Recovering Critical Minerals in E-Waste and Securing Domestic Supply Chains

Critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt in rechargeable batteries and rare earth elements (REEs) in magnets are integral to the manufacture of various electronics. These materials enable increased efficiency, durability, and performance of electronic devices, making them indispensable for industry. However, the supply of these materials is often constrained by limited natural reserves, heavy environmental impacts of mining, and the high cost of processing or refining.

Recovering materials from e-waste has many advantages over mining and processing raw material, but the rates of recovery for discarded electronics could be greatly improved and recovering some of the metals they contain is difficult. Especially important is recycling domestically to ensure that these materials can reenter the economy and provide a stable source for domestic manufacturing. In the US, E-Waste has grown in volume at nearly 5 times the rate of recycling and according to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, E-waste recycling currently only accounts for 1% of the demand for REEs despite a majority of the total supply of these materials being used for electronics manufacturing.

In a bid to bolster domestic manufacturing and support next generation battery technology, the US Department of Energy is funding and supporting multiple projects to extract, process, and recycle critical minerals and materials through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding has already been successfully applied to various projects to support battery material processing and manufacturing, responsible domestic mining, and supply chains for rare earth elements used in magnets for electric motors, wind turbines, and other electronics.

In collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, CEAR is conducting and supporting research on critical material recovery and safe shipping of lithium batteries and battery-containing electronics. Recovering rare earth metals from the magnets in electric motors and hard drives is another goal of advanced electronics recycling and has the potential to be a significant portion of the supply chain. For the materials in batteries, magnets, and other electronics, successful domestic supply will depend on all aspects of the e-waste recycling process, from collection to material refining.