Materials
New technology promises to recover strategic materials from industrial waste

The absorbent, shown here, can chemically remove rare-earth elements from liquids. (Japan Atomic Energy Agency)
MOMOKO IMAMURA
August 26, 2026 05:01 JST
TOKYO — The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and others have developed technology that can extract rare-earth elements from water and oil, Nikkei has learned, raising the possibility that the valuable materials could be recovered from industrial wastewater.
