Critical materials and dissipative losses: A screening study

•The presented work analyses dissipative losses of critical materials according to the EU definition.•A classification scheme for dissipative losses considering stage of occurrence and receiving medium is presented.•A screening showed that for all assessed critical materials dissipative losses occur in a rather significant scale.•Assessing dissipation is a data intensive endeavor. Detailed MFAs are required here.•Based on a prioritization of dissipative losses, optimization measures can be developed.

This study deals with dissipative losses of critical materials between the life-cycle stages of manufacturing and end-of-life. Following the EU definition for critical materials, a screening of dissipative losses for the respective materials has been performed based on existing data and the most significant data gaps have been identified. Furthermore, a classification scheme for dissipative losses (dissipation into environment, dissipation into other material flows, dissipation to landfills) and for assessing their degree has been developed and a first qualitative assessment applying this classification scheme has been performed.In combination with existing criticality assessments, the results can be used to generate a map of metals indicating future research needs for analyzing metal dissipation in detail. The results include quantitative estimates of dissipative losses (where feasible) along the chosen life-cycle stages, and discuss research needs for analysis and avoidance of dissipative losses for improved resource efficiency.