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China’s abundant supply of rare earth minerals, essential in the production of many technologies – and long considered an ace in the hole for deterring or responding to an escalated trade war – could become less of a strategic advantage if the US and its allies ease their demand by harvesting and recycling the materials from obsolete equipment.

Recycling can be ramped up faster than new mines, which could take decades to become commercially viable, said Hu Xinyue, a senior analyst in the China programme at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“From an environmentally friendly perspective, recycling reduces the need for new rare earth mining, thereby decreasing both the environmental and energy footprints associated with extraction and processing,” she said in a research paper released on Thursday.

Read more at: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3286757/could-rare-earth-recycling-relieve-china-trade-trump-card