Rare earths — the new gold? - video Dailymotion

DW (English)

By 2035, Europe plans to end the sale of new cars with internal combustions engines. EV batteries will require a lot of rare earths and other metals. But mining them is bad for the environment and China has a firm grip on their supply.

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00:00 laptops, smartphones, wind turbines and electric vehicles.

00:08 Technologies that we take for granted today.

00:11 But they wouldn't exist without rare earths.

00:14 So what are these exactly?

00:16 The term "rare earths" is a bit of a misnomer.

00:20 Because they aren't really earths.

00:22 Strictly speaking, they're metals, at least in their pure form.

00:25 And they aren't necessarily rare either.

00:27 They're as common in the earth's crust as copper, for example.

00:30 But large deposits are rarely found in places that can be easily mined.

00:37 That's how the term "rare earths" came about.

00:40 Because they're not easy to mine.

00:43 And there are other issues.

00:45 Various acids are used to extract rare earths.

00:48 What's left behind is polluted wastewater that can even contain radioactive elements.

00:56 When you look across all of these mining activities,

01:00 the legacy is really a complicated one.

01:04 Across environmental, social, economic elements.

01:08 It's a very complicated sector with a difficult history.

01:13 And there is an absolute necessity for us to do it differently.

01:18 Because otherwise we're just going to be the green people

01:20 who do the same thing that everybody else did before us.

01:22 So the footprint has to be different.

01:25 Last year, China accounted for more than two-thirds of all mining production of rare earths,

01:30 a result of investment decisions made years ago.

01:33 Next come the US, Australia and Burma.

01:38 In this area, we're quite dependent on others, which includes China.

01:46 Europe and the US might want to become a bit more independent in that respect.

01:54 But they won't be able to become fully independent in the coming years.

01:58 In the EU, nearly 5 million tons of old electronic devices end up in landfills every year.

02:05 So could recycling help Europe become less dependent on China?

02:09 Not yet. E-waste doesn't contain enough rare earths to make recycling worthwhile,

02:14 at least using current methods.

02:17 But when it comes to electric vehicles and wind turbines, that could soon change.

02:22 At the moment, there's increasing use of large electric motors, and especially wind turbines.

02:29 So in the next 5 to 10 years, a big market will emerge.

02:32 But again, one key challenge will be making sure that this recycling is carried out in Europe.

02:37 At the moment, Europe doesn't have the know-how or facility capacity,

02:41 so this waste is usually shipped to South Africa or Southeast Asia,

02:44 such as Vietnam and Malaysia, where it's processed.

02:51 And then China turns it into new raw materials.

02:57 That's also why at 44 million tons, China has the three largest reserves of rare earths worldwide,

03:04 followed by Vietnam, Brazil and Russia, which each have about half that amount.

03:12 With the help of EU funding, Estonia is now home to Europe's first factory

03:16 to produce the special magnets used in electric vehicle motors.

03:21 And those magnets need rare earths.

03:24 Producing these magnets close to home is crucial for Europe's EV industry,

03:29 and the factory adheres to strict environmental standards.

03:35 The issue of sustainability will become more important in the coming years.

03:42 So we need to form our own partnerships to ensure that the raw materials, such as rare earths,

03:48 are mined in the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way possible,

03:53 and in the most socially responsible way possible too.

04:03 That's why many manufacturers of products such as wind turbines and electric vehicles

04:08 are now looking for rare earth suppliers outside of China, even if that ends up raising the price.

04:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Rare earths — the new gold?

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