The concept
Waste is not an end. It is a deposit.
First published in 2004 by Dr Farouk Tedjar, the urban mining concept has since been registered as an international trademark. It is now part of the recycling and sustainability landscape.
One of the pillars of the circular economy is recycling: it turns waste into valuable materials that substitute for natural resources. The growing scarcity of strategic metals and the climate stakes make that substitution increasingly decisive.
The concept came out of an observation made during a study carried out for the European Commission under the 5th Framework Programme (1999-2002): the lithium content of spent batteries exceeds the concentration found in ore extracted from natural mines. In other words, the richest deposit is no longer always beneath our feet — it is in what we throw away.
Among the resources critical to a country, metals rank third, just after water and energy. Those who exploit their urban mine gain access to resources their subsoil does not hold: Belgium is a significant exporter of cobalt and palladium without owning a single mine on its territory.
Source: F. Tedjar, Modern Concept in Materials, May 2020.
- 2004First publication of the urban mining concept
- 3rdRank of metals among critical resources, after water and energy
- 7Countries where the original recycling technology was commercialised