New Zealand Advocates for Closed-Loop Recycling of Critical Minerals
New Zealand's government is promoting more mining of critical minerals in response to global demand. However, experts advocate for closed-loop recycling as a greener alternative, emphasizing the need to extract materials from existing products instead of mining new ones.

New Zealand's government allocated $80 million to boost the extraction and processing of critical minerals. However, experts like Nicola Gaston, a materials scientist, suggest a closed-loop recycling approach to mitigate environmental impacts associated with mining.
Critical minerals, essential for technologies such as batteries and electronics, include 37 identified elements like aluminium and gold. Start-ups like Mint Innovations and Zethos are already successfully recycling materials, indicating a viable pathway for sustainable resource management. Gaston advocates for improved design for repairable devices and research into material reduction, emphasizing a necessary shift towards closed-loop systems as finite resources become scarcer.




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