How bacteria is revolutionizing rare earth recycling—and the future of sustainable technology

Rare earth metals are expensive and finite elements utilized in most of today’s electronic devices, but mining for these metals has significant environmental consequences. For example, the mining process typically leaches toxic waste into the environment. One study shows that for every ton of rare earth metals processed, 2,000 tons of toxic waste are produced (Harvard International Review). 

China currently composes 85% of the global supply of rare earth metal; in 2010, China’s State Council acknowledged the impact of rare earth mining on the environment, including how it exacts “intense harm to the ecological environment, resulting in vegetation loss and contamination of surface water, groundwater, and agricultural land" (Circularise).

With the advent of green technology, countries, corporations, and individuals seeking to decarbonize rely heavily on rare earth metals. These metals are vital to power sustainable technologies like drones, electric vehicles, and wind turbines.

However, there may now be a way to recycle these rare minerals, which could help decrease dependency on rare earth mining while contributing to a more circular—and sustainable—economy. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are experimenting with bacteria to extract rare minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and manganese from discarded batteries and electronic equipment, rather than the earth (The Guardian).

This team of scientists has discovered specific strains of bacteria that can “synthesize nanoparticles of metals.” Applying this bacteria to waste from electronic batteries and cars creates solid chemicals. The scientists now plan to employ gene-edited versions of the strains of bacteria to “boost their output of metals,” which could eventually power electronic devices (The Guardian).

Professor Louise Horsfall, Chair of Sustainable Biotechnology at Edinburgh, acknowledges that the team's research could contribute to growing a circular economy and combating climate change: “New legislation has decreed that by the next decade, recycled materials will have to be used at significant levels for manufacturing new green technology,” and, consequently, “bacteria will be vital in achieving [those goals]” (The Guardian).