By Jacob Bogage
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order giving federal officials the power to block exports of old batteries and other electronic waste filled with critical minerals, part of a broader push to boost domestic recycling and counter China’s grip on materials vital to national security, according to two White House officials familiar with the matter.
The presidential determination allows the Commerce Department to issue rules that would prevent so-called “e-waste” from being sent overseas, a practice that is common.
The administration hopes to funnel those materials — especially tungsten and shredded battery parts known as black mass — to domestic recyclers, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The U.S. exports nearly 33,000 metric tons per month of e-waste, much of it filled with lithium and other critical minerals that can be recycled, according to data from the environmental group Basel Action Network.
Those e-waste exports have long irked the U.S. recycling industry, which has said that keeping the material in the country for recycling could help Washington better meet its minerals production goals and lessen the need for new mines, which are often unpopular in some communities.
The Trump administration has fielded complaints from recyclers, the people said, that domestic firms cannot compete with global competitors who pay above-market rates for the scrap.
Several North American recyclers, for example, have faced economic challenges in the past 18 months, including Li-Cycle and Ascend Elements, both of which filed for bankruptcy.
Other projects are moving forward. In Oklahoma, Blue Whale Materials and two other firms are building battery recycling operations.
(Reporting by Jacob Bogage in Washington, editing by Deepa Babington)
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