The rare earths challenge:
… rare earths are not rare but difficult to extract …
… they are a key raw material for high tech equipment …
… our notebooks and phones became smaller and lighter with them …
… the main processing task is to increase the rare earths concentration and to leach out (radioactive) impurities …
… the extraction routes release gases, which are harmful for environment and humans …
… the environmental standards of most countries prevent the extraction of rare earths because of that …
… China is the largest producer and refiner of rare earth ores …
… Huge amounts of rare earth ores mined in other countries are shipped to China …
… China is taking a high environmental cost in its extraction and production of rare earths …
… The USA abandoned its once large rare earth sector for the last decades but tries to reopen it due to concerns over trading wars with China …
… Japan is the only country to have significantly reduced their dependency on Chinese rare earth production …
… Europe sits on a huge mountain of rare earths in form of e-waste …
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