[PARIS] The world is using up more than 100 billion tonnes of natural resources per year for the first time ever while global recycling of raw materials has fallen, according to a report released on Tuesday.

 

The share of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass feeding into the global economy that is reused declined in two years from an already paltry 9.1 per cent to 8.6 today, the Circularity Gap Report 2020 found.

 

" No country is meeting the basic needs of its citizens while also operating within the physical boundaries of our planet," said Marc de Wit, a director at the non-profit Circle Economy and lead author of the report.

 

The resources fuelling the world economy increased more than eight per cent in just two years from 93 billion tonnes in 2015 to 100.6 billion in 2017, the last year for which data is available.

 

Since 1970, the human population has doubled, the global economy has grown fourfold, and trade has expanded tenfold, a trajectory that - in the absence of widespread recycling - relentlessly pushes up the demand for energy and resources.

 

Global use of materials is projected to balloon to 170-184 billion tonnes by mid-century, the report said.

 

To improve living standards - especially in low-income countries - while also protecting ecosystems that provide clear water, air and soil, the world must vastly boost the share of recycled natural resources, the authors said.

 

Wealthy nations, the authors note, consume 10 times more resources per person than in the developing world, and produce far more waste.

 

Rich countries must " take responsibility for the impact of their imports and exports," the report said, noting that much of what they consume comes from less developed nations, while much of their waste is exported.

 

The report also noted that recycling rates are high in poorer countries, as waste can " provide a valuable source of revenue for informal workers."

 

" China, for instance, has pioneered eco-industrial parks where the waste of one business becomes the feedstock for another."

 

Catalist-listed Sen Yue has announced its plan to build and operate a high-purity smelter that would use high-heat and high-pressure technologies for the extraction of high-value metals such as cobalt and nickel form E-waste such as spent lithium ion-batteries.

 

With a shareholding interest of 60% in the joint venture company, the smelter will be located at the Group&rsquo s current premises, at 3 Jalan Pesawat, Singapore 619361, with the capability of processing waste battery powders at an aggregate maximum processing capacity of 1,000 tons per month.

 

 

According to a research by the United Nations University, Asia generates most of the world&rsquo s e-waste, producing 18.2 million metric tonnes in 2016 and only 15% cent of Asia&rsquo s e-waste is collected and recycled.

 

In Singapore, approximately 60,000 tonnes of e-waste are generated annually, a figure expected to increase with rising affluence and technological advancements. To manage e- waste more effectively and efficiently, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources announced the implementation of a mandatory electrical and electronic waste management system by 2021. This regulated approach would help both the environment and the economy.

Glencore is negotiating a long-term contract to ship cobalt to Tesla' s new electric-vehicle factory in Shanghai, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

A deal would help Tesla avoid a supply squeeze on the key battery metal as it pushes into the world' s largest car market, and mark a win for Glencore after a tough spell for its cobalt business.

 

Executives from both companies hammered out terms of the deal before an official ceremony to mark the first sales from the Shanghai plant earlier this month, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing commercial negotiations. They declined to give details about the size and value of the supply deal.

 

A Glencore spokesman declined to comment, while a representative for Tesla didn' t immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

The contract will help Tesla shore up its cobalt supply as it ramps up output at the so-called Gigafactory, which was built in just 11 months with significant support from the Chinese government. The opening of the plant has helped propel Tesla' s shares to record highs, as investors turn bullish on Elon Musk' s ambitions of transforming the company into a global mass-market automaker.

 

While there is enough cobalt supply for now, demand is expected to surge in the coming years as Tesla expands in China and Europe and Volkswagen AG to BMW AG roll out fleets of electric vehicles. Warnings about long-term shortages caused cobalt prices to spike in 2017 and 2018, prompting Mr Musk to work on reducing Tesla' s reliance on the metal. Even so, the deal signals that the metal will remain key to the company' s expansion over the next few years.

 

Despite a torrid year for the car industry, the burgeoning electric-vehicle market offers big opportunities for manufacturers and the companies that supply them. The biggest miners are looking to grow production of metals such as copper and nickel that needed for the electrification of cities and cars.

