Substitutes not as effective and recycling is overstated and long-term at best
Foss & Koelsch, 22 --- *Fellow in Energy, Minerals and Materials at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, AND **Research Associate, J.A. Green & Company and Former Research Intern, Center for Energy Studies (December 19, 2022, Michelle Michot Foss, Jacob Koelsch, “Of Chinese Behemoths: What China’s Rare Earths Dominance Means for the US,” https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/chinese-behemoths-what-chinas-rare-earths-dominance-means-us, JMP))
While long-term supply resilience is a goal, “industrial planners” must proactively mitigate the risks of immediate rare earth product supply disruptions from China. Manufacturers and designers may opt to use REE substitutes, but substitutes do not perform nearly as well.[77] Designers looking to shift away from China-dominated REE may face the task of engineering their products without these materials as the more viable alternative. Recycling offers possibilities, especially from permanent magnets, but a long path lies ahead for this to become viable. Recycling too often is overstated given the outlook for raw materials requirements. Recyclers face the same delays and conundrums in achieving regulatory reviews and permits to move forward as mining and other industrial projects.