Separation and Recycling Potential of Rare Earth Elements from Energy Systems: Feed and Economic Viability Review

Abstract

This review explores the potential of separating and recycling rare earth elements (REEs) from different energy conversion systems, such as wind turbines, electric vehicles batteries, or lighting devices. The REEs include 17 elements (with global production of 242 kilometric tons in 2020) that can be found abundantly in nature. However, they are expensive and complicated to extract and separate with many environmental challenges. The overall demand for REEs is continuously growing (with a 10% yearly increase) and it is quite clear that recycling has to be developed as a supply strategy in addition to conventional mining. However, the success of both mining and recycling depends on appropriate separation and processing technologies. The overall REE recycling situation today is very weak (only 2% of REEs are recovered by recycling processes compared with 90% for iron and steel). The biggest recycling potentials rely on the sectors of lamp phosphors (17%), permanent magnets (7%), and NiMH batteries (10%) mainly at the end-of-life stage of the products. The profitability of rare earth recycling mostly depends on the prices of the elements to accommodate the processing costs. Therefore, end-of-life REE recycling should focus on the most valuable and critical REEs. Thus, the relevant processes, feed, and economic viability warrant the detailed review as reported here.

Total Bound Nitrogen Analysis for the Quantification of Immobilized Peptides on Dynabeads

“…Hence, we estimate a σpept on the carboxylic acid coated Dynabeads of 11.2 peptide equivalents per nm 2 . This very high value may indicate, besides an immobilization, a polymerization of the peptide, which could confirm our previously suggested explanation.…”

“…According to the most recent listing reported by the European Commission, rare-earth elements (REEs) are the critical raw materials with the highest supply risk, whereas their recycling rates remain very low in the European Union [1]. End-of-life fluorescent lamps are a promising secondary source of REEs, but their recycling requires innovative separation processes [2,3]. By using phage surface display, Lederer and co-workers identified selectively surface-binding peptides that specifically bind to fluorescent lamp phosphors [4].…”

Scandium Recovery from Aqueous Solution by Adsorption Processes in Low-Temperature-Activated Alumina Products

“…Occupational safety and public health risks related to rare metals must be addressed and analysed for every metal in all the process stages: mining, transportation, processing and disposal, storage of waste and decommissioning of the equipment and production units. Many research papers targeting these issues recommend recovery instead of opening new mining operation units and the rapid return, as much as possible, toward a circular economy [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Scandium is one of the most valuable metals in the rare metals category.…”

Tailoring a bio-based adsorbent for sequestration of late transition and rare earth elements

“…In that regard, recycling the existing REE-containing materials such as common REE-based magnets needs to be promoted. [8][9][10] However, both mining and recycling require the use of extraction and separation techniques involving large amounts of hazardous reagents and solvents. 5,7,11 The most common technology for REE separation is acidic leaching with various acidic leaching agents, using several precipitation steps to remove unwanted components, after which the product can be calcined and re-dissolved.…”