What are metals? How much do we use and for what?

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Metals and Society

Since the early history of mankind we have used metals in everything from implements and buildings, to food supplements. Originally they were metals that are easily accessible, for example copper and iron.

Through smarter technology the number of metals we use has increased exponentially. Several metals are used to form alloys to make use of the properties of different metals. Others are used in technology such as touch screens, circuit boards or fibre optic cables.

With an increasing population and rising standard of living in many places, the need of metals is increasing. For example, a person uses on average 600 kg of copper and 15 t of iron, and several tons of other metals and minerals.

Metals are elements extracted from our bedrock. Metals are finite resources, that is to say there is only a certain quantity of metals. At the same time, metals are elements which in many cases can be recovered an infinite number of times without losing their properties. However, there can be technical difficulties in recovering certain metals.

Our metal production comes from mines, which extract so-called primary raw materials from the bedrock, and from waste recovery. Steel, which is the most common metallic product, occurs in thousands of different varieties and sorts and can contain a number of metals which have been alloyed into steel.

FACT: How many elements do we use every day?

Modern technology, such as smartphones, solar cells, electric cars and airplanes, need many different materials and elements to work. Throughout the ages, the number of elements used by people in different objects has increased dramatically, from only a few to almost all in the periodic table. The figure below shows a handful of the most important, but far more elements are used today in smaller amounts.