According to a research report "Rare Earth Metals Recycling Market by Application (Permanent Magnets, Alloys, Polishing Materials, Glass, Catalyst, Phosphor, Ceramics, Hydrogen Storage Alloys), Technology (Hydrometallurgical, Pyrometallurgical) and Region - Global Forecasts to 2026" published by MarketsandMarkets, the global rare earth metals recycling market is estimated to be USD 248 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 422 million by 2026, at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2021 to 2026. Rare earth metals are considered key elements in developing technologies in the communications, electronics, automotive, and military weapon sectors. The demand for these elements is expected to increase in the near future as these are key components in emerging applications, such as green technology and electric and hybrid vehicles.
The inner lining of fluorescent tubes is coated with phosphors, which absorb the ultraviolet light from electrically charged mercury vapor and re-emit visible light based on a mix of blue, green, and red emitters. While the adoption of LED lighting technology is growing rapidly, there are still about 2.3 billion fluorescent light sockets in the US, which will probably continue to be widely used in the foreseeable future. Europium (Eu) and yttrium (Y) are two rare earth metals that are commonly used in sustainable technology and high-tech applications. As these metals are difficult to mine, there is a great scope for recycling them. They can be recovered from red lamp phosphor, a powder that is used in fluorescent lamps such as neon tubes.
The rare earth metals recycling market comprises major solution providers, Solvay SA (Belgium), Hitachi Metals, Ltd. (Japan), Umicore (Belgium), Osram Licht AG (Germany), Energy Fuels, Inc. (US), Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. (US), and REEcycle Inc.(US) among others.
