Abstract
The global transition toward green energy has increased demand for metals and intensified the need for sustainable supply sources. Tellurium (Te), an essential metal for photovoltaics technology, is produced primarily as a by-product of copper refinery slimes treatment. This study conducts a life-cycle assessment (LCA) study of Te production to investigate the effect of environmental impact allocation choices on LCA results in multi-product metal systems. A cradle-to-gate LCA model of the Te product system was developed in SimaPro v9.5.0.1 software by combining industrial data, Ecoinvent v3.7.1 datasets, and literature information. Environmental impacts were quantified using the ReCiPe v1.04 Midpoint method for a functional unit of 1 kg of refined Te. The product system's multi-functionality was investigated using mass and economic allocation and a system sub-division method. Sensitivity analyses examined the effects of the Te concentration in anode slimes and their recovery efficiency on impact estimates. The results show that mass allocation assigns higher burdens to Te than economic allocation does. System sub-division yields significantly lower impacts than allocation procedures by attributing burdens only to Te-specific recovery processes. Higher Te grades and improved recovery efficiencies markedly reduced impact estimates. These findings demonstrate the importance of allocation choices on the LCA of by-product metals.
Recommended Citation
I. Paschalidou et al., "Effect of Allocation and Allocation Avoidance Methods on Life-Cycle Impact Results for Tellurium Production from Copper Anode Slimes," Sustainability Switzerland, vol. 18, no. 12, article no. 6273, MDPI, Jun 2026.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/su18126273
Department(s)
Mining Engineering
Second Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Publication Status
Open Access
Keywords and Phrases
allocation; by-product; joint production; life-cycle assessment; minor metals; tellurium; wastes
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2071-1050
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2026 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
01 Jun 2026
