In rare earth metals power struggle with China, old laptops, phones may get a new life
But there's another option to combat the rare earths shortage that goes back to an older idea: recycling. The business has come a long way from collecting cans, bottles, plastic, newspaper and other consumer disposables, otherwise destined for landfills, to recreate all sorts of new products.
Today, next-generation recyclers — a mix of legacy companies and startups — are innovating ways to gather and process the ever-growing mountains of electronic waste, or e-waste, which comprises end-of-life and discarded computers, smartphones, servers, TVs, appliances, medical devices, and other electronics and IT equipment. And they are doing so in a way that is aligned to the newest critical technologies in society. Most recently, spent EV batteries, wind turbines and solar panels are fostering a burgeoning recycling niche.
The e-waste recycling opportunity isn't limited to rare earth elements. Any electronics that can't be wholly refurbished and resold, or cannibalized for replacement parts needed to keep existing electronics up and running, can berecycled to strip out gold, silver, copper, nickel, steel, aluminum, lithium, cobalt and other metals vital to manufacturers in various industries. But increasingly, recyclers are extracting rare-earth elements, such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, which are critical in making everything from fighter jets to power tools.
"Recycling [of e-waste] hasn't been taken too seriouslyuntil recently" as a meaningful source of supply, said Kunal Sinha, global head of recycling at Swiss-based Glencore, a major miner, producer and marketer of metals and minerals — and, to a much lesser but growing degree, an e-waste recycler. "A lot of people are still sleeping at the wheel and don't realize how big this can be," Sinha said.
Traditionally, U.S. manufacturers purchase essential metals and rare earths from domestic and foreign producers — an inordinate number based in China — that fabricate mined raw materials, or through commodities traders. But with those supply chains now disrupted by unpredictable tariffs, trade policies and geopolitics, the market for recycled e-waste is gaining importance as a way to feed the insatiable electrification of everything.
"The United States imports a lot of electronics, and all of that is coming with gold and aluminum and steel," said John Mitchell, president and CEO of the Global Electronics Association, an industry trade group. "So there's a great opportunity to actually have the tariffs be an impetus for greater recycling in this country for goods that we don't have, but are buying from other countries."
Although recycling contributes only around $200 million to Glencore's total EBITDA of nearly $14 billion, the strategic attention and time the business gets from leadership "is much more than that percentage," Sinha said. "We believe that a lot of mining is necessary to get to all the copper, gold and other metals that are needed, but we also recognize that recycling is going to play a huge role," he said.
Glencore has operated a huge copper smelter in Quebec, Canada, for almost 20 years on a site that's nearly 100-years-old. The facility processes mostly mined copper concentrates, though 15% of its feedstock is recyclable materials, such as e-waste that Glencore's global network of 100-plus suppliers collect and sort. The smelter pioneered the process for recovering copper and precious metals from e-waste in the mid 1980s, making it one of the first and largest of its type in the world. The smelted copper is refined into fresh slabs that are sold to manufacturers and traders. The same facility also produces refined gold, silver, platinum and palladium recovered from recycling feeds.
The importance of copper to OEMs' supply chains was magnified in early July, when prices hit an all-time high after President Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on imports of the metal. The U.S. imports just under half of its copper, and the tariff hike — like other new Trump trade policies — is intended to boost domestic production.
It takes around three decades for a new mine in the U.S. to move from discovery to production, which makes recycled copper look all the more attractive, especially as demand keeps rising. According to estimates by energy-data firm Wood Mackenzie, 45% of demand will be met with recycled copper by 2050, up from about a third today.
Foreign recycling companies have begun investing in the U.S.-based facilities. In 2022, Germany's Wieland broke ground on a $100-million copper and copper alloy recycling plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Last year, another German firm, Aurubis, started construction on an $800-million multi-metal recycling facility in Augusta, Georgia.
"As the first major secondary smelter of its kind in the U.S., Aurubis Richmond will allow us to keep strategically important metals in the economy, making U.S. supply chains more independent," said Aurubis CEO Toralf Haag.
The proliferation of e-waste can be traced back to the 1990s, when the internet gave birth to the digital economy, spawning exponential growth in electronically enabled products. The trend has been supercharged by the emergence of renewable energy, e-mobility, artificial intelligence and the build-out of data centers. That translates to a constant turnover of devices and equipment, and massive amounts of e-waste.
In 2022, a record 62 million metric tons of e-waste were produced globally, up 82% from 2010, according to the most recent estimates from the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR. That number is projected to reach 82 million metric tons by 2030.
The U.S., the report said, produced just shy of 8 million tons of e-waste in 2022. Yet only about 15-20% of it is properly recycled, a figure that illustrates the untapped market for e-waste retrievables. The e-waste recycling industry generated $28.1 billion in revenue in 2024, according to IBISWorld, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 8%.
Whether it's refurbished and resold or recycled for metals and rare-earths, e-waste that stores data — especially smartphones, computers, servers and some medical devices — must be wiped of sensitive information to comply with cybersecurity and environmental regulations. The service, referred to as IT asset disposition (ITAD), is offered by conventional waste and recycling companies, including Waste Management, Republic Services and Clean Harbors, as well as specialists such as Sims Lifecycle Services, Electronic Recyclers International, All Green Electronics Recycling and Full Circle Electronics.
"We're definitely seeing a bit of an influx of [e-waste] coming into our warehouses," said Full Circle Electronics CEO Dave Daily, adding, "I think that is due to some early refresh cycles."
That's a reference to businesses and consumers choosing to get ahead of the customary three-year time frame for purchasing new electronics, and discarding old stuff, in anticipation of tariff-related price increases.
Daily also is witnessing increased demand among downstream recyclers for e-waste Full Circle Electronics can't refurbish and sell at wholesale. The company dismantles and separates it into 40 or 50 different types of material, from keyboards and mice to circuit boards, wires and cables. Recyclers harvest those items for metals and rare earths, which continue to go up in price on commodities markets, before reentering the supply chain as core raw materials.
Even before the Trump administration's efforts to revitalize American manufacturing by reworking trade deals, and recent changes in tax credits key to the industry in Trump's tax and spending bill, entrepreneurs have been launching e-waste recycling startups and developing technologies to process them for domestic OEMs.
"Many regions of the world have been kind of lazy about processing e-waste, so a lot of it goes offshore," Sinha said. In response to that imbalance, "There seems to be a trend of nationalizing e-waste, because people suddenly realize that we have the same metals [they've] been looking for" from overseas sources, he said. "People have been rethinking the global supply chain, that they're too long and need to be more localized."
Several startups tend to focus on a particular type of e-waste. Lately, rare earths have garnered tremendous attention, not just because they're in high demand by U.S. electronics manufacturers but also to lessen dependence on China, which dominates mining, processing and refining of the materials. In the production of rare-earth magnets — used in EVs, drones, consumer electronics, medical devices, wind turbines, military weapons and other products — China commands roughly 90% of the global supply chain.
The lingering U.S.–China trade war has only exacerbated the disparity. In April, China restricted exports of seven rare earths and related magnets in retaliation for U.S. tariffs, a move that forced Ford to shut down factories because of magnet shortages. China, in mid-June, issued temporary six-month licenses to certain major U.S. automaker suppliers and select firms. Exports are flowing again, but with delays and still well below peak levels.
The U.S. is attempting to catch up. Before this past week's Trump administration deal, the Biden administration awarded $45 million in funding to MP Materials and the nation's lone rare earths mine, in Mountain Pass, California. Back in April, the Interior Department approved development activities at the Colosseum rare earths project, located within California's Mojave National Preserve. The project, owned by Australia's Dateline Resources, will potentially become America's second rare earth mine after Mountain Pass.
Meanwhile, several recycling startups are extracting rare earths from e-waste. Illumynt has an advanced process for recovering them from decommissioned hard drives procured from data centers. In April, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital announced a collaboration with Microsoft, Critical Materials Recycling and PedalPoint Recycling to pull rare earths, as well as copper, gold, aluminum and steel, from end-of-life drives.
