios," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Millar, Neal & McLaughlin, Eoin & Börger, Tobias, 2019. "The Circular Economy: Swings and Roundabouts?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 11-19.
    8. Claudia Aparecida De Mattos & Thiago Lourenço Meira De Albuquerque, 2018. "Enabling Factors and Strategies for the Transition Toward a Circular Economy (CE)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Jan Streeck & Quirin Dammerer & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Fridolin Krausmann, 2021. "The role of socio‐economic material stocks for natural resource use in the United States of America from 1870 to 2100," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(6), pages 1486-1502, December.
    10. Rachel Greer & Timo Wirth & Derk Loorbach, 2023. "The Circular Decision-Making Tree: an Operational Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 693-718, June.
    11. Munten, Pauline & Swaen, Valérie & Vanhamme, Joëlle, 2024. "Exploring rebound effects in Access-Based services (ABS)," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    12. Arnold Tukker & Renzo Akkerman & Antoine Heideveld & Jaco Quist & Ruben Vrijhoef & Cees Withagen & Mark Beumer, 2024. "Distribution of Power and Value Crucial for a Successful Circular Economy Transition," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 2413-2425, December.
    13. Leonidas Milios, 2021. "Towards a Circular Economy Taxation Framework: Expectations and Challenges of Implementation," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 477-498, September.
    14. J. Brusselaers & J. Gillabel, 2024. "How Circular Is the European Policy Landscape?," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1559-1585, June.
    15. Mariana Oliveira & Mécia Miguel & Sven Kevin Langen & Amos Ncube & Amalia Zucaro & Gabriella Fiorentino & Renato Passaro & Remo Santagata & Nick Coleman & Benjamin H. Lowe & Sergio Ulgiati & Andrea Ge, 2021. "Circular Economy and the Transition to a Sustainable Society: Integrated Assessment Methods for a New Paradigm," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 99-113, June.
    16. Hans Eickhoff, 2024. "The appeal of the circular economy revisited: on track for transformative change or enabler of moral licensing?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    17. Guo, Shaobo & Cao, Fuguo, 2024. "Decomposition of factors affecting copper consumption in major countries in light of green economy and its trend characteristics," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    18. Le Boulzec, Hugo & Delannoy, Louis & Andrieu, Baptiste & Verzier, François & Vidal, Olivier & Mathy, Sandrine, 2022. "Dynamic modeling of global fossil fuel infrastructure and materials needs: Overcoming a lack of available data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    19. Leandro Javier Llorente-González & Xavier Vence, 2019. "Decoupling or ‘Decaffing’? The Underlying Conceptualization of Circular Economy in the European Union Monitoring Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-21, September.
    20. Nancy Bocken & Lars Strupeit & Katherine Whalen & Julia Nußholz, 2019. "A Review and Evaluation of Circular Business Model Innovation Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:98:y:2024:i:c:s0301420724006755. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.