Article: Involved in recycling : The strategy of a group producing strategic mineral products

By Alain ROLLAT

Chemical engineer, University of Strasbourg, graduate of the Institute of the Administration of Enterprises, University of Poitiers

Abstract

In 2011, developed countries discovered how much they depend on rare earths, which are indispensable to high technology. By imposing quotas on exports, China, the principal producer, caused prices to flare. Given this situation, which put a whole industry in danger (notably the green economy), Europe and the United States reacted by adopting measures for limiting the dependence on Chinese exports. They gave a boost to the recycling of components containing rare earth minerals. In 2007, Solvay launched a vast R&D program on rare earths that led, in 2012, to setting up plants at Saint-Fons and La Rochelle for recycling the rare earths contained in energy-efficient light bulbs, nickel-metal-hydride batteries and scraps from the production of magnets.