Scandium

What it is

Scandium is a rare earth–adjacent metal used in aluminium-scandium aerospace alloys and in solid-oxide fuel cells.

Why it matters

Mined output is tiny — supplied as a byproduct of titanium, uranium, and nickel processing. China and the Philippines dominate.

Circular challenges

Whether scandium re-enters the economy at end-of-life is mostly settled at the design stage. These are the recurring blockers.

• Aerospace alloys are long-lived

  Al-Sc parts last decades and only enter scrap streams slowly; recycling demand is years behind primary.

• Tiny addition fractions

  Scandium is added at less than 0.5%; without dedicated sorting it is lost into general aluminium scrap.

• Fuel-cell scale unknown

  Solid-oxide fuel cells may grow significantly, but if they do the scandium supply chain is not ready.