Mine the gap: Reclaiming critical minerals from urban mines

During the 27th meeting of the Conference of the Parties held in Sharm el-Sheikh in November 2022, India reiterated its pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. India currently relies on CRM supplies from other countries in their primary or manufactured forms despite India’s mineral geology often being compared with major mining jurisdictions like Western Australia, South Africa and South America. Establishing material recovery targets, implementing global good practice recycling standards, and monitoring the life cycle of electronics will further help boost India’s CRM needs. A recent CSEP working paper titled Critical Minerals for India: Assessing their Criticality and Projecting their Needs for Green Technologies shows that India has import reliance on various CRMs, including nickel, cobalt, rare earth elements and lithium. The availability of recycled CRMs through processing urban mines will add to the security and resilience of India’s supply chains and enable the country to meet climate action goals and environmental conservation.