Recycling Alone Won’t Break China’s Rare Earth Grip, REEx Warns

REEx’s new recycling rankings highlight the risks of relying on promised recycling capacity—and the opportunity to target scarce heavy rare earths.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT, UNITED STATES, October 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Overreliance on recycling risks prolonging dependence on China. Governments must keep building new mines, processing plants and magnet factories to secure supply.

Announced capacity is not guaranteed production. More than half of the 28 ranked companies and projects rely on feedstock memoranda of understanding or plans, leaving a major hurdle between ambition and delivery.

Government recycling support should prioritize recovering dysprosium and terbium. Funding should target verified sources of these strategically important heavy rare earths, with clear milestones for recovery and customer-ready products.

Governments cannot rely on recycling to solve the rare earth supply gap outside China, Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) warns. Its inaugural recycling rankings reveal an emerging sector constrained by uncertain feedstock, limited disclosure of production, and dependence on a handful of large projects.

The stakes extend to electric vehicles, wind turbines and defense systems that use rare earth magnets. REEx warns that counting planned recycling capacity as dependable supply could delay investment in the mines, processing plants and magnet factories still needed.

“Recycling is not a substitute for building the rest of the supply chain,” said John Parkinson, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of REEx. “If governments assume recycled material will fill the gap and it does not arrive, manufacturers remain exposed. Announced capacity cannot keep a factory running.”

THE GAP BETWEEN PLANS AND PRODUCTION

The REEx Insights Recycling Rankings assess 28 companies and projects outside China. Five are classified as commercial producers, seven are under construction, commissioning, or ramping up, and sixteen remain in development, pilot/demonstration, or research.

None of the five commercial entries has quantified annual recycling output recorded in the rankings. This is a disclosure gap, not evidence of zero production. It leaves buyers and investors unable to assess how much dependable supply these businesses currently provide.

Feedstock is another constraint. Fifteen entries rely on memoranda of understanding or supply plans. Only five have REEx’s highest classification for durable, binding coverage of at least 80% of their requirements. Collection costs, material quality, and recovery rates also determine whether a plant can operate economically.

Attero and Evolution Metals & Technologies account for about 75% of quantified planned neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide-equivalent output. The remaining plans total about 16,000 tonnes a year, with ReElement accounting for about 43%. These are planned estimates, not guaranteed output.

FOCUS RECYCLING SUPPORT ON SCARCE HEAVY RARE EARTHS

REEx is calling on governments to prioritize recycling projects that can recover dysprosium and terbium. These heavy rare earths help certain magnets retain their performance at high temperatures. A dependable supply could be strategically valuable even at modest volumes.

That priority must rest on evidence. Magnet composition varies, and some magnets contain little or no dysprosium or terbium. Where composition is undisclosed, assumptions can overstate recoverable output—including in REEx’s own indicative estimates.

“You cannot recover terbium that is not in the feedstock,” John Parkinson said. “Governments should prioritize projects that can demonstrate which scarce elements they can recover, in what quantities, and for which customers.”

Rare Earth Salts illustrates this targeted approach. The privately held US company has announced production and sales of high-purity terbium from domestic recycled feedstock. In September 2024, it received a US$4.22 million Department of Defense award to develop and expand terbium oxide production from recycled fluorescent light bulbs.

Its annual output remains undisclosed, so its contribution cannot yet be quantified. But its identified feedstock and recovery route offer a concrete example of recycling directed at a specific supply vulnerability.

FUND DELIVERY AND BUILD THE WIDER SUPPLY CHAIN

REEx recommends tying government recycling support to milestones: verified feedstock composition and supply, demonstrated recovery, products meeting customer specifications, and disclosed output. This would direct support towards projects that can deliver strategically useful material.

Rare-earth recycling can grow as collection improves and more products reach end of life. Governments still need to accelerate new mined supply, separation, metals and magnet manufacturing.

REEx’s message is clear: recycling must contribute to supply security; it cannot carry the strategy alone.

ABOUT REEx:
Rare Earth Exchanges provides rare earth and magnet supply-chain news, analysis and intelligence through REEx Insights.
https://rareearthexchanges.com/
https://rareearthexchanges.com/reex-insights/rankings/

Dustin Olsen
Rare Earth Exchanges
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