techniques

Finding and extracting enough rare earth minerals to power the growing number of mobile phones is a tough challenge that can wreak havoc on the environment — but new techniques could help. Researchers say they have removed valuable rare earth elements (REE) from waste at high enough yields to resolve issues for manufacturers while boosting their profits. The scientists said in a recent paper that their process is kinder to the environment because it uses less energy than other methods and turns the stream of acid…