In South Korea several weeks ago, the U.S. and China came to a temporary agreement, in which they’ll kick a rare-earth can down the road.
The agreement took the form of a one-year pause in the dispute between the two nations over rare earth elements (REEs): China postponed imposing newly announced export controls on 17 different REEs and, in turn, the U.S. announced it would reduce certain tariffs on Chinese goods.
For years, the United States and its allies have grappled with a troubling resource reality: China dominates the global supply of REEs and critical raw materials (CRMs)—the essential ingredients of our digital age. From smartphones to electric vehicles, from solar panels to advanced weapons systems, our dependence on these materials has left the U.S. economically and strategically vulnerable.
While this new deal provides a short-term relief from supply-chain stress, it also deepens the case that we cannot forever rely on China’s good will or geopolitical timing. Rather than doubling down on negotiations and hoping for stable access, what if we could build a parallel, resilient, and circular system here at home?
We actually can. Call it urban mining.
ELECTRONIC WASTE
Every year, millions of tons of electronic waste and batteries pile up in landfills or languish in drawers—old laptops and broken phones, obsolete keyboards, and rusty routers. These discarded gadgets may be junk, but they’re also laden with circular ore. They contain cadmium, lithium, cobalt, and other valuable elements that can be extracted, refined, and reused. Recovery rates on materials in lithium-ion batteries, for example, can reach as high as 98% for cobalt, 95% for nickel, and 90% for copper and aluminum.
According to recent studies, the amount of precious and rare metals embedded in global electronic waste is enough to supply many industries for decades. We can leverage that here. If properly recovered, the materials in our existing e-waste could sustain electric vehicle and other manufacturing needs for the next 70 years. Urban mining offers a domestic supply of REEs and CRMs—one that doesn’t depend on any single foreign state’s capricious decision to keep exporting.
A NEW KIND OF SUPPLY CHAIN
Urban mining is more than recycling. It’s about re-engineering the supply chain, turning structurally excluded communities into decentralized resource hubs where waste becomes a renewable source of critical materials.
Imagine a network of regional recovery centers across North America and Europe processing old electronics with advanced separation and extraction technologies. These urban hubs could feed the domestic market with a steady stream of critical materials—no freighters, no tariffs, no geopolitical strings attached.
We know the great potential of this approach because the Circular Supply Chain Coalition (CSCC) has tested these efforts already. As the founding convener of the CSCC, my company, Pyxera Global, conducted a pilot effort in Tennessee with leading circular supply chain partners who know a thing or two about reverse logistics.
Developing a robust urban-mining ecosystem could also create green jobs, boost local economies, and reduce our carbon footprint. More importantly, it would grant the countries in which the CSCC operates and its partners true mineral sovereignty. Instead of negotiating access to foreign mines, we could mine our own cities, transforming dependence into resilience.
In that light, urban mining stands out as a strategic insurance policy. If we build capacity to recover and reallocate critical materials domestically, we reduce external providers’ bargaining power.
We can’t just dig our way out of this problem, nor do we have to. The minerals we need aren’t just buried deep in the earth. They’re sitting in our homes, offices, and landfills, waiting to be reclaimed. Urban mining offers us a future of independence, innovation, and sustainability. The next gold rush isn’t in them thar hills. It’s in our landfills, garages, and junk drawers.
Deirdre White is president and CEO of Pyxera Global.