British Recycling Group Testifies on Availability of Rare Earth Metals

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) has testified in front of the British Parliament’s Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry into strategic metals. The testimony took place Jan. 26.

The inquiry is looking at concerns about the availability of rare earth metals such as neodymium, which is found in magnets used in computer hard discs and electric vehicles, and how these metals are recycled from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

In his testimony, Ian Hetherington, BMRA’s director general, said, “There has been some speculation that the availability of several of these metals is in decline, and some are claiming the U.K. should protect its position strategically, recycling them within Europe and not exporting them.”

“However, there is no evidence to suggest they are intrinsically ‘scarce,’ and restricting the export of valuable recycled metals and artificially deflating the price would have wide ranging consequences for the British industry,” he continued.

“The widespread use of these metals is a relatively recent phenomenon, and so there is not a significant amount recovered through WEEE recycling. Currently, recovering these materials can be costly and only produces very small quantities, making it uneconomical.

“British metals recyclers are at the forefront of WEEE recycling with some of the most sophisticated facilities in the world. They currently recover around 90 percent from the WEEE that is made available to them from the domestic, commercial and industrial waste streams, including substantial quantities of platinum, rhodium and palladium along with gold and silver,” Hetherington continued. “If a market is identified and a consistent supply established for rare earth metals, such as neodymium, further development work would be undertaken, but at present there is limited incentive to do so. This situation is likely to change over the next ten years.”

The testimony followed a decision by the Commons Science and Technology Committee in November 2010 to launch an inquiry examining the importance of strategic rare earth metals to the United Kingdom.

In the committee’s initial discussion, Andrew Miller MP, chair of the committee, said, “This inquiry has the potential to be wide-ranging, from concerns about the availability of rare earth elements to how metals are recycled from discarded technological devices, some unfortunately through the use of exploited child labor in developing countries.”

The committee noted that there has been recent speculation that the availability of some of these metals is in decline. However, the exact impact of such a decline on U.K. high technology industries is unclear. While other metals are more widely available, there are concerns relating to unethical mining and recycling from discarded devices. The Science and Technology Committee has announced its inquiry examining the importance of strategic metals to the UK.