Commercial Sector
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Revised July 2003
Commercial Sector
(29% of nickel end-use) 
"White goods": 9.3%
Elecrical and electronics: 7.5%
Tableware: 3.8%
Domestic kitchenware: 3.2%
Commercial kitchenware: 1.7%
Beer kegs: 1.2%
Medical appliances: 0.9%
Coinage: 0.6%
Electrical and electronics communications, computing and entertainment equipment; consumer batteries - 7.5%
Use is mostly diffuse and technology is rapidly changing. It is difficult to identify and separate nickel-containing products (shadow masks in CRTs, lead frames, batteries, electrical connectors, capacitors, etc.). Some specialist dismantling -- primarily to recover very high value metals -- will also recover some nickel.
Some goods will be crushed and fragmented (shredded) and subject to a metal/non-metal separation process. Nickel collected in the metal fraction will be recycled but probably not into the nickel loop - into steel, copper and/or plastics. If the precious metal content of the metal fraction is high enough, this could be fed into nickel smelting facilities which would extract the nickel at the same time as extracting the precious metals.
Assumptions: Average life 10 years (with great variability: higher for televisions and switching gear, lower for mobile phones and computers). Assume 10% is returned into the nickel loop, 20% into general steel, brass and plastics loops and the balance generally dispersed, including to landfill.
Forecast: Modest increase in share of nickel use but shift between end-uses with electrical generation and storage becoming more prominent. Overall recycle rate is expected to increase significantly from the current 30% because of product end-of-life regulations. Also, certain expanding end-uses are highly visible and contain valuable amounts of nickel: it is reasonable to expect that battery packs from hybrid vehicles each containing 20 kg or more of nickel will be 100% recycled.
Tableware - cutlery, hollowware - 3.8%
Very diffuse use, mostly as stainless steel. Some is collected by house clearers, donations to charity, etc. Much will be collected as Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Larger items will be clearly identifiable so considerable segregation and collection will take place in the MSW depot. Smaller items, however, such as knives and forks will only be separated if the MSW facility operates a metal/non-metal sorting system. Then much of the nickel-containing products will be separated but they could well be in the general steel loop rather than separately collected as stainless steel.
Assumptions: average life 30 years. Assume 33% ends up in the nickel/stainless steel loop, 33% in the steel loop and 34% generally dispersed, including to landfill.
Prognosis: Modest decline in nickel use because of market saturation and durability of the products. Modest increase in recycling as MSW systems increase their ability to segregate valuable materials.
"White goods" - refrigerators, freezers, washing
machines, dryers, dishwashers, stoves., but not including air conditioners, dehumidifiers - 9.3%
Use is very diffuse. Collection is usually through municipal waste collection but items are bulky and clearly distinguished from most Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW). White goods are usually segregated at MSW sites and collected by specialist dismantlers who remove key components, including most of the easily identifiable stainless steel: drums, liners and front panels. In high labour cost countries, the stainless steel may be separated mechanically after the entire appliance has been fragmented (shredded).
Assumptions: Average life is approximately 15 years. Most nickel-containing white goods are collected and dismantled: 60% of the nickel content is separately collected and recycled as stainless steel scrap; 37% (small components made from steel, small nickel steel components in motor drives, nickel alloy in small electronic components, switches, temperature sensors) will be recycled as either ferrous scrap or electronic (copper) scrap. Losses, including to landfill, approximately 3%.
Forecast: Modest trend for increasing nickel content in higher-quality white goods. Increasing attention to product design-for-environment and end-of-life management considerations. Losses, including to landfill, will probably remain stable: the economics of capturing the last few percent are unlikely to be attractive. The amount to nickel remaining in nickel loops is likely to increase at the expense of the nickel currently going to ferrous or electronic (copper) loops.
Domestic kitchenware - cooking
pots, utensils - 3.2%
Diffuse use, again mostly stainless steel. Items are usually larger, however, and will usually be segregated as stainless steel either before becoming Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) or in the MSW facility.
Assumptions: Average life 25 years. Assume 25% ends up in the stainless steel loop, 50% in the steel loop and 25% generally dispersed, including to landfill.
Prognosis: Modest decline in share of nickel use due to market saturation and product durability. Modest increases in the percentage of nickel that remains in the nickel loop and a modest decline in material dispersed because of an expected improvement in the ability to identify and segregate valuable recyclables from MSW streams.
Commercial kitchenware -
kitchen furniture, cooking vessels - 1.7%
Concentrated use and mostly stainless steel. Built, operated and dismantled by experienced operatives and very unlikely to become part of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) stream.
Assumptions: average life 20 years. Assume 80% ends up in the stainless steel loop. 10% in steel or copper loops, with 10% generally dispersed, including to landfill.
Forecast: Stable share of nickel use due to the preferred status of nickel-containing stainless steels in food preparation environments. Stable pattern of end-of-life management as the hectic environments of commercial kitchens make improvements to current rates of metal recovery and recycling problematic.
Beer kegs - 1.2%
Their size, high unit value, and strong supply/user/recycling networks for beer kegs mean that kegs are easily identified, segregated and reused as kegs, modified into other products, and ultimately recycled. This is true even though the distribution of kegs during their service lives is very broad. The service life has so far been restricted more by design changes than by wear or damage to the kegs. If the frequency of design changes - usually associated with the systems for tapping the beer - declines, the expected life of the kegs will increase.
Assumptions: An average 15 year service life, with more than 98% expected to end up in the stainless steel loop, 1% in the steel loop, and less than 1% generally dispersed, including to landfill.
Prognosis: Stable share of nickel use. Stable pattern of end-of-life management.
Medical appliances - 0.9%
Mostly stainless steel. Some smaller items (e.g. disposable needles) may be automatically disposed of to controlled landfills. For larger items, assume a 20 year average life with an estimated 40% going to the stainless loop, 20% to the steel loop; 40% generally dispersed, including to landfill.
Forecast: Stable share of nickel use. Rapid technical change will limit product lifetimes: items are more likely to be obsolete before they wear out. The ability to significantly improve material recoveries will depend on public policy decisions on medical waste management.
Coinage - 0.6%
Diffuse use, mostly as cupro-nickel and nickel-coated copper or steel. There are, however, strong logistical networks for collection at end-of-life (withdrawal of coins or "demonetarisation").
Mints calculate that demonetarisation usually captures over 90% of coins being withdrawn. These are either reused (melted, turned first into new strip then blanks, and then 'coined') for further coinage programs, or are sold as alloy scrap to selected users under carefully controlled conditions. Recovery of coinage is a significant revenue for the automobile scrap industry: most coinage survives the shredding operation and is separated from the other material streams. The higher value (i.e., nickel-containing) coins are returned to mints for their face value. A certain volume of coins is never returned even on demonetarisation. Coins end up in collections or simply at the bottom of drawers. "Losses" are particularly great for coins from popular tourist countries whose coins tend to be retained as souvenirs. Inevitably, a small percentage of coins are lost and will be dispersed in the earth or end up in MSW.
Assumptions: Average life 25 years. 85% recycled in cupro-nickel loops; 10% recycled in steel or copper loops; 5% generally dispersed.
Prognosis: Stable share of nickel use. Stable pattern of end-of-life management.
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