 

Glencore, the world' s largest cobalt miner, is in a prime position to benefit from a boom in electric-vehicle sales. But so far, it' s struggled to make that happen. The company booked losses last year related to cobalt after prices collapsed in mid-2018 from too much supply.

 

Introduction

 

Catalist-listed Sen Yue has revenue in the hundreds of millions but currently suffers from low margins for its commodities trading business. This has resulted in either minimal profits or losses for the Group over the years.    

 

  In FY2018, the commodities trading business (copper, non-ferrous and other alloys) accounted for 93% of the Group&rsquo s revenue. The other segments such as tool and die, coatings and manufacturing of audio speaker nets, and the E-waste management and extraction of recycled Metals segment do not contribute significantly to revenue.  

 

On 18 July, Sen Yue announced its plan to build and operate a high-purity smelter that would use high-heat and high-pressure technologies for the extraction of high-value metals such as cobalt and nickel form E-waste such as spent lithium ion-batteries.

 

Story picture above shows the exponential growth in the amount of lithium-ion batteries, whose short life span would result in accumulation of mountains of E-Waste.

 

Sen Yue does not give details of the extraction process but a pyro-metallic process such as smelting would not be able to extract the lithium, which would be deposited in the slag. But the nickel and especially the cobalt are much more valuable and more than compensate for the loss of lithium.

 

About cobalt

 

Cobalt is a critical metal of the new economy, being a critical component in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. Besides batteries, cobalt is used in the manufacture of high temperature high-strength super-alloys in aerospace, power generation, medical prosthetics, mining/oil & gas carbide and diamond drilling tools and magnets of electric motors.

 

Sen Yue&rsquo s smelter is expected to be completed by first quarter 2020. All industrial capacities have to undergo months of testing and calibration before being able to operate at nameplate capacity. And Sen Yue has not yet mentioned the smelter&rsquo s production capacity, nor the market and buyers for its projected output of refined cobalt and nickel.

 

But Sen Yue&rsquo s share price is so undervalued now that it cannot be any worse if the project takes off. Sen Yue&rsquo s Intrinsic Value can be calculated using the Discounted Cash Flow method.

 

APPLE is trying to change the way electronics are recycled with a robot that disassembles its iPhone so that minerals can be recovered and reused. It also acknowledges that rising global demand for electronics means new mines will still be needed.

 

The Cupertino, California-based company says the robot is part of its plan to become a " closed-loop" manufacturer that does not rely on the mining industry, an aggressive goal that some industry analysts have said is impossible.

 

Many mining executives note that with the rising popularity of electric vehicles, newly mined minerals will be needed on an even larger scale, a reality that Apple acknowledges.

 

" We' re not necessarily competing with the folks who mine," said Lisa Jackson, the company' s head of environment, policy and social. " There' s nothing for miners to fear in this development."

 

Inside a nondescript warehouse on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, Apple' s Daisy robot breaks apart iPhones so that 14 minerals, including lithium, can be extracted and recycled.

 

Apple is already using recycled tin, cobalt and rare earths in some of its products, with plans to add to that list. The company last month bought the first commercial batch of carbon-free aluminum from a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Alcoa.

 

Daisy, less than 20 metres in length, uses a four-step process to remove an iPhone battery with a blast of minus 80 degree Celsius air, and then pop out screws and modules, including the haptic module that makes a phone vibrate.

 

The components are then sent off to recyclers for the minerals to be extracted and refined. Daisy can tear apart 200 iPhones per hour. Apple chose the iPhone to be the first of its products that Daisy would disassemble because of its mass popularity, said Ms Jackson.

 

Apple is considering sharing the Daisy technology with others, including electric carmakers. Daisy does have its sceptics, including some in the tech world who want the company to focus more on building products that can be repaired, not just recycled.

 

" There' s this ego that believes they can get all their minerals back, and it' s not possible," said Kyle Wiens, chief executive of iFixit, a firm advocating electronics repair, rather than replacement.

 

That may partially explain why the mining industry isn' t worried.

 

" Apple is in an enviable position, because they can do this," said Tom Butler, president of the International Council on Mining and Metals, an industry trade group. " Not everyone else will be able to follow suit.&rdquo REUTERS