How We Can Eliminate the Need for Mined Minerals by 2050

This briefing by RMI outlines a strategy for the United States to transition from a linear electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain to a circular economy. By implementing six specific strategies to maximize the utility of minerals and investing in domestic recycling and midstream manufacturing, the author argues that the need for new mined minerals can be eliminated by 2050.

• The United States can eliminate the need for new battery mineral extraction by 2050 by implementing six strategies: shifting to battery chemistries with fewer critical minerals, increasing energy density, employing battery recycling, reusing batteries to extend their lifetime, increasing vehicle efficiency, and changing mobility patterns to reduce motorized transportation demand.
• Achieving mineral self-sufficiency would require a cumulative total of 125 million tons of mined battery minerals. This volume is 17 times smaller than the annual amount of oil extracted and processed for road transport and is approximately 20 times cheaper at current commodity prices.
• While the financial return on investment (ROI) for EV battery recycling is currently challenged by high capital requirements and volatile markets, it is higher than mining when using a triple-bottom-line accounting approach that assigns monetary value to GDP growth, wages earned, land use, water use, and carbon emissions.
• The United States faces a critical gap in midstream supply chain capacity, specifically in refining and processing raw materials into cathode and anode active battery materials. Without this domestic capacity, recycled materials must be exported, reducing the national benefits of battery circularity.
• Investing in the domestic EV battery supply chain—including recycling, cell component production, and battery manufacturing—could create between 84,000 and 125,000 jobs in the United States by 2032. Specifically, battery recycling could directly create 17 jobs per gigawatt-hour of batteries recycled.

APA

RMI (2025). How We Can Eliminate the Need for Mined Minerals by 2050. https://rmi.org/resources/how-we-can-eliminate-the-need-for-mined-minerals-by-2050/

Chicago

RMI. How We Can Eliminate the Need for Mined Minerals by 2050. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/how-we-can-eliminate-the-need-for-mined-minerals-by-2050/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=How We Can Eliminate the Need for Mined Minerals by 2050 |date=16 April 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/how-we-can-eliminate-the-need-for-mined-minerals-by-2050/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025how, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{How We Can Eliminate the Need for Mined Minerals by 2050}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/how-we-can-eliminate-the-need-for-mined-minerals-by-2050/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }