Honda Creates World's First Process to Reuse Rare Earth Metals from Spent N

Honda now says it has established the world's first process to reuse rare earth metals extracted from NiMH hydride batteries for new nickel-metal hydride batteries. So far, Honda has been extracting an oxide containing rare earth metals from used NiMH batteries at the plant of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. (JMC). The company says that by applying molten salt electrolysis to this oxide, Honda has succeeded in extracting metalized rare earth that can be used directly as negative-electrode materials for NiMH batteries. The rare earth metals extracted in this process has a [b]purity of more than 99% which is as high as that of ordinary traded, newly mined rare earth metals[/b]! In addition, the new process enables the extraction of as much as above 80% of rare earth metals contained in NiMH battery.