Canadian-based Cyclic Materials invented a process that recovers rare-earths and other metals from EV motors, wind turbines, MRI machines and data-center e-scrap. The company is investing more than $20 million to build its first U.S.-based facility in Mesa, Arizona. Late last year, Glencore signed a multiyear agreement with Cyclic to provide recycled copper for its smelting and refining operations.
Another hot feedstock for e-waste recyclers is end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, a source of not only lithium but also copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese and aluminum. Those materials are essential for manufacturing new EV batteries, which the Big Three automakers are heavily invested in. Their projects, however, are threatened by possible reductions in the Biden-era 45X production tax credit, featured in the new federal spending bill.
It's too soon to know how that might impact battery recyclers — including Ascend Elements, American Battery Technology, Cirba Solutions and Redwood Materials — who themselves qualify for the 45X and other tax credits. They might actually be aided by other provisions in the budget bill that benefit a domestic supply chain of critical minerals as a way to undercut China's dominance of the global market.
Nonetheless, that looming uncertainty should be a warning sign for e-waste recyclers, said Sinha. "Be careful not to build a recycling company on the back of one tax credit," he said, "because it can be short-lived."
Investing in recyclers can be precarious, too, Sinha said. While he's happy to see recycling getting its due as a meaningful source of supply, he cautions people to be careful when investing in this space. Startups may have developed new technologies, but lack good enough business fundamentals. "Don't invest on the hype," he said, "but on the fundamentals."
Glencore, ironically enough, is a case in point. It has invested $327.5 million in convertible notes in battery recycler Li-Cycle to provide feedstock for its smelter. The Toronto-based startup had broken ground on a new facility in Rochester, New York, but ran into financial difficulties and filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in May, prompting Glencore to submit a "stalking horse" credit bid of at least $40 million for the stalled project and other assets.
Even so, "the current environment will lead to more startups and investments" in e-waste recycling, Sinha said. "We are investing ourselves."
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Chicago Tribune
42 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
From fast casual to fine dining: 50 years of the American gyro, and a look at the dish's Chicago history
It's the lunch rush on a busy Wednesday at Dengeos in suburban Skokie. The restaurant's menu reads like the guest list for a party dedicated to fans of Chicago greasy spoons — mustardy hot dogs, Italian beefs, Polish sausages and mostaccioli abound. And, of course, gyros. Dengeos is a Greek restaurant first and foremost, and it's been serving up the yogurty, salty pita pockets since 1972. Behind the counter, between the shuffle of cooks and kitchen staff, Dengeos owner Nick Theodosis shows off the key to the joint's long-running success: three large machines, each with its own cone of rotating, sizzling gyro meat. 'These are the autodoners,' said Theodosis. 'And this,' he picked up a device that looked like a handheld Dyson fan, 'is called the Wizard. It shaves the gyro paper thin.' In 1974 and 1975, only a few years after Dengeos first opened, two Chicago-based companies, Grecian Delights and Kronos Foods, began mass-producing the world's first hydraulically pressed gyro cones. This modern marvel of rotisserie meat allowed for a more consistent, and therefore easier-to-sell, product. Eventually, the two companies merged in 2020, but in the years prior, they helped turn an ancient dish (some estimate the cooking techniques behind the gyro could be at least 2,000 years old) into a fast-casual staple, one that launched as many Dengeos-style Greek eateries as Helen launched ships from Troy. Now, over 50 years later, the popularity of the gyro has waned, as the classic Greek spots that once covered