Recycling (rare earths): Rarely so Critical

[phantom power]

A recent report by the Stratfor Global Intelligence Service finds that a typical 1.5 MW wind turbine requires about 350 kg of Rare Earth Elements (REE) - mostly neodymium. REEs are a set of 17 elements in the periodic table, which despite their name, are almost all relatively plentiful in the Earth's crust, with Cerium being approximately as abundant as copper at 68 parts per million. However, these elements are highly dispersed and the rarity is finding them in concentrated mineral form known as a rare earth mineral.

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not only is demand outstripping supply, but the supply is controlled almost exclusively by just one country - China. The CRS estimates that China controls roughly 97% of the world's entire production capacity of REEs. However, the refining of REEs is potentially extremely harmful to the environment, involving boiling acid and other toxic chemicals. While many of its export customers remain sceptical of its motivations, under the guise of reducing the undoubted environmental damage being done in the country, over recent years China has imposed stringent production and export quotas on the industry.

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The Japanese government has set aside some $1.2 billon for research into rare earth recycling, as well as opening new supply routes and the stockpiling of REEs. As part of this push, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry selected Tokyo based Hitachi for a project to find technology solutions for the recycling of rare earth metals from 'urban mines'.

Hitachi has developed a method to recycle high-performance rare earth magnets from the motors of hard disk drives (HDD), air conditioners and other compressors. Specifically, it has developed machinery to separate rare earth magnets from end-of-life products, and then to extract REEs from rare earth magnets. Experiments of neodymium and dysprosium extraction technologies were conducted using a dry process rather than using acids and other chemicals.

http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/4336604733/articles/waste-management-world/volume-12/issue-5/features/recycling-rarely-so-critical.html