Material Recycling at Product End-of-Life

Abstract

This work focuses on developing a compact representation of the material recycling potential for products at end-of-life. This representation is based on two measures: the value of the materials used in a product and the mixture of materials used in a product. These measures are similar to those used in constructing the Sherwood plot, which relates metal prices to the concentration of metals in a given ore grade. While the Sherwood plot provides insight into the relative attractiveness of mining different ores, the work here provides insight into the relative attractiveness of recycling different products. This information can in turn be used to help guide both product design and recycling policy