From waste to worth, let’s reconcile the world through a new bio-recycling way!

Your phone, your laptop and your power-saving lamp – all contain rare earth elements like Lutetium or Yttrium. Rare earth elements are a group of 17 elements with a misleading name. Misleading, because it contains the term ‘rare’, which, by definition suggests that these elements are found only infrequently in our environment. In reality, rare earth elements are more abundant in the Earth's crust, scattered across the globe [1], than better-known metals such as copper [2].

Rare Earth Elements: A Market Race with Environmental Costs

However, they are only present in low concentrations in the Earth´s crust and therefore large quantities of ore are needed to obtain the quantities of rare earths that companies require for their products. In addition, they often do not exist in isolated and elemental form in rocks, but rather mixed together, making them difficult to mine and isolate [3]. Today, China is undoubtedly the leader in this field [4], having held a monopoly on the production and refining of rare earths since the late 1980s [2][5][6], when the United States, the former market leader [6], began to close its mines due to the environmental contamination and pollution they generated [7]. A source of geopolitical tension [8], the monopoly on these elements, which are highly coveted due to their ubiquity in many current sectors and markets, jeopardizes the independence of almost all countries. As early as the 1990s, voices such as that of Chinese politician Deng Xiaoping were saying: “There is oil in the Middle East; there is rare earth in China” [9]. These words reflect the current policy of extracting these elements whatever the cost to the environment [10]. Prime example: Baotou’s artificial lake in China, now heavily contaminated by toxic waste from rare earth processing [11][12].

The extraction of rare earth elements is often accompanied by the presence of radioactive compounds (such as uranium) and heavy metals, which can spread to surrounding areas and enter the environment [13][14]. In addition, mining consumes large amounts of energy, water, and chemicals used to extract rare earth elements from minerals [13]. N. Haque et al. [14] show that “the major contributor to total greenhouse gas footprint of rare earth processing is hydrochloric acid (ca. 38%), followed by steam use (32%) and electricity (12%)”. This analysis highlights the key stages of the extraction process responsible for environmental contamination.

Deng Xiaoping's policy aimed to revive the Chinese economy [15] by taking advantage of the economic value of rare earths, the use of which was already growing rapidly due to their presence in many sectors such as high technology [16]. As strategic elements and due to growing demand for these resources internationally, the market was becoming economically attractive, at the expense of the environment.

In the US, the California Gold Rush of 1848, which single-handedly sparked an unprecedented wave of migration, both within its own territory and across the globe [17], has lost its luster. It has been surpassed by the promising and attractive future of rare earths, which, being more evenly distributed than gold, offers better chances of discovery to those who set out to find them. The first televisions of the 1960s reflect the beginning of the booming market for new technologies which utilize rare earth elements, which only grew alongside the increasing demand for rare earth elements [18]. Mountain Pass, the first American mine, was discovered in 1949 while prospectors were searching for uranium in the Clark Mountain Range [18][19]. The mine developed over a period of nearly ten years, dominated the market from the 1960s to the 1980s [20]. While the world watches the main opponents, China and the United States, challenge each other for global leadership in the perilous rare earth market [21] and recent rare earth export restrictions from China [22], other countries are joining the fray, notably certain Latin American countries [23], where nations such as Brazil are overflowing with these precious commodities [4].

Can Recycling be a solution for REE shortage?

In Switzerland, up to that point, given the absence of rare metal mines, the Confederation has little involvement in the underlying debate on the environmental impact and sustainability of the extraction and refining processes required to use these metals [24]. However, the Swiss Federal Council can “determine what happens to products containing rare metals when they reach the end of their life” [24], enabling it to play a role, if not in extraction, then at least in recycling. On an international scale, only 1% of the rare earths contained in end-of-life appliances are recycled [25]. The rest of the waste often ends up in open dumps, harming not only the environment and biodiversity, but also the health of workers in the waste sector, many of whom are children [26]. Workers who are continuously exposed to REE are prone to developing pulmonary fibrosis and pneumoconiosis, diseases caused by the inhalation of fine harmful particles generated throughout the REE mining and processing stages [27]. Although particles such as rare earth elements are present in electronic waste, they do not seem to represent a significant danger to the environment and human health under natural conditions [28]. However, when it comes to recycling rare earth elements, the process is similar to extraction, as it often involves methods that require very low pH levels to recover these elements [28]. Thus, natural environments with more acidic conditions may also, to a lesser extent, release some of these toxic compounds that can then penetrate soils and water.

A large part of human exposure to contaminants occurs through the consumption of contaminated water and food [29]. And just as workers are not the only ones affected, other living organisms such as plants or aquatic and terrestrial animals are also impacted [29][30]. Root growth is weakened, and animals suffer from DNA damage or harm to the nervous system [29]. Although evidence of anthropogenic contamination is measurable, there are still few studies on the toxicity of these elements to the environment [29] or to human health [31].

