Recycling Tech: Turning Old Gadgets into Valuable Resources

In the world of technology, old gadgets often end up as trash, but they hold a secret treasure. Rare earth elements (REEs) found in discarded electronics are in high demand, but extracting them is tough. A group of scientists has found a smarter way to do this.

A Faster, Cleaner Process

They use electricity to heat up old magnets quickly and chlorine gas to separate the useful parts from the rest. This method is:

• Faster
• Uses less energy
• Creates less pollution than old ways of doing it.

How It Works

1. Grinding old magnets into tiny pieces.
2. Placing these pieces on a carbon platform inside a glass chamber.
3. Heating the platform to very high temperatures in just seconds using a strong electric current.
4. Adding chlorine gas, which reacts with the unwanted parts, turning them into vapor that sticks to the chamber.
5. Collecting the valuable REEs, which remain on the platform.

The team tested this method on different magnets and found it works well, recovering over 90% of the elements with 90% purity.

A Greener Solution

Compared to traditional methods, this new process:

• Uses 87% less energy
• Produces 84% fewer greenhouse gases
• Costs 54% less to operate

With 66.2 million tonnes of e-waste produced in 2022 alone, this method offers a cleaner and more efficient solution than mining for new REEs.