How to Recover Efficiently Critical Metals from Their Secondary Resources

Dear Colleagues,

Metals are omnipresent in our lives, even though their importance is not always fully understood. Metals are primary yet finite commodities, necessary for the continued growth of modern society, and are at the forefront of the green economy transition. However, the mining rates of most metals are at a historical maximum, while their recovery from waste, where these metals are newly concentrated and can therefore be considered as urban ores, remains low. The imbalance between supply and demand, compounded by the unequal geographical concentration of exploitable deposits, results in an unsustainable situation. The accelerated depletion of metal resources prompted public authorities to identify the so-called critical raw materials and to assure their continued supply. Material criticality is a fluid concept with temporal and geographical variations based on multiple factors, including its economic importance, supply risk, substitutability, and environmental impact. Currently, the E.U. classified already 27 resources (Co, In, PGMs, REEs, etc.) as critical for the European industrial sector, while similar lists were prepared by other governmental agencies.

In this new context of global environmental remediation and criticality alleviation, the efficient recovery and recycling of metals from waste is of the utmost importance. This is no small challenge, because of the ever-increasing volume, complexity, and heterogeneity of waste streams. For this Special Issue in Metals, we welcome innovative contributions in the area of metal recycling and recovery using any metallurgical processing route. Articles addressing either the theoretical or practical understanding of metal processing are encouraged, as well as a critical comparison of process options and literature reviews. We would also appreciate receiving articles dealing with the wider context of metal recovery and criticality, such as global flows of critical metals or the environmental impacts of recycling using life cycle assessment methodology.

Dr. Lenka Švecová
Dr. Helena Passos
Dr. Nicolas Schaeffer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• recycling
• metal recovery
• hydrometallurgy
• pyrometallurgy
• life cycle assessment
• leaching
• ion exchange
• solvent extraction
• precipitation
• circular economy
• critical metals
• biometallurgy
• electrodeposition