| Sumario: | Rare earth elements (REE) are critical to our modern way of life; however, potential primary and secondary sources of these elements remain somewhat poorly understood. In particular, comparatively little research has been undertaken on the potential for recycling and reuse of these elements and the extraction of these critical elements from waste material. This Special Issue focuses on furthering our understanding of the criticality and potential sources of the rare earth elements, with a specific focus on secondary sources, including waste from mining and processing activities, the potential for extraction of the REE from high technology or electronic waste, and techniques for extracting the REE from unconventional sources. We also invite submissions that cover the positive and negative impact of these potential sources, as well as papers that present research on primary REE mineral deposits, mineral deposits that are prospective for the REE but either are not currently exploited or deport their contained REE to waste, and the potential for future REE production from hitherto unexploited REE-bearing mineral deposit types. The papers published in this Special Issue will provide further insight into the full life cycle of the REE, information that is vital to ensure sustainable sources of these critical elements into the future.
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