Page 22 from: October 2013

22 October 2013

Various company reports and government policies around the

world proclaim the paramount need to achieve energy and

resource independence. The hunt for alternative sources of raw

material, fuel and energy is increasing at an ever faster pace and

the contours of a whole new world can be envisioned. But how

will this affect the recycling industry? Potentially hugely, is the

inevitable conclusion.

In 2009, the US Army – which is one of the world’s biggest consumers of power –
declared that change had to come. Nowadays,

soldiers in a war zone are dependent on their

GPS equipment, infrared scopes, night-vision

goggles and high-tech communication devices,

all of which need batteries to function. And not

just any battery will do: indeed, the Defense

Reduction Threat Agency (DRTA) complained

that it had to acquire, distribute and, last but

not least, properly dispose of more than 100

different types of battery. ‘An enormous logis-

tical challenge,’ as the agency phrased it. Fur-

thermore, at times it meant soldiers having to

carry up to 20 kg of batteries with them.

So the DRTA came up with a solution: a bio-

battery that is highly efficient and low in

weight, has a long life, and doesn’t contain haz-

ardous metals. This will be ‘the key to a revolu-

tionary advantage in tomorrow’s wars’, accord-

ing to the agency. In theory, the energy density

of a bio-battery is 10 times greater than that of

lithium-ion batteries. Sony, one of the leading

companies in this field, has designed a bio-

battery that runs on recovered paper, one A4

sheet of which boasts the energy equivalent of

six AA batteries (see box 1).

Compostable package
Every bio-battery works on the same principle:

enzymes function as a bio-catalyst that turns

glucose into energy. This glucose can be derived

from many sources which, by their nature, will

always be renewable and biodegradable. When

wrapped in biodegradable plastic, the whole

package could become compostable; since these

batteries don’t use metals, no advanced recy-

cling technology is needed such as with lithi-

um-ion batteries.

Batteries are not the only item to have been both-

ering US government officials, or indeed those

in Europe and Japan. It has become clear that

various pieces of new, high-tech equipment –

varying from cell phones and wind turbines to

smart bombs – are dependent on the use of rare

earth metals for which China holds a production

monopoly.

This has led

to loud calls to

reopen old rare earth

mines and to start recycling

these products; last year, indeed, two recycling

facilities came on stream – one in France and the

other in Japan. However, the USA and Japan are

already investing heavily in efforts to find a tech-

nology that can do without these rare earths.

In 2012, the US Department of Energy provided

US$ 30 million in grants to help develop alterna-

tives. One of the recipients was Baldor Electric,

a company working on a rare earth-free traction

motor for electric vehicles. Another company,

Advanced Magnet Lab, is focusing on creating a

super generator for wind turbines that can also

do without rare earths.

R e s o u R c e s By Lydia Heida

US company Advanced Magnet Lab is focusing on creating a rare
earth-free super generator for wind turbines.

Biomass contains enough energy to be converted into jet fuel or diesel.

Seeking independence
through innovation

p00_Recources.indd 22 03-10-13 09:54