Making the most of a ‘rare earth’ opportunity

Along with being great Scrabble words, rare earth elements — with names like europium. promethium and scandium — are key components in our cellphones and other consumer electronics as well as those used in communication, national defense and in generating and storing energy from renewable resources.

“Rare earth” is a little misleading; the elements aren’t so much rare as they are concentrated in certain locations throughout the world and can be difficult to mine. China and other Asian countries, including Afghanistan, control much of the resource production of rare earth elements, making access to their supply an important link to our economy’s demand for the elements. On a whim, China can, and has, limited the market, causing prices for the materials to skyrocket.

Everett now looks to be a focus for that issue, thanks to legislation proposed by state Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton, passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor this spring. The legislation establishes the Joint Center for the Deployment and Research of Earth-Abundant Materials, which will research alternatives to rare earth elements as well as ways to more effectively recycle them from cast-off electronics, as reported in Monday’s Herald Business Journal by freelance reporter Jocelyn Robinson. (The story also will run in Thursday’s Herald.)

The joint center, whose administrative offices will be based at Washington State University North Puget Sound in Everett, will be a partnership among WSU, the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, as well as a regional university, a community college and representatives from small, medium and large businesses. With the aerospace and other technology companies that make Snohomish County home, there’s opportunity to further strengthen the county’s connection to this effort.

This also adds the field of materials science to the growing list of programs that are offered for study at WSU’s Everett center. Paired with the capital budget outlay for WSU’s new Everett complex, which is scheduled to break ground next month, it represents a commitment to higher education in Snohomish County.

Seeking a reliable supply of alternatives to these elements or better ways to recycle them may offer a preferable path than other proposals under consideration, including reprocessing mine wastes and even harvesting asteroids in orbit.

The center’s research, Smith and others have said, may not only counter the monopoly that China and others hold on the resource but also heads off a mining process that commonly uses toxic chemicals to break the elements from their ore and can be a threat to the greater global environment.

Especially exciting is the potential to recycle the elements from old electronics. An article last year in the online magazine ensia.com reported on a study that found that the process of recycling the element neodymium from computer hard drives versus mining it from ore offered an 80 percent less toxic method and one that used 60 percent less energy, although the recycled alloy needed further processing to make it usable in making magnets.

This a field worthy of more study and one that will only increase in importance as technologies for communication, energy production, transportation and other fields advance.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

RGB version
Editorial cartoons for Monday, March 18

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Carson gets a chance to sound the horn in an Everett Fire Department engine with the help of captain Jason Brock during a surprise Make-A-Wish sendoff Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Thornton A. Sullivan Park in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Everett voters will set course for city finances

This fall and in coming years, they will be asked how to fund and support the services they use.

Devotees of TikTok, Mona Swain, center, and her sister, Rachel Swain, right, both of Atlanta, monitor voting at the Capitol in Washington, as the House passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn't sell, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Lawmakers contend the app's owner, ByteDance, is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the U.S. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Editorial: Forced sale of TikTok ignores network of problems

The removal of a Chinese company would still leave concerns for data privacy and the content on apps.

Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, watches the State of the State speech by Gov. Jay Inslee on the second day of the legislative session at the Washington state Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Editorial: Legislature has its own production of ‘The Holdovers’

What state lawmakers left behind in good ideas that should get more attention and passage next year.

Comment: Measles outbreaks show importance of MMR vaccinations

The highly contagious disease requires a 95 percent vaccination rate to limit the spread of outbreaks.

Harrop: Should ‘affordable’ come at cost of quality of living?

As states push their cities to ignore zoning rules, the YIMBYs are covering for developers.

Saunders: Classified document cases show degrees of guilt

President Biden’s age might protect him, but the special prosecutor didn’t exonerate him either.

Comment: Clearing the internet of misinformation, deep fakes

With social networks’ spotty moderation record, users need to identify and call out problems they see.

Eco-Nomics: Price of gas, fossil fuels higher than you think

Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels force unseen costs in climate disasters, illness and more.

Vote against I-2117 to keep best tool to protect climate

We voters will be offered the opportunity to repeal Washington state’s Climate… Continue reading

Lack of maternal health care raises risks of deadly sepsis

In today’s contentious climate, we often hear political debates about maternal health… Continue reading

Trump’s stance on abortion isn’t moderate; it’s dangerous

Voters deserve to know the facts and the truth about what will… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.