Seventeen chemical elements make up the list of rare-earth elements. They are as follows:
- Cerium
- Dysprosium
- Erbium
- Europium
- Gadolinium
- Holmium
- Lanthanum
- Lutetium
- Neodymium
- Praseodymium
- Promethium
- Samarium
- Scandium
- Terbium
- Thulium
- Ytterbium
- Yttrium
While the U.S. is the second largest producer of rare-earth elements, it’s also the largest importer. We import 75% of the rare-earth elements we need from China. Estonia, Japan, and Malaysia make up a large portion of the remaining 25%.
Recovering rare-earth elements is essential. As the demand for newer technologies increases, recycling processes recover rare-earth elements for reuse. It’s an exciting, vital area of electronics recycling that ERI and ReElement Technologies partner on.
The Importance of Rare-Earth Element Recycling
There’s more to rare-earth element recycling than a carbon footprint. It’s also an important process for national security and the economy.
China dominates refining and processing. Trade disputes, such as the tariff dispute, put the U.S. at risk of being cut off from essential materials for advanced technology manufacturing, national defense systems, and clean energy projects like wind turbines.
It also makes sense from an economic perspective. The country becomes self-sufficient by recycling end-of-life electronics and by gathering rare-earth elements for domestic use.
Rare-earth element recycling eliminates costly negotiations to import essential materials for defense systems, electric vehicles, hard drives, and wind turbines. Additionally, it shields the U.S. from sudden, unforeseen disruptions in foreign markets.
It’s difficult to overlook how mining and processing impact the environment. Traditional methods produce thousands of tons of waste that can seep into soil and groundwater if proper precautions aren’t taken to prevent their release.
A lot of water is used in traditional processing measures. Thoughtfully designed systems limit the amount of water used during refining. That’s one of ReElement’s strengths over the competition.
How Are Rare-Earth Elements Recycled?
Collection is an essential first step in recycling rare-earth elements. It’s important to remember that not every electronic device contains magnets, which are the targets for permanent magnet manufacturing. That’s why there are two stages to recycling.
Collection
Used or broken electronics are collected by a retailer or recycling facility. ERI also offers business services where the data destruction experts come to you. It’s possible to have your servers, computers, etc., processed using the best data destruction protocol and picked up at your place of business.
Once collected, the devices must be sorted. Some electronics are valuable because they contain components that can be reused for repairs. Items may still be in good shape and excellent candidates for refurbishment for resale or donation. After that, processing begins.
Processing
Sorted electronics go into shredders. The small pieces are sorted using advanced techniques that use optical sensors to scan and categorize the shredded materials. Magnets may be used to separate metal components. Density is another technique. The goal is to sort materials containing rare-earth elements from glass, plastic, and metals.
The remaining metal-rich particles are traditionally processed through one of two steps.
Hydrometallurgy – Dissolve the material in an acidic or basic solution. The process leaches rare-earth elements to achieve the highest possible degree of purification.
Pyrometallurgy – Very high temperatures melt the materials to separate the rare-earth elements. While it’s an option, it uses more energy and isn’t as precise.
Once the rare-earth elements are separated, they need further separation to become the individual rare-earth oxides. Some of these elements have similar properties, so they must be carefully extracted. Separation is typically performed using solvent extraction.
Solvent extraction is completed in two main steps. First, a solvent is used to dissolve the compounds. Second, a hydrocarbon-based solvent is used to extract a specific rare earth. The process works as follows:
- An oily solvent and fluid mix is shaken vigorously with the recycled materials.
- The mixture sits, allowing the desired rare-earth element to separate from the unwanted materials.
- The oily mixture is transferred to a new container.
- A weak acid or base is added to that mix, causing the rare-earth element to leave the oil and form a pure solution with the added base.
Explore the Partnership Between ERI and ReElement
While China is currently a leading producer of rare-earth elements (REEs), ReElement is changing that. The company’s purification and separation technology provides a cost-effective way to produce REEs needed for permanent magnet manufacturing.
ReElement is about to get a high-purity (99.95%+) product mix for dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium, and terbium. The company does this faster and for a lower cost, plus the refining technology uses 25% less water and 75% less energy.
REEs are recovered without toxic chemical discharge and with an incredibly low carbon footprint. That’s something ERI is happy to get behind.
ERI and ReElement’s partnership involves ERI supplying end-of-life magnets for the rare-earth oxide refining carried out by ReElement. The first shipments of the rare earth oxides had purity levels exceeding 99.99%. These recycled materials are ideal for manufacturing permanent magnets in defense systems, electric vehicles, and wind turbines.
Within the next two years, ERI and ReElement plan to transition from pilot operations to full-scale operations. You can help by doing your part. Recovering REEs begins with the proper recycling of electronics.
Take your electronic devices to your local recycling center, to a retailer like Best Buy or Staples, or send them via mail-back boxes offered through ERI. ERI recycles them in accordance with protocols that comply with environmental and data protection laws.
If you have many electronics, ERI and Best Buy collaborate on a haul-away service that lets you dispose of everything, including two large appliances, all at once. Batteries are collected and recycled separately.
Business owners can call our team to discuss ITAD services that ensure all your unused or broken office electronics are securely transported to one of ERI’s facilities for data destruction and recycling. We’ll make sure the materials go to ReElement for REE recycling.