Chicago's North and West sides have dwindled, replaced by taquerías and shawarma joints as new waves of immigration have changed the city's culinary landscape. With fast-casual options out, Greek food in Chicago has moved in a more upscale direction, entering a new era of Greek fine dining that looks like it is here to stay. When Theodosis' father opened Dengeos, he had just fled a Greece where the economy had been ravaged by Nazi occupation and a bitter civil war. Long before that, however, Chicago had been a major hub for Greek immigration. According to Katherine Kelaidis, director of research and content at Chicago's National Hellenic Museum, between approximately 40,000 and 60,000 Greek immigrants settled in the Chicago area in the years immediately following World War I. Between 1945 and 1974, it's estimated that an additional 80,000 to 100,000 Greek immigrants came to the Windy City, many of whom expected to earn money they could send back to the homeland. There is actually a word in Greek for this periodic exodus, ',' said Kelaidis. Loosely translated, it means 'to go live in a foreign place to make money. Chicago is one of the first landing places for (Greek) people,' she said. When Greeks began arriving in Chicago in the 20th century, said Kelaidis, they settled on the city's West and Southwest sides, neighborhoods such as Little Italy, West Town and, of course, Greektown. Those with expendable capital began purchasing restaurants and gyro joints, places like Greektown's famed Greek Islands, which has been around since 1971, or the nearby Parthenon (where Kelaidis' grandparents had their first wedding anniversary), which closed in 2016 after 48 years in business. These restaurants were important spaces where the Greek community could gather, said Kelaidis, and they also created avenues for Greek immigrants to assimilate into the wider culture of the United States. Dino Sakkas certainly remembers his family's Lakeview restaurant, Gyros on the Spit, as a community gathering space. Open from 1973 to 2000, the restaurant was an old-school counter-service spot. Gyros, kebabs, baklava and spanakopita would arrive in red baskets lined with wax paper and a side of fries. There was always Greek music playing that would bounce off the restaurant's fake candelabras, gingham tablecloths and wood paneling, Sakkas said. 'It was a Greek restaurant, but a lot of people used to say it kind of looked like an old German brew ,' Sakkas said. Sakkas' uncle, one of the original owners of Greek Islands, helped his father start the business, but running the restaurant was really an all-hands-on-deck affair. When Sakkas' parents moved to Chicago from Greece in the 1970s, they didn't know many people, and Sakkas and his sister would spend most days after school hanging out at the restaurant. By 17, Sakkas was fully running the place. Sakkas is proud to say that, unlike most gyro spots at the time, Gyros on the Spit never made the switch to Grecian Delight Kronos Food's hydraulically pressed gyro cones, preferring instead to do it the old-fashioned way, marinating, slicing and stacking their meats by hand. This earned them a loyal following in the neighborhood. The lunch shift would see local building engineers, dinner would welcome large families (some Greek, some not) and the bar crowd would start rolling in around 2 in the morning and stay until 4 a.m. Sakkas' father would give everyone a shot of ouzo on their way out — complimentary, of course. 'I think the familiarity with Greek food, and an Americanized Greek food like the gyro, gave white Americans permission to see their Greek neighbors as one of them,' said Kelaidis of Chicago's Hellenic Museum. According to Kelaidis, by the 1960s, Greeks had moved from being seen as an ethnic minority to being seen more simply as white Americans. With white flight pushing most second-generation Greeks out to the suburbs, Greektown was soon Greek in name only. This exodus also meant fewer gyro spots. 