Indium has emerged as a strategic metal for high-tech
and renewable
industries, being catalogued as a critical material to foster a greener
future. Nevertheless, its global sustainability is not well addressed.
Here, using dynamic substance flow analysis, we study the indium industry
evolution between 2010 and 2020 and estimate its future demand in
the medium and long term toward 2050 to identify potential paths and
mechanisms to decrease indium losses and to identify the key stages
in its life cycle. As electronics and photovoltaic industries will
play a crucial role in the indium demand, we assess their indium demand
employing three cumulative photovoltaic capacity scenarios (8.5, 14,
and 60 TW by 2050) with different dominant photovoltaic sub-technologies.
Results show that liquid-crystal displays and photovoltaic panels
will drive indium future demand, increasing its current demand by
2.2–4.2, 2.6–7.0, and 6.8–38.3 times for the
8.5, 14, and 60 TW scenarios, respectively, threatening with shortages
that could occur as early as the next decade. Therefore, measures
to reduce losses in primary production, innovations and improvements
in electronics and solar panels, and indium recycling with an effective
circular economy strategy could promote and secure the future sustainability
of indium.