GAO Finds US Lacks Capacity To Recycle Its Own Critical Minerals
GAO says lithium iron phosphate batteries and leach-based recycling could cut cobalt, nickel and copper imports within two to three years.
- Lithium iron phosphate batteries could displace imported cobalt, manganese and nickel within two to three years.
- Battery recycling by leaching and smelting is mature technology, but US processors lack capacity.
- Semiconductor material substitutes for gallium, germanium and indium still underperform current inputs, GAO reports.
Why it matters: US mineral dependency is not scarcity, it is capacity never built, and metal left to landfills.