Rare Earth Metals in Hybrid Technology | Illustration from: Sufiy
Apparently the clean tech industry has been mourning for a while the impending shortage of the minerals called “rare earth metals” which are used to make things like electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.
I must admit I don’t really know too much about these rare earth metals, so I had to dig a little bit and go back to my 10th grade Chemistry class to find out. The rare earth metals are 17 chemical elements from the periodic table. Although dispersed throughout the Earth’s crust, they’re not often found in concentrated and extractable deposits; hence the use of the word “rare” and the shortage warning.
Therefore, Honda has joined forces with Japan Metals & Chemicals to start mass-recycling rare earth metals found on the batteries of used Honda hybrid vehicles collected from Honda dealers worldwide. These rare earth metals will be used again on Honda batteries and Honda auto parts.
Since 1999, Honda has sold over 800,000 hybrids worldwide, but this mass-production process at a recycling plant is the first of its kind.
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