DOE probes barriers to e-waste recovery

E-waste Recycling  |  2026-11-11 00:45:10   |   By

Beyond consumer products, many of those same materials are used in advanced manufacturing, energy technologies, and national defense, increasing the importance of reliable domestic supplies.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Seeking to increase the amount of critical materials recovered from discarded electronics, the U.S. Department of Energy Nov. 10 launched the Accelerator for Supply Chain, Economy, and National Development (ASCEND), a national laboratory-led collaboration aimed at identifying opportunities to expand domestic recycling and strengthen U.S. supply chains.

Across batteries, circuit boards, and hard-drive magnets, consumer electronics contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earth elements, and other critical materials that can be recovered and returned to industrial supply chains after the devices reach the end of their useful lives.

Beyond consumer products, many of those same materials are used in advanced manufacturing, energy technologies, and national defense, increasing the importance of reliable domestic supplies.

Despite that potential, the United States remains dependent on foreign production and processing for many critical materials, leaving domestic recycling as another possible source alongside newly mined resources.

Illustrating the amount of material that might be available, a 2024 assessment published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 6.7 million tons of electronic waste is generated annually in the U.S., with only 16% captured for recycling.

Beyond getting those products into collection systems, recycling companies also face the challenge of separating valuable materials from mixes of plastics, metals, and electronic components, with recovery and refining costs affecting whether the materials can be extracted economically.

To improve that process, Idaho National Laboratory has developed electrochemical and biology-based approaches intended to reduce chemical use and energy consumption during critical material recovery, while a separate collection study has tested ways to gather more discarded electronic equipment.

Through its electronics recycling research, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has developed automated equipment to dismantle computer hard drives and recover rare earth magnets, with related technologies advancing toward commercial use.

Organized through DOE's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, ASCEND will examine the electronics recycling process – from collecting discarded devices to recovering, processing, and returning their materials to industrial use – to determine where research and new capabilities are most needed.

Led by Idaho National Laboratory, the initiative includes the National Laboratory of the Rockies and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with funding from DOE's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office.

During its initial phase, the collaboration would compare the economics of recovering critical materials from different electronic scrap streams, assess existing domestic processing capabilities, and establish the analytical foundation needed to determine which technologies deserved further development.

'ASCEND will determine the most impactful opportunities to expand critical materials production through domestic electronics recycling,' said Deputy Assistant Secretary Chris Saldaña. 'By bringing together National Laboratory expertise, industry engagement, and supply chain and economic analysis, this initiative will detect critical gaps, evaluate potential solutions, and identify opportunities to strengthen U.S. critical materials supply chains through recycling.'

Alongside the laboratory analyses, the collaboration would consult companies throughout the recycling and materials supply chain to understand what prevents greater collection, recovery, processing, and reuse, and which technical capabilities might help overcome those barriers.

Using those findings, DOE expects ASCEND to identify priority supply chain gaps and the technologies most likely to address them, supporting the department's broader effort to increase domestic critical material production through targeted recycling capabilities.

Courtesy: www.metaltechnews.com