Toward Sustainable Rare Earth Element Production: Key Challenges in Techno-Economic, Life Cycle, and Social Impact...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Sustainability Science
• Circular Economy

Background:

• Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical for clean energy technologies but face supply chain limitations.
• Conventional REE production relies on limited geographic sources, necessitating sustainable alternatives.
• Growing demand for REEs in green technologies underscores the need for diversified and sustainable sourcing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive review of sustainability assessments for rare earth element production systems.
• To synthesize findings across economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability.
• To identify challenges and limitations in current REE sustainability analyses and propose future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Narrative literature review methodology.
• Synthesis of studies utilizing techno-economic analysis (TEA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and social LCA (sLCA).
• Analysis of sustainability performance across economic, environmental, and social pillars.

Main Results:

• Sustainability assessments of REE systems face challenges including scope definition, data availability, and technology scale-up.
• System scope discrepancies arise from multi-functional REE production systems (e.g., waste remediation).
• Uncertainty in REE price stability significantly impacts economic assessments and impact allocation.

Conclusions:

• Current sustainability analyses provide an incomplete picture for decision-making in REE production.
• Addressing identified challenges is crucial for intelligent and efficient development of future research and policy goals.
• Further research is needed to overcome limitations and develop robust sustainable REE production systems.