The Nikkei reports that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is teaming up with Toyota and other major Japanese manufacturers to develop technology for recovering and recycling rare-earth metals. It could eventually allow Japan to slash its rare earth imports by at least 10 percent by 2025.
Currently, Japan relies on China for approximately 80 percent of its rare earth elements. Those elements are commonly used in electric motors found in electric vehicles, and the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in many hybrids. By recovering and recycling rare earths, Japan hopes to slash that 80-percent figure.
In 2011, the United States House Armed Services Committee passed a defense authorization bill that laid the groundwork for a national rare earth elements stockpile, similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The move was also motivated China’s dominance of rare earths production and its move in recent years to limit exports on the minerals.
Source: plugincars.com
By Eric Loveday