Recycling Reality: Humans Set to Trash most of Elements of the Periodic Table (Not much metallic or plastic is recycled)

From Scientific American article 8/9/12 by David Biello:

...In principle, all metals are infinitely recycleable and could exist in a closed
loop system, note the authors of a survey of the metals recycling field published in
Science on August 10. There’s a benefit too, because recycling is
typically more energy-efficient than mining and refining raw
ore for virgin materials. Estimates vary but mining and refining can require as
much as 20 times the amount of energy as recycling a given material. Think about
it: a vast amount of energy, technology, human labor and
time are expended to get various elements out of the ground—and then that
element is often discarded after a single use.  ...[Aluminum recycling vs. bauxite mining comes to mind--CG]
...industrial ecologists Barbara Reck and T.E. Graedel of Yale University compare
the fates of nickel versus neodymium. Nickel is ubiquitous, particularly as an
alloy for steel. Of the 650,000 metric tons of the silvery-white metal that
reached the end of its useful life in one product in 2005, roughly two-thirds
were recycled. And that recycled nickel then supplied about one-third of the
demand for new nickel-containing products. That means the overall efficiency of
human use of nickel approaches 52 percent. ...

Nearly 16,000 metric tons of neodymium—a so-called rare earth metal—were employed in 2007, mostly for permanent magnets in everything from hybrid cars to wind turbines. Roughly 1,000 metric tons of the element reached the end of its useful life in one product or another—and “little to none of that material is currently being recycled,” the
survey authors note. This despite the fact that a “rare earth crisis” stems from China’s near monopoly of the neodymium trade.

Mining for neodymium is not benign (which is why the
world lets China monopolize its production). And it’s not just neodymium. Mining
waste—or tailings, leach ponds, slurries and the like—are among the
world’s largest chronic waste problems. North America alone produces 10 times as
much mining waste as it does the municipal solid waste (as it’s known) from all
the neighborhoods in the U.S. Much of that is just rock, sand and dust—the
mountaintop in mountaintop removal mining. And mined products also cause waste
further down the product line, such as the ash leftover after the coal is burned (the U.S.’s
largest single form of waste).... 
More of this article at http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/08/09/recycling-reality-humans-set-to-trash-most-elements-on-the-periodic-table/?WT_mc_id=SA_CAT_BS_20120810

[On trips to Colorado, I have seen piles of tailings from lead and other mining operations.  Water from some of the rivers is not potable due to metal poisoning leftover from mining.  We need to recycle more diligently to avoid trashing our own land and water.

 We also need to curb our appetites for new gadgets just because the latest version is available.  So what if your cell phone company "allows" you to get a new phone every 2 years?  Is the new one that different?  How much effort is it to transfer all of your contact info?  Can we insist on a different way of doing business from our carriers?

I kept my dear Palm Treo for several years, despite snide looks from some techno geeks.  I still like it better than my new iPhone for entering calendar and contacts--much faster and logical on the Treo!  Sadly, Palm itself did not provide much support.)--CG]