From Scrap to Supply: Circular Strategies for Critical Minerals

The United States faces significant supply chain vulnerabilities due to heavy reliance on imports for critical minerals, with China dominating the supply of 60% of U.S.-designated critical minerals. To mitigate this, the document proposes a shift toward a circular economy focusing on recycling and secondary recovery. Battery recycling, particularly for electric vehicles, could reduce the demand for mined lithium, nickel, and cobalt by approximately 10%, though currently fewer than 15% of U.S. lithium-ion batteries are recycled. Secondary recovery opportunities include extracting rare earth elements from acid mine drainage (AMD) and phosphogypsum waste from phosphate fertilizer production. Recent federal actions, including a March 2025 executive order and nearly $1 billion in Department of Energy funding, aim to prioritize domestic production, though the author argues for further long-term support for infrastructure and clearer circular economy standards.

• The United States is highly dependent on imports for critical minerals; in 2024, it relied on imports for 100% of 12 critical minerals and over 50% of another 28. China is the top producer of 60% of these designated minerals and the primary source for nine of the 13 minerals with the highest import reliance.
• Recycling electric vehicle (EV) batteries could lower the demand for mined cobalt, nickel, and lithium by about 10%, but current U.S. recycling rates for lithium-ion batteries are below 15% due to infrastructure gaps and inefficient collection.
• Secondary recovery from acid mine drainage (AMD) is technically and economically viable; in Appalachia, recovered solids have contained over 2,000 milligrams of rare earth elements per kilogram, with a value of up to $400 per metric ton.
• Phosphogypsum waste from phosphate fertilizer production offers a source of rare earth elements (REEs), with chemical extraction methods successfully recovering 77–94% of these minerals.
• Recent U.S. policy efforts to secure domestic supply include a March 2025 executive order and nearly $1 billion in Department of Energy funding for battery recycling and rare earth recovery, alongside the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act of 2025 and the Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Task Force Act.

APA

Parker, E. (2025). From Scrap to Supply: Circular Strategies for Critical Minerals. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/from-scrap-to-supply-circular-strategies-for-critical-minerals

Chicago

Parker, Erin. From Scrap to Supply: Circular Strategies for Critical Minerals. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2025. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/from-scrap-to-supply-circular-strategies-for-critical-minerals.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parker |first1=Erin |title=From Scrap to Supply: Circular Strategies for Critical Minerals |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=6 October 2025 |url=https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/from-scrap-to-supply-circular-strategies-for-critical-minerals |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parker2025from, author = {Parker, Erin}, title = {{From Scrap to Supply: Circular Strategies for Critical Minerals}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/from-scrap-to-supply-circular-strategies-for-critical-minerals}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }