REE

Recycling of rare earth elements (REE) is a relatively new and complex undertaking as compared to other metals. REE are typically incorporated into complex alloys and advanced components, making physical and chemical separation difficult. Current recycling processes often rely on hazardous substances and require significant thermal input, resulting in high energy consumption and limited material recovery rates. Nonetheless, given the pressure on raw REE supply chains today, innovations around REE recycling and attempts to scale up the production of secondary material are taking off worldwide, often with substantial investor and government support.

REE recycling feedstock

Leveraging both pre- and post-consumer streams is essential for securing critical material supply, reducing environmental impact, and supporting the transition to a more circular and resilient economy. Unlike base metals and other mainstream recyclable metals, secondary rare earth sources can be categorised into unprocessed and processed sources.

Unprocessed sources include REE-containing materials that have not yet been commercially used, such as mine tailings, coal ash, and marine sediments. Mine tailings can contain residual REEs that were previously uneconomical or technically challenging to extract but are becoming more viable with improved recovery technologies.

Processed sources include pre-consumer scrap and post-consumer scrap. Pre-consumer feedstock includes manufacturing leftovers such as off-cuts and by-products from the production of REE-containing components (e.g., magnets, alloys, phosphors), as well as high-precision production waste and rejected parts that fail quality standards but still contain valuable materials. Byproducts of scrap magnets such as grinding swarf that originate in manufacturing processes—currently accounting for around 90% of secondary supply—require processing due to contamination and oxidation. Swarf is expected to remain the dominant raw material source through 2050, with rising volumes aligned to growing demand.

Post-consumer scrap, primarily from end-of-life e-waste, is a more dispersed and complex feedstock but also presents significant potential. Electronics like smartphones, laptops, and televisions contain trace amounts of REEs such as yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium. Hybrid and electric vehicle batteries, along with high-strength magnets in motors, wind turbines, and hard drives, are increasingly important sources as these technologies scale. Lighting products and audio equipment also contain REE-rich components like phosphors and magnets. Effective recovery depends on robust collection, disassembly, and sorting infrastructure.

As of 2024, the 15 elements that make up the rare earth metals group collectively have only about a 1% global recycling rate. In part, the low recycling rate can be explained by limited feedstock availability; today the energy transition is making recycling of magnet rare earths more viable, as their use in large applications like wind turbines increases. However, collection rates for rare earth-based permanent magnets are estimated at around 5% or lower, suggesting significant room to scale up recycling through stronger collection management and policy support. In one of the scenarios presented by an International Energy Agency study, secondary supply could reduce primary supply needs for magnet rare earths by over 25% by 2035 and over 30% in 2050. Further, end-of-life magnets from clean energy technologies will begin to emerge as available feedstocks by 2030 and become a significant source by 2040, accounting for about 15% of total end-of-life REE feedstocks. With policy incentives and enforcement, collection rates could effectively rise.

There are several main blockers to the scaling up of REE recycling. In the first place, low market prices for primary, raw REE disincentivise investment in recycling to produce secondary REE. Further, the lifecycle of products containing REE significantly influences the timing of their entry into the post-consumer scrap stream. Electronics like smartphones and tablets typically have a lifespan of only . Hard drives and other data storage devices generally remain in service for three to ten years. By contrast, electric vehicle (EV) batteries and wind turbines, which are key sources of rare earth magnets, have much longer lifespans of up to 30 years. These timelines have direct implications for resource recovery planning and highlight the importance of aligning recycling infrastructure with the expected availability of end-of-life materials.