A new way to recycle rare earth elements without using acid seems a bit like magic.

It's the magic. It is science.

It's Wednesday, May 22nd, and you're listening to Science Friday.

I'm Sci-Fi producer Shishana Bucksbaum.

You've probably heard quite a bit about the importance of rare earth

elements. This group of 17 metals are used in a wide range of things that make our modern lives

possible, like batteries, magnets, LED light bulbs, phone

screens, and catalytic converters, just to name a few. These elements are essential to a green economy,

but mining them is a dirty, complex, and costly process.

And as we continue our energy transition, the demand for these elements grows.

One of the possible solutions is to recycle them from

discarded waste. But how? Here's Ira Flato in front of a live audience at

Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. My next guest has developed a new way to do just that.

He Canada Lebedim is a material scientist at the Critical Materials Institute at Ames National Laboratory.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Thank you for having me.

And over here on my right, he'll be doing the demonstration

is Dr. Dennis Proteus also a scientist at the

Critical Materials Institute at Ames. Thank you for joining us today.

Okay you can let's just jump right into this. How do you recycle stuff like I'm talking about?

What's the technique that you use?

Well, I think that before we talk about the technique it's important to think about where these materials are used in terms of application.

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