Our raw material resources - from oil to coal and iron to natural rubber - are finite and prices are often high.
Valuable raw materials still have to be extracted and imported, usually in complicated processes, and the environment is polluted. At the same time, our cities are growing, in which enormous quantities of valuable raw materials are already being used. Urban mining is the answer,
to utilise precisely these existing raw materials. Literally translated, urban mining means "urban mining" and deals with the question of how raw materials, which are mainly contained in buildings and infrastructure (example: railway tracks), but also in consumer goods such as cars or electrical appliances, can be reused after the end of their life cycle.
The difficulty here is to estimate when and where which materials will become available.
5 key questions about urban mining
The Federal Environment Agency has drawn up five key questions to guide urban mining:
- Where are the bearings?
- How many and which materials are included that can be used as secondary raw materials?
- When will the storage facilities become available for raw material extraction?
- Who is involved in the development?
- How can the material cycles be tapped effectively? © michelaubryphoto - stock.adobe.com
Urban mining therefore goes one step further than recycling and requires a change of perspective: it is important to consider subsequent utilisation as early as the production or construction stage.
Valuable raw materials should be easy and therefore cost-effective to recover at the end of their life cycle.
The Eiffel Tower as an urban mine
A prime example of this is the Eiffel Tower, built in 1888/89, even though Gustave Eiffel certainly did not have this intention and the landmark he created was de facto probably not a symbol of the city.
will not serve as a raw material store: With the Eiffel Tower, Paris has an immense store of raw materials. Over 10,000 tonnes of steel are already stored in the city and could be used directly in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The steel could be processed directly, eliminating the labour-intensive extraction of iron ore. What applies to the Eiffel Tower also applies to many other buildings, civil engineering structures and consumer products: All the raw materials they contain have already been extracted in a laborious and costly process.
The raw materials are where they are needed
Urban mines exactly where raw materials are needed, in the cities or populated areas. Sources of raw materials are not infinite - so the valuable materials must be
from demolished buildings, dismantled roads, bridges and railways, but also from consumer goods such as cars or electrical appliances. If the materials
If the waste is reused locally, you save on the purchase of expensive raw materials and protect the climate at the same time.
