The automotive is a sector where energy consumption during theuse phase prevails over the production and the end-of-life phase.Therefore, a lot of research and innovations have aimed atreplacing classical steel parts by lighter materials like light alloysand polymer composites. While composites are very attractivefor the use phase of cars, their introduction suffers from the limitedend-of-life options for composite structures. Due to the restrictionsimposed by the European ELV directive, the use of non-recyclablecomposite components in car manufacturing is not obvious.
An extensive life cycle analysis for a reference car design wasconducted to study the effects of replacement of conventionalsteel structures by lightweight carbon fibre composite alternatives.The study also takes second order effects in the design of the carinto account, such as the required motor power. The obtainedresults show the trend towards more intensive use of carbonfibrecomposites in car design desires some nuancing, and theopportunities and threats are identified.

The demand for precious metals by manufacturers of electricaland electronic equipment has increased significantly over thepast few years. Although precious metal concentrations inappliances are very low, these metals have a high economicand environmental relevance compared to other substancespresent in much higher quantity (e.g. iron, copper, plastics). Thisresearch project aims at describing and quantifying the flowsof small waste electrical and electronic equipment (sWEEE)in Germany and in the USA for the year 2007, based on acombination of expansive experimental investigations carriedout at TU Berlin and a review of the relevant literature. Theresults revealed that, in 2007, only around a third of the goldcontained in desktop personal computers was recovered inGermany, and over 60% was lost for the cycling economy.Despite the lack of data, insufficient collection and losses ofprecious metals due to inadequate treatment were identifiedas the main weaknesses of the system. The results reveal newfindings on precious metal cycles and support the developmentof strategies for reducing the losses of precious metals relatedto electronic waste management. The method is not only usefulfor assessing the recovery of valuable substances, but also forquantifying systematically the amount of hazardous substancesthat is disposed of in an environmental-sound way versus directreleases to the environment.

The development of new technologies is often connected withthe use of non-renewable resources. In recent years a qualitativeshift in the demand of bulk metals (e.g. Fe, Al, Cu) to more scarcemetals (e.g. Te, Ga, Re) is recognisable. Novel technologiesand products rely more and more on very specific metals whichare indispensable for their function. Although such metals aregenerally used in low concentrations in products, the demandhas raised significantly due to mass production. Some of them areof high importance due to their strategic relevance to emerginginnovative technologies.
Lithium so far has gained relatively little attention, although itfulfills the main criteria of a strategically relevant metal. In recentyears, however, recognition of lithium increased as a result of thegrowing market for lithium-based rechargeable batteries in mobileinformation/communication consumer products and in electricvehicles. Both areas of demand led to a skyrocketed use of lithiumin recent years.
Other technologies in the future like fusion power generation willraise lithium consumption at an accelerated rate. It is thereforenecessary to determine the availability of lithium in the mediumand long term in order to prevent technology failures and to ensurea more sustainable development. The authors will provide a wellfoundedknowledge base, outline the availability of worldwidereserves and resources, and describe the structure of present andfuture demands for lithium.

A Material Flow Analysis (MFA) of cadmium for Europe (EU 27)is described in this paper. In general the purpose of this MFA is toprovide a reliable set of time series data on the flows and stocks ofcadmium as they pass through the European economy.
For the data on cadmium flows in Europe various sources,statistics and surveys were taken into account. Data on importand export statistics, production and consumption of cadmiumuse, hidden flows of cadmium, the recovery and recycling ofcadmium, especially batteries, as well as disposal and losses wereconsidered.
The study includes the whole life cycle of cadmium, startingfrom the raw material extraction, which is the basis for the metalproduction. Cadmium, as it is produced as a by-product of thezinc, lead and copper refinery, is further treated throughoutvarious processes. Within the production and manufacturing,pre-consumer scrap is returned directly to the main productionprocess. Afterwards the cadmium is used within various products,e.g. batteries. After the use phase, having reached the end-of-lifewithin a specific application field, cadmium is recycled. What is notcollected for recycling or returned to the recycling system, is lost inthe environment. Finally, during the recycling process, cadmium isreturned to the cadmium cycle as post-consumer scrap and whatcould not be recycled is disposed.
One important outcome of the MFA of cadmium was the gainedknowledge on available data and data sources within thecadmium industry. In particular, the inconsistency between thedata sources became obvious. Nevertheless a comprehensivesystem was established which summarizes the cadmium flowsin Europe and set up a MFA model as well as the linkages toavailable data sources of the cadmium industry. In addition tothe data management system, the data gaps of relevance wereidentified to support future activities in this field.

