Neodymium magnets are familiar from wind turbines, electric cars and headphones, among other things, but there are also applications in medicine.
Rare earth magnet recycling is likely to become much more important in the future, according to William Dawes, CEO of Canadian company Mkango Resources.
A process has been developed at Sandia National Laboratories that dissolves rare earths from fly ash.
Apple unveiled a new charger for notebooks on Monday that uses gallium nitride (GaN) as a semiconductor material. GaN enables faster charging with a smaller size.
Solar cells, computer chips and LEDs: Gallium is used in many future technologies. Now the use of the technology metal to reduce greenhouse gases is being tested.
The National Platform for the Future of Mobility (NPM), an advisory body to the German government, sees an acute need for action to make the transport sector more environmentally friendly.