Mass flows of selected target materials in LED products

The energy saving potential for lighting products containing light-emitting diodes (LED) is significant and the strategic importance of the LED technology is reflected in the current and upcoming market development. The commercial/public/architectural lighting sector will by far be the fastest growing market segment during the next decade. However, LED-based product systems contain many critical resources like indium, gallium or rare earth metals. The European project cycLED aims at optimizing resource flows of critical metals over all life-cycle phases of LED products. As a starting point, cycLED models material flows of resources contained in LED products to identify potentials for resource efficiency along the life cycle. This paper presents preliminary and exemplary calculation of the amounts of gallium contained in LED lighting products, which are put on the European market, are stocked in used LED lighting products and arise in end-of-life products in between 2010 and 2020.