MOSCOW, July 7 — Global recycling rates for rare earth elements remain below one percent, according to a 2022 United Nations report, as the technical and economic barriers to so-called urban mining persist despite growing strategic interest from major industrial powers. The record shows that recovering rare earths from end-of-life products has proven difficult to scale. The low concentration of these elements in finished goods, combined with high energy costs for extraction, has kept commercial viability out of reach for most operations, officials familiar with the field have confirmed.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute has funded research into new recycling technologies. One notable effort, a 2023 project at Ames Laboratory, focuses on recovering rare earths from used magnets.
This work reflects a broader recognition in Washington that dependence on foreign supply chains for these materials carries strategic risk. Japan has also moved into this space. Toyota Tsusho Corporation operates a pilot plant that recovers rare earths from nickel-metal hydride batteries.
The facility represents one of the few industrial-scale attempts to close the loop on battery materials, though the low recycling rates suggest significant hurdles remain.
European investment and timelines
The European Union’s Horizon 2020 program allocated €10 million to the REE4EU project, according to the source material. That initiative aims to develop a commercial recycling process by 2025. The funding level, while substantial for a research program, underscores the scale of investment needed to move urban mining from laboratory demonstration to industrial reality.
According to the statement contained in the UN report, current global recycling rates for rare earths sit below one percent. This figure has not materially improved in recent years, despite the various government-funded programs now underway.
Technical obstacles remain unresolved
The fundamental challenge, according to the record, is twofold. First, the concentration of rare earths in any given product is typically very low, meaning large volumes of waste must be processed to yield small quantities of material. Second, the energy costs associated with separation and purification remain high, undercutting the economic case for recycling versus primary mining.
These constraints apply across the board, regardless of which technology or jurisdiction is involved. The Ames Laboratory magnet-recovery project, the Toyota Tsusho battery pilot, and the EU’s REE4EU program all face the same basic physics: rare earths are chemically similar to one another, making separation difficult and expensive.
What to watch next
The 2025 target date for the REE4EU commercial process will serve as an early test of whether government-funded research can overcome the economic barriers that have kept urban mining at pilot scale. If that project succeeds, it could provide a template for broader adoption. If it stalls, the strategic calculus for rare earth supply security will likely shift back toward primary mining and stockpiling.
For now, the data is clear: despite years of investment and multiple pilot projects, the world still recovers less than one percent of its rare earths from end-of-life products. The gap between aspiration and industrial reality remains wide.
