Semiconductor Recycling and Urban Mining: Turning E-Waste Into a Strategic Mineral Supply

Can the trillion-dollar resource hidden in discarded electronics solve the next critical mineral crunch?

E-waste has become one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally. With the accelerating digitisation, electrification, and proliferation of semiconductors, volumes of obsolete electronics are rising sharply each year. India alone generated an estimated 1.75 million tonnes of e-waste in 2023–2024; however, formal recovery systems capture less than half of that volume. This is not a waste management issue. It is a strategic mineral supply challenge, with implications for technology sovereignty, industrial competitiveness, and energy transition pathways.

What sharpens the urgency is the widening mismatch between mineral demand and the responsiveness of supply. Consumption of advanced electronics, electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and data infrastructure is scaling faster than new mines can be permitted, financed, and developed. Refining capacity remains geographically concentrated, while export controls and trade fragmentation continue to intensify. Against this backdrop, end-of-life electronics represent one of the few scalable sources of critical minerals that already reside within national borders. Urban mining, therefore, shifts from an efficiency play to a strategic imperative.

Strategic Urgency: Why E-Waste Matters for Critical Minerals

Critical minerals used in semiconductors and advanced electronics are geographically concentrated, politically sensitive, and increasingly volatile.

Semiconductors rely on materials such as gallium, germanium, tantalum, palladium, and rare-earth oxides, as well as battery metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Over recent years, supply constraints have intensified. Export controls on gallium and germanium, concentration of refining capacity in a few markets, and long mine development timelines have highlighted vulnerabilities.

Urban mining changes this equation. A single tonne of e-waste contains significantly higher concentrations of precious and speciality metals than many primary ores. Recovering these domestically strengthens industrial autonomy and buffers supply chains from geopolitical volatility.

India has taken a structured approach through the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM). The Union Cabinet approved a ₹1,500 crore incentive scheme to develop domestic recycling capacity for e-waste, spent lithium-ion batteries, and industrial scrap. The objective is to establish 270 kilotons of annual recycling capacity and generate 40 kilotons of critical minerals annually by 2030–2031, supported by an estimated ₹8,000 crore in private investment.

Policy and Industrial Framework: Strengthening Circular Supply Chains

A coherent policy environment is essential for converting urban mining from a promising concept into a competitive industrial sector.

India’s regulatory approach integrates collection systems, recycling incentives, and removal of customs duties on imported critical mineral scrap. It also strengthens Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), creating structured feedstock flows for recyclers. This is vital because large quantities of high-value “black mass” are currently exported without refining.

Globally, similar frameworks are accelerating. The EU’s WEEE and Battery Regulation mandates minimum recovery rates and recycled content requirements. The U.S., under the CHIPS and Science Act, has begun aligning critical mineral policy with domestic semiconductor and clean tech manufacturing goals. Japan continues to expand its resource circulation standards, linking recycling with industrial strategy. Urban mining is no longer viewed as waste management; it is recognised as a strategic supply chain instrument.

Technology and Value Recovery: Extracting Purity From Complex Waste

Semiconductors and advanced electronics are engineered for performance, not disassembly. Extracting high-purity minerals from such complex waste demands sophisticated processing.

Modern recycling operations rely on multi-stage systems that include mechanical separation, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, solvent extraction, and purification technologies. Breakthroughs have significantly improved recovery yields for high-value metals.

A broad ecosystem of global leaders and innovators is shaping this field:

Advanced Critical Mineral and Semiconductor-Focused Recyclers

Semiconductor manufacturing relies on a narrow set of high-purity materials, where supply disruptions carry an outsized economic impact. Advanced recyclers in this segment focus on extracting gallium, germanium, indium, rare earths, and precious metals from semiconductor scrap, wafers, and high-complexity electronics. These companies differentiate through proprietary extraction and purification technologies that meet the ultra-high purity standards required for re-entry into semiconductor and photonics value chains.

Flash Metals USA (Houston, United States)

A subsidiary of MTM Critical Metals, Flash Metals uses Flash Joule Heating technology to recover gallium and germanium from semiconductor industry scrap. Its rapid thermal process enables efficient extraction of high-value technology metals at scale.

Umicore SA (Belgium)

A global materials technology leader operating integrated metallurgical refineries for precious metals, speciality metals, and end-of-life electronics. It is one of the world’s largest processors of e-waste for gold, platinum-group metals, and other precious metals used in technology.

5N Plus (Canada)

A producer of ultra-high-purity gallium, indium, selenium, and tellurium for semiconductors, solar, and photonic applications. Its recycling systems recover secondary material from a range of low-grade concentrates.

Global Battery and Multi-Metal Urban Mining Leaders

As battery electrification and digital infrastructure scale globally, a small group of industrial recyclers has emerged with the capability to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and precious metals at commercial volumes. These firms operate at the intersection of energy storage, automotive, and electronics supply chains, converting end-of-life batteries and complex scrap into battery-grade and metal-grade inputs. Their importance lies not only in recovery rates but also in their ability to integrate recycling directly into OEM and cell manufacturing ecosystems.

