Batteries seem to be everywhere nowadays, from drones to solar panels to electric vehicles. Battery minerals are quite expensive, and until recently we found useful reserves in only a few countries. We could improve our own supply chain by introducing urban mining for battery minerals locally. However, to date we are off to a slow start.
Does This Mean They Will Start Mining My Town?
Oh no not at all, at least literally. Urban mining for battery minerals involves extracting used battery materials from landfill sites and stockpiles. This process is faster and cheaper than mining fresh materials from the earth. Although we will have to continue tapping into both resources, going forward for many years.
The beauty of this hybrid approach brings three powerful benefits:
- The limited battery minerals in the few countries should last longer, until scientists develop non-mineral battery materials.
- There will be less invasive mineral mining from Earth’s crust, which scars our natural environment potentially for evermore.
- Urban mining for battery minerals will bring us closer to the dream of a truly renewable green economy, for all.
Recycling minerals from spent batteries is an opportunity to promote the original goal, which inspired renewable energy decades ago.
What Is Delaying Urban Mining of Battery Materials?
Well first of all, wresting minerals from earth’s crust is far more dramatic than sifting through landfill sites, and stockpiles of used materials. A vast amount of energy goes into powering huge equipment that rips away at earth’s rust. And when the investor finally hits pay dirt, the profits are richer than recycling.
Compare that to recovering batteries from trash, and tossing them into machines that spew out a black mass for further processing. However, more and more of us value saving energy and water, and contributing to batteries that truly are, ‘the product of our country’.
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From Imported Rare Earth to Recovered Asset
