Worldwide, almost all technology-intensive industries depend on readily available metallic raw materials. Consequently, precise and reliable information is needed on how long these raw materials remain in the economic cycle. To obtain the necessary data, a research team from the universities of Bayreuth, Augsburg and Bordeaux has now developed a new modeling method and applied it to 61 metals. The study, published in Nature Sustainability, shows that the metals needed for specific high-tech applications, which in many cases are scarce around the world, are in use for only a decade on average.
source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-technology-news/new-life-cycle-assessment-study-shows-useful-life-of-tech-critical-metals-to-be-short