In metals industry Mass Flow Analysis (MFA) has a long tradition.Combined with scenario calculation this method can for examplebe used to estimate the future development of scrap availabilityand metal composition. Despite the unknown inaccuracy ofsuch calculations what regional distribution of material, lifetimeor growth rates concerns highly valuable information can begenerated to support the industrial business strategy.
When particular products or metal applications in functionalunits become the scope of such calculations besides massflow often energy consumption and emissions appear on theagenda. And, unfortunately, metals are recycled (of courseonly from a methodological and not from a resource point ofview). At that point MFA crosses the border from being a staticsnapshot of an existing system towards a time depending lifecycle approach. Besides volume, quality, and location time isintroduced as a fourth dimension and the dilemma starts. Inthe past one approach was to develop depreciation modelsto allocate the expenditures of mining and primary metalproduction of Copper and Aluminium according to the recycledcontent. But latter is even more disputable since metal recyclingcannot be treated as an alternative production route achievingthe original properties and chemical composition. And, as aresult of its electrochemical behavior, each metal cycle lookscompletely different compared to any other. Consequentlythe general acceptance of the existing allocation methods forrecycling in life cycle models is still low.
In case of Aluminium the historic primary metal productioncumulates to an amount of almost 900 million tons worldwide.With the aid of recycling 75% of this material could be conservedin the current inventory in use. As this stock significantly contributesto todays and future's raw material supply the following questionarises: Can metallic materials have a defined history andtherewith an ecological hereditary debt, which will be reducedby further recycling cycles? If the answer would be yes, ona highly aggregated level, another more practical questionwould be whether such a credit should be based on the historicexpenditures of primary production or better considering thefuture recycling potential of the inventory in use. In these casesrecycling credits are either overestimated or underestimateddepending on the lifetime and herewith the deviation fromcurrent End of Life recycling practices.

RWTH Aachen University has a long history as a researchorganisation and as an institution of education. It is known as aprogressive, modern and forward-looking institution among students,industrial partners and citizens. RWTH Aachen Universityrecognises its responsibility towards society, it has establishedand demonstrated flexibility and adaptability over the years andit is determined to improve its international visibility.
Within the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and stategovernments, RWTH Aachen University has been awardedfunding for its future concept. This allows a greater concentrationon the clear stated goals and principles of the university,one of which is to train a highly-qualified and responsible newgeneration of academics for the benefit of business and society,research and teaching. RWTH Aachen University has developeda strategic plan which is reflected in the Institutional Strategyand leads to a super ordinate goal: In contrast to a university primarilycharacterised by the coexistence of individual strengths,especially in engineering, RWTH is developing into an integratedinterdisciplinary university of technology that is able to meetglobal challenges.
Six interdisciplinary forums at RWTH (e.g. Forum MaterialsScience, Forum Technology and Society) are engaged toprovide a better integration and cooperation among all scientificareas. Working groups within the forums and the differentdepartments at the university collaborate in order to make afaster progress in cross-cutting research fields. Interdisciplinarypathfinder project proposals were submitted and doctoral theses,e.g. “Development of materials and technologies in the mirror ofliterature” and “Material design against the background of technologyand society”, are begun at our Department of FerrousMetallurgy, Chair for Metallurgy of Iron and Steel. In cooperationbetween different departments of Material Sciences andthe Humanities we have set up a project relating to “Materials,symbolic meanings of materials and identity construction”. Thespeakers of the Forums support the dialog between academicworld, industry, society and politics.
The best researchers are supposed to contribute and collaborate.That is why the social surroundings and environment should beappropriately arranged. Modifications in organization and structureat RWTH Aachen University have been made. With its largenumber of projects for integration and support for newly-appointedresearchers and their families, Dual Career Programme,Parent Service Office, efforts to internationalise all the facultiesand to inspire young people to be the future generation of engineers,scientists and leaders in industry and society, demonstratesthe strong will to learn and teach.
RWTH Aachen University is looking ahead with a great optimismthat it will succeed in Meeting Global Challenges in the next 10years and that it will bring valuable information, research anddevelopment to the SOVAMAT Initiative.

Assessing traditional iron and steelmaking processes from anenvironmental point of view and developing breakthrougheco-efficient processes for the future are major challenges forthe steel industry today. In the framework of the challengingEuropean project ULCOS, which stands for Ultra Low CO2Steelmaking, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was chosen toassess breakthrough processes that could be part of thefuture iron and steel making landscape and to comparethem to the reference classical integrated steelmill.
To carry out such a study we propose a new methodologicalconcept which combines LCA thinking with physicochemicalprocess modelling.
Physicochemical models were developed for each processesof the classical integrated steelmaking route in order togenerate the data required to draw the Life Cycle Inventoryof the route. Such a method bypasses the traditionaldata collection and brings accuracy to the inventory byintroducing rigorous mass and energy balances into themethodology.
In addition it was shown that such an approach allowstesting and assessing different operational practices ofthe processes in order to optimise the use of energy andthe CO2 emissions, which showed that it can be used as apowerful tool for eco-conception of processes.