India must skill the game of rare earth recycling: Subsidize it if necessary

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limited All rights reserved. India needs to master rare earth recycling – and not just to ease China’s stranglehold. What is certain is that we need a boom in the recycling of vital inputs that go into batteries and other electric vehicle (EV) components. (istockphoto) Summary Amid a global scramble for rare earths, India must invest in extracting them from used contraptions. A PLI program has been proposed for this, but a subsidy aimed at R&D for the technological enablers we will need to do this could help The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s proposal to include the recycling of rare earth materials in the government’s Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs) makes sense. However, the ministry of heavy industries which is setting up the REPM scheme is said to be reluctant as raw material supply is the concern of the mines ministry and it will eat into the outlay for the 6,000 tonnes of REPMs it wants in India. Globally, these special magnets currently have a seller’s market, given China’s grip on these as well as the mining, refining and supply of rare earth metals; Beijing has begun using its levy as a trade weapon in the form of export clampdowns. Since all this makes local recycling of rare earths a business opportunity, it may seem that no subsidy is necessary. What is certain is that we need a boom in the recycling of essential inputs that go into batteries and other electric vehicle (EV) components. Technologies for this are developing rapidly and we need to make the most of these developments. Rare Earth Recycling for Europe, a four-year project launched by the EU in 2015, has come up with various techniques for recovering rare earth elements from used goods. Although it has yet to be widely licensed on a commercial basis, even better technology may have emerged since then. Redwood Materials, a company founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, recycles just about everything of value in EVs, starting with battery chemicals. His expertise includes calibrated pyrolysis, whereby materials are carefully heated to vaporize and recover some materials, leaving a molten residue for further separation, and the selective precipitation of desired materials by dissolving compounds in acid and then changing the temperature and acid level to obtain them. Redwood even had Stanford University certify that its recovery and recycling produces 70-80% lower emissions than the same amounts produced from fresh mining. There is no loss of quality either. The only catch is that mining rare earths from junked devices instead of the ground is an R&D intensive activity and R&D has not been the strongest of the Indian industry, especially outside the circle of a few start-ups. It will take powerful incentives to persuade companies to venture into a field where success is not assured. Electronic waste recycling is not only a way to reduce supply insecurity by recovering valuable minerals at lower ecological and financial costs than fresh mining, but also a way to reduce the damage caused by e-waste dumped in landfills, which leach toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater sources. The UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2024 estimates that the output of e-waste has grown by 82% from its 2010 level to 62 million tonnes in 2022 and will grow to 82 million tonnes by 2030. India generates the world’s third largest tonnage of e-waste. If we work together on recycling, we will gain access to relatively cheap inputs by recycling rare earths and other minerals. Neodymium, a rare earth used to make very strong permanent magnets, is found in everything from cars, generators, cordless power tools and speakers to headphones and hard drives. When these have exhausted their lifespan and are discarded, they represent a burden beyond China’s control, even if they are scattered and aggregated with other things. The right mix of incentives can bring them together and deliver the rare-earth security we need and seek. Get all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. more topics #Lithium #PLI #electric vehicles Read next story