Peak oil (lowering oil supplies), once ignored as a problem for a distant future, is bound to happen soon. Although this fact is far less known, copper, phosphorus and some rare chemical elements face the same impending doom.
Actually, it's us who are facing it. You may not be aware of what the disappearance of copper or phosphorus could mean, so here comes an explanation; be sure to read it, as it will at least make you ponder.
For example, when speaking of cars, people are far more concerned about (or aware of) the oil-related problems. But platinum supplies, a rare metal used for its catalytic converter, are also running low. Science is in great need of such rare elements as well: Europium has unique optical, magnetic and electrical properties and there's no known substitute for it. It is used in flat monitor and TV technology, as well as for advanced batteries, engines, hard disks and lasers. The same goes for Indium (also used for GPSes or glass coatings), which may be depleted in 2017.
These were just the tiny examples. Here comes the heavy artillery. As human bodies, which contain about 1 kg of phosphorus, rely on it for their survival, so do plants. Together with potassium and nitrogen, it's one of the top 3 elements used for fertilizing. Africa and Australia are faced with a severe lack of this element in their soil, which leads to extremely low farm yields.
Researches estimate a peak for phosphorus (when its production will begin to decline) for 2034, which is not very far from now. Imagine what lack of it would mean for agriculture as we know it. Stephen Jasinski, a scientist at U.S. Geological Survey told WhyFiles that “There is some concern, with a growing population, with its need for food, increased use of fertilizer, and with biofuels coming on, about having enough phosphate for fertilizer in the future, but we're not going to run out in 100 years. We could be out in 200 to 300 years, so it is probably good to look at [recycling] in the future.”
Another illustrative example concerns copper, the metal discovered and exploited from ancient ages. In various alloys, it has been with us from weapons to coins to electricity (and engines and pipes, and so on). Its price is now 3 times that registered in 2003. Studies point out that, in about 60 years (or less, considering the growing needs of the ever-advancing technology), mines could become exhausted. Those who depend on electricity, which means almost the entire planet, will suffer the consequences. Again, recycling while still possible is just a temporary option.
The scarceness of these materials will lead to an enormous economic crisis. Imagine the chaos, both economical and social, generated by the huge prices for the decreasing reserves of, say, energy-conducting copper. But, besides that, there's another point that causes a lot of concerns. While fuels such as oil can be replaced (by switching from oil to alternative sources of energy, like coal, water, wind, Earth's heat or the sun), these can't. Perhaps in light of these facts, recycling gets a whole new meaning.
