Rare Earth Elements: A Review of Production, Processing ...

Rare Earth Elements Review Section 5 – Rare Earth Element Recovery/Alternative Material Use
A recent United Nations (UN) report on recycling rates of metals estimates that the end-of-life functional
recycling (i.e., recycling in which the physical and chemical properties that made the material desirable in
the first place are retained for subsequent use) for rare earths is less than 1 percent (UNEP, 2011).
Another study estimates that world-wide, only 10 percent to 15 percent of personal electronics are being
properly recycled (Dillow, 2011). Of the items that are sent
for recycling, the European Union (EU) estimates that 50
percent of the total is illegally exported, potentially ending
up in unregulated recycling operations in Africa or Asia.
These recycling operations frequently result in
environmental damage and worker exposure, as documented
in a separate UNEP report (Schluep et al., 2009) and
discussed further in Section 6.
The increasing prices of REEs (as well as other recyclable
metals), along with the knowledge of the quantities available
in discards and the increased worldwide demand, have led to
the concept of “urban mining.” Urban mining is defined as
the recovery of elements and compounds from waste
materials and products. Consumer electronics are
increasingly becoming subject to urban mining practices—
and with over 6.5 million metric tons of personal computers,
computer monitors and peripherals, televisions, and mobile
“If the United States committed itself to
meeting its critical materials needs in large
part through recycling, there is no nation
on earth that could match American
resources. The United States has the
largest "above-ground" mines of critical
materials in the world, in the sense that
this country's supply of industrial scrap and
end-of-life automobiles, electronics, and
electronic appliances - whether they are in
wreckers' yards, land-fills, or Americans'
basements and attics - can't be matched
by any other nation. In essence, these
"above-ground mines" make the United
States the Saudi Arabia of critical
materials. A well-developed recycling
system could tap these mines for U.S.
critical materials security without limit.”
Waste Management World, 2011
devices being generated in 2007 in the United States, Europe, China, and India—the supply available for
“mining,” or recycling, is large and increasing (ICF International, 2011). A short introductory video on
urban mining, with a focus on efforts in Japan, is available on the Internet
(http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_offbeat/2010-10-19/822469802087.html).
Some small electronics such as cell phones reach their end of life after a few years, while many of the
products that contain larger amounts of REEs have useful lives of well over one decade. The recycling of
the REEs contained within products will occur many years in the future and is not a short-term solution to
the current demand. Another factor that will impact one of the recycling drivers is that as additional REE
mines begin operation outside of China, global production will increase, costs may decrease, and the
urgency behind the push to recycle may be reduced.
5.2 Recycle Processing Steps
The recycling process for post-consumer, end-of-life products typically involves four key steps, as
illustrated by Figure 5-1: (1) collection; (2) dismantling; (3) separation (preprocessing); and
(4) processing.
As previously noted, a 2011 status report (UNEP, 2011) states that the end-of-life recycling rates, defined
as the “percentage of a metal in discards that is actually recycled,” for REEs is less than 1 percent. As
cited by Meyer and Bras (2011), the consumer products with the most rare earth recycling potential are
the ones that contain high levels of rare earths and an established collection or recycling infrastructure,
such as fluorescent lamps, magnets, car batteries, and catalytic converters. Three factors noted as
contributing to the effectives of recycling efforts are the following (UNEP, 2011):
1. Economics – The value of the materials to be recycled must be greater than the cost of recycling.
In situations where this is not the case, laws and incentives can be effective in increasing
recycling rates.
5-3