As the U.S. and China vie for economic, technological and geopolitical supremacy, the critical elements and metals embedded in technology from consumer to industrial and military markets have become a pawn in the wider conflict. That’s nowhere more so the case than in China’s leverage over the rare earth metals supply chain. This past week, the Department of Defense took a large equity stake in MP Materials , the company running the only rare earths mining operation in the U.S. But there’s another option to combat the rare earths shortage that goes back to an older idea: recycling. The business has come a long way ... (full story)