Recycling Potential in Criticality Assessments
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The EU credits recycling in supply risk through the end-of-life recycling input rate (EoL-RIR): the share of EU demand met by secondary material from post-consumer scrap. In the EU's 2023 assessment that rate was 55% for copper, 32% for aluminium, 22% for cobalt and 16% for nickel, but 3% for natural graphite, 2% for germanium and 0% for gallium, lithium, niobium and tantalum. USGS reports much higher shares for the United States for some metals, because it counts factory scrap and stainless-steel scrap as well.
55%
EU end-of-life recycling input rate for copper, the highest of the materials in the table
0%
EU end-of-life recycling input rate for gallium, lithium, niobium and tantalum
60%
of U.S. apparent nickel consumption was met by scrap of all kinds in 2025, mostly stainless steel; the EU old-scrap rate for nickel is 16%
22.3%
of e-waste generated in 2022 was documented as properly collected and recycled
Source: Global E-waste Monitor 2024
How does the EU measure recycling potential?
The EU measures recycling only through post-consumer scrap. Since the 2017 assessment the end-of-life recycling input rate refers to the ratio of recycling of old scrap in the EU to the EU supply of the raw material, which is the production of secondary material from post-consumer functional recycling that replaces primary input. The rate reduces supply risk in the EU formula. The study says material system analyses, its best source of data for the rate, are not available for all screened materials, and that imports of wastes and scraps are not counted in supply risk. Factory scrap, which is a large part of recycled copper, aluminium and magnesium in USGS's data, does not count.
What do EU and U.S. recycling figures show?
The table sets the EU rate beside the U.S. figures USGS gives, which use different definitions. The two should not be read as the same measure.
| Material | EU end-of-life recycling input rate, 2023 | U.S. recycling reported by USGS, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Copper | 55% | Scrap provided about 30% of U.S. supply (760,000 t new scrap, 160,000 t old). |
| Aluminium | 32% | Old scrap equalled about 28% of apparent consumption. |
| Cobalt | 22% | Purchased scrap equalled 25% of consumption. |
| Nickel | 16% | Scrap provided about 60% of apparent consumption, mostly stainless-steel scrap. |
| Antimony | 28% | Bulk of secondary antimony recovered at lead smelters from lead-acid batteries. |
| Titanium metal | 19% | Consumption data for scrap withheld. |
| Magnesium | 13% | 82,000 t from new scrap and 26,000 t from old scrap. |
| Manganese | 9% | Negligible scrap recovery specifically for manganese. |
| Natural graphite | 3% | No quantity given; abundance inhibits recycling. |
| Germanium | 2% | Capability to recycle new and old scrap; available information inadequate for estimates. |
| Gallium | 0% | No old scrap; new scrap from GaAs manufacturing is reprocessed. |
| Lithium | 0% | Battery recycling plants under construction; no recycled volume given. |
| Tungsten | 42% | Secondary quantities withheld by USGS. |
Sources: European Commission, Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023, overview table. Annex 11 of the same study gives a few different rates (titanium metal 1%, tantalum 1%, vanadium 6%), so this table uses the overview table throughout. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 chapters on copper, aluminum, cobalt, nickel, antimony, titanium, magnesium, manganese, graphite, germanium, gallium, lithium and tungsten.
Why do the figures differ?
The two sources count different scrap over different territories. The EU rate covers old scrap only, per unit of EU supply; USGS's nickel figure covers scrap of all kinds, including stainless-steel scrap, per unit of U.S. apparent consumption. A low EU rate therefore does not mean no recycling happens, and a high U.S. scrap share does not mean the metal is recovered from end-of-life products. The recycling barriers page and the industrial scrap page separate the streams.
Frequently asked questions
What is the end-of-life recycling input rate?
It is the share of EU demand for a material that is met by secondary material from post-consumer scrap, calculated as old scrap recycled in the EU relative to EU supply. The EU uses it to reduce a material's supply risk score.
Which materials have the highest EU recycling input rate?
Among the critical materials compared here copper is highest at 55%, followed by tungsten at 42%, aluminium at 32%, antimony at 28% and cobalt at 22%. Annex 11 of the 2023 study lists lead at 83% and rhenium at 50%, which are higher than any material in the table.
Why is gallium recycling zero in the EU data?
The rate counts only post-consumer scrap. USGS says there is no old gallium scrap recycled, and that new scrap from gallium arsenide manufacturing, which does not count toward the EU rate, is reprocessed at one New York facility.
Does recycling reduce criticality?
In the EU method it lowers supply risk in proportion to the recycling input rate. In practice the credit is small for most of the materials in the table, because 10 of the 13 rates shown are 28% or lower and four are 3% or lower.
Sources
Read on October 13, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- European Commission: Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023. Glossary definition, overview table and Annex 11 (end-of-life recycling input rates)
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Recycling paragraphs (13 chapters). Each chapter is linked under the table
- UN, ITU and UNITAR: The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
