The current administration continues to threaten increased tariffs on Chinese imports. If this happens on February 1st, it could impact the cost of tech. E-waste recycling is one of the most important ways to protect the American tech industry without drastically increasing prices for consumers.
Rare earth metals are found in every electronic device. The U.S. gets 72% of the rare earth metals and compounds from China. U.S. mine production reached 43,000 tons in 2023. That’s a small fraction of China’s 240,000 tons. The U.S. has 1.8 million tons available in reserves. China has an astounding 44 million tons. We rely on China for these rare earth metals.
If the tariff leads to China refusing to export these metals to the U.S., demand will be much higher than supply. This will make devices harder to get and more expensive if you do. Instead of relying on mining and limited supplies, ERI‘s electronics recycling makes it possible to recover rare earth metals for reuse.
How Are Rare Earth Metals Used?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there are 17 rare earth metals. They’re used in a variety of components that go into different types of electronics for consumer products and aerospace, scientific, military, and medical fields.
- Dysprosium – Hard disk drives, magnet storage devices, and lasers
- Cerium – Self-cleaning ovens, etching in electronics, low-emission vehicles, and wind turbines
- Erbium – Fiber optics, adds color to glass, and lasers
- Europium – Fluorescent lights, computer monitors, televisions, memory chips, lasers, and mercury-vapor lamps
- Gadolinium – X-rays, TVs, lasers, and MRIs
- Holmium – Lasers, add color to glass, magnets, and memory chips
- Lanthanum – Electrodes in batteries, filaments in X-rays, nickel-metal hydride batteries, and camera and telescope lenses
- Lutetium – PET scans, X-rays, and LED light bulbs
- Neodymium – Lasers, TVs, energy-efficient lamps, computer hard drives, fiber optics, capacitors, and vehicle motors
- Praseodymium – Lasers, high-power magnets, coloring in glass, and fiber optical amplifiers
- Promethium – Solar cells, pacemakers, X-rays, and atomic batteries
- Samarium – Lasers, infrared absorbing glass, and magnets in speakers and headphones
- Scandium – Lasers, camera lights, and mercury-vapor and metal-halide lamps
- Terbium – Fluorescent lights, SSDs, lasers, and sonar systems
- Thulium – X-rays, lasers, and metal-halide lamps
- Ytterbium – Lasers, X-rays, televisions, and atomic clocks
- Yttrium – LED light bulbs, cathodes in batteries, and camera and telescope lenses
Many rare earth metals also blend with metals like aluminum and stainless steel to make them easier to shape without risk of breaking. They go into components like frames, conduits, and connectors.
Take a device that many people own. A smartphone contains almost all these rare earth metals. The only one that is omitted is the radioactive promethium. If you’ve ever gotten an X-ray and must cover yourself to protect against radiation, promethium is the reason why.
In a smartphone, several rare earth metals help form the colors you see on the display. The gorilla glass screen gets its strength from the addition of rare earth metals. The speakers and circuitry contain rare earth metals. Vibrations occur with the help of dysprosium and neodymium. The reaction you get when you touch the screen or fingerprint sensor is also thanks to rare earth metals.
Now, consider that over 1.16 billion smartphones were produced globally during 2023. The need for rare earth metals is tremendous. Continual mining harms the environment, and depletion of reserves is possible. That’s where electronics recycling comes in.
What Happens During the Recycling Process?
When your electronic device no longer works or is outdated and no longer needed by you, what happens next? Here are the basic steps to electronics recycling.
Drop-off or pick-up services
The first step of electronics recycling depends on the company you use or your district’s policies. If you drop off at a local recycling facility, you may not know what happens downstream. Ask and see if they know, but you may need to contact upper management.
If you drop off at a retailer like Best Buy or Staples, the items are transported to ERI where they’re evaluated to see if they have usable parts or can be refurbished. If so, the parts are collected or the item is wiped of all data, rebuilt with parts from other devices, and tested to ensure they work properly.
ERI travels to businesses and offers on-site data destruction. Again, items are evaluated to see if they have any use as parts or refurbished items. This is beneficial as you get a little money back to cover the cost of ITAD services.
There’s also an option with ERI where you purchase a box that you fill with unwanted electronics. You ship it through a secure server to the nearest facility for processing.
Evaluation and refurbishment
During the evaluation, your devices are tested to see if they have parts that could be used in other repairs. If it powers up, its value is estimated. Many older devices help others afford a tablet, laptop, smartphone, etc. If they have value, they’re cleaned up, wiped of data, and repaired to be in like-new condition. If an item has no value, it goes right to shredders for the next step in the recycling process.
Data destruction
Electronics store a lot of information, and a lot of it is not meant to be shared with a stranger. If your device has employee information, tax records, bank information, dates of birth, or other PII, it must be cleared of that data. A factory reset isn’t good enough. Data needs to be wiped using special software or high-powered magnets if the devices have magnetic storage.
Recycling
Getting down to the process of recycling, electronics that have no use go into giant shredders. These shredders look like paper shredders, only they’re able to shred electronics into small pieces.
Once shredded, the metal, glass, and plastic pieces are sorted into separate bins. In many facilities, this involves using overhead magnets to capture the metal pieces and troughs of water where plastic floats and glass sinks. The use of AI and robotics is also available for sorting components using the AI’s detection system.
Glass may be crushed up and used in paving jobs. Plastic can be melted down and made into new items. Metals go through processes to separate the different types of metal. It’s melted and formed into bars or ingots, refined, and used to make new products.
Choose a Leader in Electronics and IT Asset Disposition
ERI has eight certified recycling facilities in the U.S. alone. There are many more international partners to boost the availability of safe, efficient recycling around the world. Our electronics and ITAD facilities strive for security and strive for recycling that protects the environment, workers, and people around the world.
Drop off your electronics with one of our partners like Best Buy or Staples if you’re a consumer, or reach out to learn how to ship your unneeded business electronics to us directly. We focus on data destruction and recycling processes that meet environmental regulations and recycle as many rare earth metals as possible.