Rare earth elements

Electronic waste

Source: 

http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/oregon/local-blog/is-green-technology-in-the-us-at-risk

You may not realize it, but rare earth elements (REE) have probably become an important part of your everyday life.  And they are becoming even more rare as our major source for these metals, China, has cut exports to other countries.

REEs are critical components in much of the technology we have come to take for granted.  They are found, among other things, in:

- Hybird vehicles

- Rechargeable batteries

- Mobile phones

- Plasma televisions

- Disk Drives

- Catalytic converters

- Aluminum baseball bats

- Medical devices 

Source:

http://sufiy.blogspot.com/2010/02/investors-rush-into-rare-earth-element.html

The high-tech and environmental uses of REEs has grown significantly in the last 40 years.

Source:

http://orignal.blogspirit.com/archive/2011/01/04/innovation-and-rare-earth-elements-a-key-issue-for-2011.html

And as our need for more and more REEs grew, the source of these resources has shifted to China.

Source:

http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2009/07/01/our-green-economy-is-made-in-china/

Currently most obsolete electronics are destined to be dumped somewhere, usually out of our sight in a third world country like Ghana.  In addition to leaking mercury and lead, REEs are being discarded.

dumped electronic waste, Ghana

But, especially since China announced last year that it would be limiting the export of REEs, Japan and Germany are on the forefront of developing aggressive programs to recycle valuable components.

So, why should we care about this?

The US, for example, imports almost all of these rare earth elements from China, which currently produces about 97 percent of the world supply.

Quite simply, if China significantly cuts exports,  prices for these elements - and the products they appear in - could and would jump dramatically.  Many other countries, like Japan and Germany, will obviously be in the same situation.

The internet has lots of up-to-date information about this topic.  I started here when I was researching it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element

http://ewasteguide.info/e-waste-campaign-gra

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5493796/china_technology_and_the_economics.html?cat=15

http://cenvironment.blogspot.com/2010/09/chinese-dominate-precious-metals.html

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/11/08/can-the-us-compete-on-rare-earths/america-should-not-panic-about-rare-earths

http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/oregon/local-blog/is-green-technology-in-the-us-at-risk

http://orignal.blogspirit.com/archive/2011/01/04/innovation-and-rare-earth-elements-a-key-issue-for-2011.html

http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2009/07/01/our-green-economy-is-made-in-china/

http://earthsky.org/earth/keith-long-rare-earth-elements-in-14-u-s-states

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2010/1020/China-s-lock-on-market-for-rare-earth-elements-Why-it-matters

http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-08-31/rare-earth-elements-crisis

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/global/05recycle.html

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/japan-germany-seek-rare-earth-recycling-as-hedge_498215.html

http://agmetalminer.com/2011/01/20/we-may-not-need-rare-earth-metals-after-all-japanese-research-suggests/