Critical Minerals: Recovery, Reuse, and the Future of Energy

Critical minerals—such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earth elements—are essential to powering a green economy that can help the world wean itself from the fossil fuels that drive climate change. These materials are foundational to electrical vehicles, battery storage, wind turbines, solar panels, and many other renewable energy solutions, as well as computer technologies used by everyday consumers and critical defense technologies for national security. 

Over the last few years, as highlighted by the Group of 7 (G7) Five Point Plan for Critical Minerals Security, critical minerals have become an increasingly important policy issue due to increasing demand, price fluctuations, and supply chain concerns. Global supply has since caught up with demand, but given the importance of these minerals to many sectors, future demand is anticipated to continue to grow. New research is informing efforts around recycling and reusing some of these vital materials to support the transition to a circular economy while addressing geopolitical, social justice, environmental, and supply chain concerns.  

Three Streams for Sourcing Critical Minerals 

Currently, critical minerals are primarily sourced from underground and open-pit mining. However, emerging options for obtaining them include recovery from nontraditional sources, such as from coal mining waste and geothermal brine, and through recycling end-of-life technologies like lithium-ion batteries. Each of these comes with its own challenges and concerns.  

 1. Mining 

Lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and other critical minerals today are mined from just a handful of geographically concentrated locations. For instance, cobalt mines are mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lithium is concentrated in Australia and South America, and nickel in Southeast Asia. 

This geographic distribution of resources, and the fact that refinement of the metals is historically taking place mostly in China, creates a supply chain that can be manipulated or disrupted by geopolitics and natural disasters. In addition, demand is expected to grow much more rapidly than we can effectively mine new supplies. New mineral exploration—alongside innovative recycling and recovery options and improved mining and refining methods—may be able to alleviate some of these challenges. 

However, various environmental and social issues posed by the critical mineral mining sector need to be addressed. Mines in areas with limited infrastructure (e.g., Lobito Corridor) must rely on diesel oil for back-up generators and transport to port. In an analysis by the World Bank, diesel consumption accounts for 61% of total emissions intensity of Scope 1 emissions for copper and cobalt mining in DRC. Additionally, without proper regulations and oversight, mining processes can contaminate land and water resources and cause other environmental damage. What’s more, mining in certain regions has been known to use forced and child-labor and infringe on the rights of local indigenous groups. 

2. Recovery from nontraditional sources 

Critical minerals can also be obtained through recovery from “nontraditional” sources such as leftover mining wastes, brine from geothermal power plants, and waste from coal-fired power plants. These efforts are mostly at pilot or research scale, though some companies are nearing commercial readiness. For example, a geothermal power company in California is nearing commercial-scale lithium extraction from geothermal brine, possibly starting as soon as 2025. However, high costs, potentially unstable prices for recovered materials, and liability concerns surrounding extraction from retired mining sites are some barriers to development in this area. Given the novelty and scale of these efforts, the potential to meet significant mineral demand through these methods is uncertain.   

3. Recycling and recovery from end-of-life technologies 

Some of the pressure on primary production could be relieved by recycling end-of-life technologies, such as the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Although not all key minerals can be easily recovered, lithium, nickel, and cobalt, among others, are currently being recovered through battery recycling (e.g., of EV batteries). By recycling the critical materials into new technologies, it is possible to lower our reliance on mined materials, alleviate some of the environmental and social harms associated with mining, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthen and diversify the supply chain. Recycled materials have been shown to meet or even exceed the performance standards for use in battery manufacturing, and innovations are being developed to lower the costs significantly. The primary limitation of critical minerals recycling is economic—currently, a much larger volume of material can be obtained at a lower cost from mining than from recycling. However, if the environmental, social, and greenhouse gas emissions benefits of recycling are factored in, recycling becomes more cost competitive.   

Despite the challenges, EV battery recycling is of great interest to stakeholders around the world as a complement to mining. In the U.S., for example, Redwood Materials has received billions of dollars in loans from the federal government to jump-start operations, signing deals with GM, Toyota, and others to recycle their batteries and manufacturing scrap. Redwood then sells the recovered minerals back to the manufacturers to make more batteries.  

The current volume of lithium-ion batteries available for recycling is relatively small and concentrated in personal and other electronic devices. However, this landscape is rapidly changing as the growth in the EV market has ballooned over the last several years (i.e., from 4% of car sales in 2020 to 18% in 2023 globally). In addition, experts project that global demand for EVs will continue to grow over the coming decade, as demand rises in emerging markets and environmental policies continue to phase out internal combustion engines in existing markets. Early EVs are beginning to reach end-of-life, and we’re likely to see an influx of large lithium-ion batteries in coming years. 

Increased Recycling of Critical Minerals: Key to a Circular Economy 

The current shift toward renewable energy is positive, in terms of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and supporting the transition to a circular economy. However, managing the waste generated by renewable energy technology presents a unique challenge. Solar panels, large-scale lithium-ion batteries, and wind turbines are all relatively new to the waste stream and their recycling processes are not optimized. Separately, the critical minerals and other metals contained in the technologies are hazardous and pose risks to environmental and human health if not managed correctly. Without proper collection and recycling, most e-waste makes its way into landfills, where heavy metals from these technologies can leach into the environment.  

Fortunately, many circular economy policy tools can be leveraged to strengthen the recycling and recovery market, build economic opportunity, bolster the green economy, and limit further environmental harm. Policies can be adopted that incentivize or mandate recycling minerals used in electronics, support workforce development for the sector, and fund research and development of novel technologies that strengthen the critical mineral recycling and recovery supply chain. 

The first step in scaling renewable energy waste recycling is to increase collection and sorting rates. Countries like the U.S., E.U., and China that are primary consumers of critical minerals and renewable energy technologies can lead in enacting policies that incentivize recycling and proper handling of end-of-life technologies. The EU has been proactive by passing new battery regulation that includes end-of-life collection targets, mineral recovery targets, and mandatory recycled content standards for new batteries. While less aggressive, the U.S., Canada, and others have invested billions in the clean energy transition, including earmarking funds for battery recycling, manufacturing, and workforce development in the sector. In the U.S., these include investments made through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, such as the Battery and Critical Mineral Recycling Grant Program and the Inflation Reduction Act, and implementation of the Defense Industrial Base Strategy, which aims to promote domestic critical mineral processing and recycling. 

The Evolving Landscape of Critical Mineral Recycling and Recovery  

Transitioning to renewable energy and other efforts to mitigate climate change are vital, and the role of critical minerals in powering a green and circular economy cannot be understated. Globally, research and development are driving new technologies, processes, and policies to strengthen the critical mineral supply chain and ensure its sustainability.  

At RTI, we will continue to review and evaluate emerging research in this relatively new field, as well as our own findings, to inform policies and bring innovative solutions and a strategic perspective to the energy transition.  

Learn more about RTI’s Center for Climate Solutions