'The block that my dad was on back in the early '70s, all the way to, I'd say mid-'90s, there were five (gyro places) on that block,' said Sakkas, 'and now there's none.' With the loss of many classic gyro spots, the Greek restaurant void has been filled by second- and third-generation Greek chefs who are putting their own spins on the classics they grew up eating. Among them is Doug Psaltis, a Greek restaurateur and chef-owner of Andros Taverna in the Logan Square neighborhood. One of the largest changes Psaltis sees from his grandfather's generation of Greek restaurants is their design. According to Psaltis, Greek restaurants used to have the 'Greek restaurant kit' — white stucco walls, azure blue ceilings and fake frescos of the motherland. This has since been replaced by more modern designs that feel more artistically driven, a change that is reflected in the food as well, said Psaltis. Whereas before you might have Greek dishes that were tweaked for an American palette, restaurants (and restaurantgoers) have now begun embracing more modern takes on traditional dishes that highlight the freshness of Mediterranean cuisine. At Andros Taverna, this looks like flying in fresh fish from markets in Athens and Barcelona, and baking their spanakopita to order rather than in large tray bakes that were more popular in the Greek diner generation of Psaltis' grandfather. When Psaltis first opened Andros Taverna in 2021, he wasn't planning on doing a gyro at all. 'I was like, no, it's not that kind of restaurant… This isn't like a quick eats place. It's a restaurant.' After playing around with the recipe, the restaurant now serves its signature gyro made with Midwestern pork, cooked over a charcoal grill and nestled in their made-to-order pitas. It's one of the most popular items on their menu, said Psaltis. Upscale gyros are also doing well on the menu at Meze Table, a Greek catering business based in Bridgeport run by best friends and collaborators Elizabeth Morris and Beth Salentiny. Like Theodosis and Psaltis, Salentiny also comes from a family of Greek restaurant owners and grew up eating Hellenic classics with a Midwestern bent. Her mother used to make a meatloaf with beef, pork and Greek spices that she would slice thin and serve pita-gyro style. She would also replace the more traditional fixings with Midwest staples like mayo, onions and lettuce — a Mediterranean meatloaf turned rustic gyro. Salentiny and Morris still make their gyros in a meatloaf pan before slicing thin strips that are crisped up on the stove. As if a meatloaf gyro wasn't Midwestern enough, the duo debuted their latest creation, the 'Gyro Hero' at a pop-up in June at Electric Funeral in Bridgeport. The sandwich features their homestyle gyro on a hoagie roll topped with a tzatziki-style slaw. You can try the sandwich at their next pop-up at Maria's Bar in Bridgeport on July 22. 'I'm so stoked to do it. It's a good blend of Maxwell Street-style counter food and gyros and Greek food together,' said Salentiny. Avgeria Stapaki, chef-owner of the Greek fusion restaurant Táma in the Bucktown neighborhood, is working on plans to open a counter service gyro joint where she will serve 'authentic Greek gyros' alongside Greek potatoes and Greek wines. The Greek-born and -raised Stapaki is known for fusing food from her homeland with cuisine from other cultures, creating flavors as uniquely Chicago as they are classically Greek; dishes like Táma's guacamole, which comes with a pico de gallo that mimics the flavor profiles of a Greek horiatiki salad, or their avgolemono ramen, which switches out the Greek soup's traditional starchy rice with ramen noodles. Stapaki said the number of Greek fine dining restaurants has more than doubled since she first visited the city in 2016. For evidence of this trend, she points toward fine dining darlings like Avli Taverna, which opened in 2018 and has a kitchen staff led by Greek-born chefs. Amid the fine dining fog, Theodosis, the owner of Dengeos in Skokie, said he will continue to serve up the classic gyros that have kept his customers coming back for the last 50 years. 'When we go to Greece, every corner has a gyro stand,' said Theodosis, 'It's just an awesome fire: Flaming saganaki sparks interest worldwide decades after its Greektown origin
Boston Globe
43 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A Massachusetts nonprofit got a $9.3 million shelter contract. A big chunk went to a board member's business.
