Honda develops world's 1st process to reuse rare earth metals extracted from nickel-metal hydride b

Honda develops world's 1st process to reuse rare earth metals extracted from nickel-metal hydride batteries

www.japantoday.com

Honda Motor Co says it has established the world’s first process to reuse rare earth metals extracted from nickel-metal hydride batteries for new nickel-metal hydride batteries to recycle precious resources.

So far, Honda has been extracting an oxide containing rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries at the plant of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co (JMC). Now, by applying molten salt electrolysis to this oxide, Honda has succeeded in extracting metallized rare earth that can be used directly as negative-electrode materials for nickel-metal hydride batteries.

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This is a great step ahead for planet earth....
The stuff is toxic in waste dumps and useless when they wont charge anymore....so a lot have been landfilled over the years...
This will mean a new recycling industry that will produce the rare earths we are currently paying China through the nose for as well.....win win...
Should filter down into a steady source of rcycleables for some enterprising people too......theres good money in garbage......

www.japantoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Good news.

One day last year I threw away about $500,000 worth of Ni-MH batteries because they no longer held a charge.
I'm less irritated now that I know they will eventually be recycled.

Originally posted by stirling



This is a great step ahead for planet earth....
The stuff is toxic in waste dumps and useless when they wont charge anymore....so a lot have been landfilled over the years...
This will mean a new recycling industry that will produce the rare earths we are currently paying China through the nose for as well.....win win...
Should filter down into a steady source of rcycleables for some enterprising people too......theres good money in garbage......

www.japantoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The process for this is going to be just as toxic. And process uses vast amount of waste water, so don't expect a perfect solution to keep the world green.

Cant the water be reused too?
just askin...they do that at the plywood plant...recycle their water for the mills use.....
And maybe with the money they can save from the purchase of rare earths they can improve this over time as well...?

reply to post by stirling


It sure can. The "waste water" can be treated and reused in many industrial processes. If the correct processes are used the metals can be precipitated and then recycled to (hopefully) be reused. We've been doing this for a while, just not on a grand scale. As the prices keep rising for the rare earth metals the technology will improve making metals reclamation more cost effective. (BTW...I have worked in wastewater, both domestic and industrial, for quite a while.) Mike

Originally posted by mjp54
reply to post by stirling

 

It sure can. The "waste water" can be treated and reused in many industrial processes. If the correct processes are used the metals can be precipitated and then recycled to (hopefully) be reused. We've been doing this for a while, just not on a grand scale. As the prices keep rising for the rare earth metals the technology will improve making metals reclamation more cost effective. (BTW...I have worked in wastewater, both domestic and industrial, for quite a while.) Mike

I'm curious since you are in wastewater.

Pulp mills and oil sands and the like still cause pollution, fracking and recycling...We haven't solved our wastewater problems have we? Tell me exactly what you might do with the wastewater from all of these to have no impact on the environment. The subject in the OP, I don't know how anyone can make an informed opinion whether or not you are in the industry.

It's like if you search for vinyloop PVC recycling, you wont find any information besides "PVC recycling breakthrough!"

They fail to mention the solvents needed in the process, the production of the solvents and the waste thereafter. It's a closed loop? Okay, eventually some gunk builds up doesn't it? Look at "primary insoluable" I have no idea what exactly that means, but it's conveniently left out, as many things are in new technologies....

Forgive my skepticism on this new process. Unless of course you can enlighten me. I am not necessarily saying it is worse than the alternative, or even that vinyloop or the like is useless, merely that when something new comes out, it's marketed as a be all and end all cure to our ails and that simply isn't true.

reply to post by stirling


Thank you for the post, It is nice to get some good news on here once in a while.

I think there is a lot more recycling can be done. If only there was a will, and will only come with financial incentive, I fear.