Rare Earth Exchanges

Rare Earth Recycling: Promising, But Far From Scalable

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Highlights

  • U.S. Department of Defense grants $5.1 million to REEcycle to recover rare earth minerals from electronic waste for critical defense technologies.
  • REEcycle aims to produce 50 tons of recycled rare earth elements annually, with a proprietary process recovering over 98% of key minerals.
  • Initiative highlights efforts to reduce foreign dependency and create a more sustainable domestic rare earth supply chain for defense applications.

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $5.1 million to Houston-based REEcycle under the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III to extract rare earth minerals from electronic waste for defense applications. The initiative, aligned with the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy, aims to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers by recovering neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium—key elements for critical defense technologies like missiles, submarines, and aircraft electric motors. REEcycle claims its proprietary processes can recover over 98% of these elements, with plans for a commercial facility producing 50 tons annually.

While the project represents a step toward a sustainable rare earth supply chain, the article omits significant challenges. Currently, only 1% of rare earths are derived from recycling globally, and scaling these operations to meet industrial demand is years away. The article also fails to address cost-effectiveness, infrastructure requirements, and the feasibility of integrating recycled materials into existing supply chains. Additionally, the projected 50-ton annual capacity is marginal compared to U.S. demand, raising questions about the broader impact of such initiatives.

By overlooking these limitations, the article paints an overly optimistic picture of rare earth recycling. While initiatives like REEcycle’s are vital for advancing domestic rare earth recovery, they are far from the comprehensive solution needed to achieve true supply chain resilience for defense and other industries.

See the Defense Post (opens in a new tab) piece by Inder Singh Bisht.

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