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In the most recent fiscal year, the state budgeted $879,887 for meals at the shelter, but with just 55 families on average staying at the hotel, the final bill will likely be less, state officials said. Advertisement The shelter closed last month after just over two years in operation. In total, the state paid Valley Opportunity Council $9.3 million through the end of April to provide various services to shelter residents, including feeding them and helping them find more permanent housing. Huntley defended the nonprofit's use of Diaz's company. He said he called at least three other food vendors for prices, adding that, unlike the state, the nonprofit is not required to put out requests for bids. Some other vendors were only able to deliver food during the week, while others were more expensive, according to Huntley. Key Food charged $9.99 a meal, according to the state housing agency. 'You can't get that anywhere,' Huntley said. 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'Even if the price were considered low, without a contract, where are the controls over the quality of the food being served? And how do the taxpayers footing the bill know their dollars were well spent without a formal bid?' Zuzanna Zaluga, a board member, confirmed to the Globe that the deal was disclosed to the board two years ago. She couldn't recall any discussion about a contract. Diaz's family operates two grocery stores in the Springfield area, one in Chicopee and another in Holyoke, which they have owned since 2003. The stores cater to the region's growing Latino population. Diaz has been on Valley Opportunity Council's board since 2019, but said his position didn't give him a leg up. 'They could have picked anyone; I'm glad they picked me,' Diaz said. 'We could use the extra income, and also, I'm glad to help.' His company initially provided peanut-butter sandwiches and other simple meals to a small number of families staying at the Quality Inn, but as the shelter population grew, so did their needs, Diaz said. Key Food eventually hired a Haitian chef to cook more hot meals, he said. Diaz said Key Food gave Valley Opportunity Council a discount because of the higher volume of customers: charging the nonprofit $1 less per meal than its usual $10.99 catering price. It is unclear how many meals Key Food delivered to the shelter over the course of the arrangement. In November, state officials visited the shelter after being alerted of the potential conflict. Advertisement During that visit, state officials 'determined the quality to be satisfactory,' Smith said. 'They also spoke directly with families who indicated they were satisfied with the food and had no complaints.' Governor Maura Healey's administration rapidly expanded the state's shelter system in 2023 in response to the skyrocketing number of homeless and migrant families in Massachusetts, and complaints and questions about food cost and quality soon followed. The state housing agency signed a or about $19.38 a meal — even though it received complaints about the quality of its food, state records showed. Caterers have told the Globe that Spinelli's rate was an outlier, and another state agency that also provided food to homeless shelters paid its vendors 30 percent less per meal. At its peak last year, the The state is ending the program and has been closing the shelters in recent months, with just In May, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio issued a scathing Her report highlighted Spinelli's contract. It concluded that Healey officials didn't provide enough oversight and overpaid the caterer. The audit did not look at how nonprofits such as Valley Opportunity Council managed taxpayer funds in their deals with subcontractors, or what kind of oversight the state provided for those arrangements. Advertisement The state's shelter contracts only require providers to inform their own governing boards of any potential conflicts of interests. There is no requirement that they inform the state. That was a mistake, said the Pioneer Institute's Connaughton. 'That's a weakness in the contract and poor oversight in my opinion,' she said. Deirdre Fernandes can be reached at
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Starbucks launches secret menu on app and a new contest
Starbucks is making its "secret menu" official — and turning it into a nationwide contest with a cash prize. Why it matters: It's the Seattle-based coffee giant's latest play to win back customers and reverse sliding sales. Under CEO Brian Niccol's"Back to Starbucks" plan, the company has been making a series of tech-forward and consumer-focused changes. Starbucks leans into TikTok trends The big picture: This initiative draws a direct line from social media to the Starbucks app — a strategy familiar to Niccol and Tressie Lieberman, Starbucks' global chief brand officer, from their days at Chipotle. In 2023, the fast-casual chain introduced three menu items based on TikTok users' personalized orders. Starbucks secret menu drinks now available How it works: Starting Monday, Starbucks Rewards members can browse a selection of custom drink creations inspired by customer hacks and social media trends in the app's "Offers" tab. With one tap, a pre-built custom drink is added to the cart with all modifications preloaded, which simplifies ordering, the company said. Zoom in: The first four customizations featured are: Cookies on top: A Cold Brew with vanilla syrup, Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam and cookie crumble topping. Dragonfruit glow-up: A Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher blended with peach juice and topped with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam. Lemon, tea & pearls: Black tea and lemonade plus raspberry-flavored popping pearls. Just add white mocha: Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso with White Chocolate Mocha Sauce and Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam. What's next: More customizations will be featured in the future on the app's offer tab, Starbucks said. Starbucks Secret Menu Contest State of play: Starbucks is also running the "Secret Menu Contest" Monday through July 20. Customers and employees can submit their drink customizations at Starbucks Instagram Aug. 18-20. The finalists' creations will be featured on the app from Aug. 18-25. Each finalist wins $5,000, and the fan-voted grand prize winner gets an additional $25,000.