Beyond their toxicity, the rare earth elements needed for our green measures to curb climate change require a large amount of energy. In an alarming environmental context [32], in a world where addressing these concerns means taking so-called “green” measures, where the ideal city would only have electric vehicles, homes heated by solar panels, and all electrical appliances powered solely by renewable energy, a paradox arises: the quest for a green world with sustainable products, but whose production is far from ideal. Indeed, rare earths are not only found in computers and mobile phones, but also in batteries, LED lamps and permanent magnets such as those used in wind turbines [33][34]. It is certain that we won’t be able to do without them anytime soon, especially as our daily lives are becoming increasingly digital and critical, as they are irreplaceable [35]. Given that we cannot do without them if we are to maintain our current lifestyle, would it not be possible to recycle them from devices we no longer use? Based on the principles of the circular economy [36], we could thus continually reintegrate them into the production chain without causing any more damage than necessary to the environment. With this we would perhaps overcome the two main challenges when it comes to REE use: international dependency on countries like China and hazardous waste from products containing REE. So far, many ideas have emerged regarding the recycling of rare earths [37][38], but mining still remains the main source for REE.

How does REE recycling work?

Once electronic waste has been collected, it usually undergoes a pre-treatment phase involving dismantling [39]. This step optimizes recycling by separating valuable components, whether metallic or non-metallic. Depending on the nature of the waste, different processes can then be implemented. Leaching, whether chemical or biological, is often used at this stage to extract a solution enriched in rare earth elements. Finally, a last step allows the recovery of dissolved metals, thus completing the process [39].

What are the obstacles to recycling REEs?

Today, one of the main obstacles to rare earth recycling is its high cost compared to traditional mining [40]. For now, only a few recycling processes are operating on an industrial scale [40]. There are three types of rare earth recycling: recycling of manufacturing residues, recycling of end-of-life products, and recycling of solid and liquid industrial waste [41]. Currently, the methods that are aimed at purifying the mixtures generated during the recycling of electronic waste are not very cost-effective [41]. In short, the main issue arises not so much from recycling itself or from a lack of recycling ideas, but rather from the “low metal value per unit” [41].

The most commonly used recycling methods today, are mainly based on chemical processes using acid solutions that separate rare earth elements from each other, just as in extraction [42]. Ores are often subjected to leaching, a chemical process used to extract the metallic elements they contain by dissolving them into a solution [43]. This key stage in rare earth refining is one of the most polluting [44]. The leaching process involves the use of numerous chemical reagents, including hydrochloric acid, the industrial production of which is a major source of environmental pollution [44].

Green REE recycling using synthetic biology

Although it has not been widely commercialized mainly due to its economically uncompetitive pricing [45], bioleaching has become a greener alternative to traditional leaching for the recovery of rare earth elements. It exploits the ability of natural microorganisms to produce chemical agents capable of dissolving solid waste or minerals containing rare earths [45]. Those microorganisms can be optimized using synthetic biology, which combines fundamentals of biology with key principles of engineering [46]. In synthetic biology, scientists exchange genes – segments of DNA that code for proteins, which are required by the cell for its survival – between living organisms, mainly bacteria, to modify their abilities. One can imagine this as changing various colored Lego blocks between different constructions to change their appearance.

At the University of Lausanne, this idea gave rise to a student project aimed at recycling REE using bacteria. This project will be presented in October 2025 at an internationally renowned synthetic biology competition: iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) [47]. The primary objective of this organization is to promote synthetic biology through its annual competition and through the education it supports with all kinds of events around the world [47].

In their project, the team at the University of Lausanne uses a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria, commonly found in synthetic biology laboratories, which has been genetically modified to improve its ability to produce a non-native protein, i.e., a protein copied from another bacterium. To recover REE two bacteria are engineered: One is optimized to produce large quantities of a protein capable of binding specifically to rare elements; a second bacterium is modified to produce abundant quantities of a protein that inserts itself into the bacterial membrane (the protective layer that envelops all bacteria). Once in contact, these two proteins bind to each other, allowing them to recover the rare earths thanks to the system acting as a kind of recycling magnet and easily recover them for further processing. The system consists of a thin layer of protein fibers produced by the genetically engineered organisms used in the project. The team is currently working on six of the 17 rare earth elements, and although the principle is the same for each of them, the proteins optimized for production have variations that make them more specific to the rare earth element they want to capture [48].

This project among others shows that microorganisms appear to be a promising alternative to chemical REE extraction methods [49], in which genetically modified organisms can be used to increase the specificity of existing processes such as bioleaching [50]. In future, electronic waste collection companies could profit from these solutions and help them to recover rare earth elements using a faster and more environmentally friendly method. This approach would ensure that the urgent transition to renewable energy sources is carried out in a more environmentally friendly way.

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