Redwood Materials (United States)

Founded by J.B. Straubel in 2017, Redwood Materials has become one of the most advanced battery recycling firms globally. To supply critical battery materials at scale, it recovers >95% of metals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt from end-of-life cells, producing battery-grade feedstock for OEMs, including Panasonic and Ford. Expansion plans aim to achieve giga-scale production capacity by 2030.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (Canada/United States)

Li-Cycle deploys proprietary hydrometallurgical processes to reclaim lithium, cobalt, and nickel from spent batteries into purified products. Its modular “spoke and hub” model aims to decentralise processing and feed material back into battery manufacturing supply chains.

American Battery Technology Company (United States)

ABTC focuses on integrated battery recycling and extraction of lithium and other raw materials using hydrometallurgical systems. It has been recognised by industry groups and supported through strategic partnerships to accelerate the deployment of domestic critical mineral recovery facilities.

Ascend Elements (United States)

Ascend Elements (formerly Battery Resourcers) is a U.S.-based recycler that converts end-of-life lithium-ion batteries into precursor and cathode materials, providing a direct bridge to battery cell manufacturing and urban mining-led supply diversification.

Black Mass Energies and Blue Whale Materials (United States)

U.S. startups specialised in sustainable lithium-ion recycling processes that recover critical metals up to 98% recovery, supporting EV and energy storage supply chains with high-value black mass products.

Specialised and Regional Innovators

Beyond global leaders, a growing cohort of specialised and regional players is addressing targeted gaps in urban mining value chains. These firms focus on niche material streams, such as rare earth magnets, low-volume high-value metals, or region-specific waste flows shaped by local regulations and industrial structures. Their role is critical in scaling domestic capability, reducing export leakage of high-value scrap, and building resilient, decentralised mineral recovery ecosystems.

Sims Recycling Solutions (Global)

Sims is one of the largest global e-waste recyclers, with operations spanning five continents. The company processes nearly half a million tonnes of electronics annually, recovering metals, plastics, and glass for reuse in industrial supply chains.

Metallo-Chimique International (Belgium)

Belgian recycler and refiner of tin, lead, copper, and other metals from electronics scrap. Older technology, its scale, and integration into European industrial supply chains remain significant for base metal recovery.

Ionic Technologies (United Kingdom)

A niche innovator in rare earth magnet recycling, extracting neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium oxide from end-of-life motors and electronics.

BatX Energies (India)

Partnered with Germany’s Rocklink GmbH to build India’s first rare earth magnet recycling and refining facility, strengthening the domestic supply of magnet materials essential for EVs and wind turbines.

Commercial Models and Supply Chain Integration

The commercial success of urban mining hinges on access to feedstock, scalability of technology, and alignment of downstream offtake.

Effective models combine:

• Structured collection linked to OEMs

• High-efficiency processing technologies

• Long-term purchase agreements for recovered materials

  
  

Redwood Materials’ partnerships with automotive OEMs, Attero’s take-back integrations with electronics manufacturers, and Li-Cycle’s spoke-hub distribution model demonstrate how recycling can be embedded directly within industrial ecosystems.

India’s emerging players, such as Lohum, Rubamin, and BatX Energies, are building capacity aligned to domestic industrial needs, leveraging government incentives and offtake agreements.

Strategic Risks and Competitive Dynamics

Urban mining does not eliminate geopolitical risk, but it mitigates and diversifies it.

China remains dominant in the processing of rare earths and speciality metals, setting the baseline for global price formation. Countries investing early in domestic recovery technologies will gain a long-term competitive advantage. For companies, capability differentiation increasingly depends on:

• Proprietary extraction technologies

• Strategic feedstock partnerships

• Regulatory alignment

• Cost-efficient refining capacity

  
  

The firms that secure both upstream scrap flows and downstream material integration will lead the next decade of circular mineral supply.

Conclusion: Urban Mining as a Strategic Industrial Lever

Urban mining is rapidly transitioning from sustainability rhetoric to industrial reality. As nations race to secure critical minerals for semiconductors, EVs, data centres, and clean energy systems, secondary recovery is becoming indispensable.

The shift is already underway. India’s ₹1,500-crore incentive scheme, the EU’s circular content mandates, and major private investments in gallium, rare earth, and battery metal recovery all point to a structural turning point. Companies across the ecosystem, from Umicore and Redwood to Attero and Flash Metals, are demonstrating that e-waste is not a liability. It is a strategic resource, capable of reshaping mineral supply chains.

The winners of the next decade will be those who align policy, technology, and commercial strategy to unlock the full value of urban mining. The resource once discarded in landfills may soon become the cornerstone of industrial resilience and competitive advantage.