The multilevel cycle of anthropogenic lead

J.S. Mao, Jaimee Dong and T.E. Graedel

Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2008, vol. 52, issue 8, 1050-1057

Abstract: Comprehensive annual cycles for flows of lead in 2000, based on statistical data and incorporating information on lead production, fabrication & manufacture of products, use, and discard management, were characterized at three discrete geographical levels: 52 countries, 8 regions and the world as a whole. Among the most interesting results are the following: (1) worldwide, aboust 3500Gg Pb was extracted from the lithosphere and around 2840Gg Pb was discharged into the environmental repositories; (2) about 3500Gg Pb was recycled in 2000; (3) approximately, 11% of the lead entering the Use phase accumulated as in-use stock; (4) around two-thirds of the lead entering global Waste Management & Recycling was returned to production for recycling, although this ratio varies among regions and countries; (5) lead ore was mainly extracted in Asia, North America and Oceania, and lead products were chiefly used in North America, followed by Europe and Asia; (6) lead emissions mainly occurred in Asia, followed by North America and Europe. These results provide a framework for complementary studies in lead resources, energy use, lead discard management, and environmental implications.

Keywords: Material flow analysis; Recycling; Discard management; Lead ore extraction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092134490800058X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:recore:v:52:y:2008:i:8:p:1050-1057

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.04.005

Access Statistics for this article

Resources, Conservation & Recycling is currently edited by Ming Xu

More articles in Resources, Conservation & Recycling from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kai Meng ().