Title page 1

Contents 6

Introduction 9

1. Background 11

1.1. Critical mineral import reliance 11

1.2. Selected agency roles and responsibilities 12

1.3. Critical mineral policy landscape 14

1.4. Key definitions 15

2. Battery Substitution and Recycling Technologies 17

2.1. Battery substitution technologies 17

2.1.1. State of technologies 17

2.1.2. Opportunities to reduce critical mineral import reliance 18

2.1.3. Challenges 18

2.2. Battery recycling technologies 20

2.2.1. State of technologies 20

2.2.2. Opportunities to reduce critical mineral import reliance 22

2.2.3. Challenges 22

3. Semiconductor Substitution and Recycling Technologies 24

3.1. Semiconductor substitution technologies 24

3.1.1. State of technologies 24

3.1.2. Opportunities to reduce critical mineral import reliance 24

3.1.3. Challenges 25

3.2. Semiconductor recycling technologies 26

3.2.1. State of technologies 26

3.2.2. Opportunities to reduce critical mineral import reliance 27

3.2.3. Challenges 28

4. Policy Options 30

4.1. Establish domestic manufacturing capacity for viable substitutes 31

4.2. Establish domestic recycling capacity 32

4.3. Secure inputs for recycling 33

4.4. Support research, development, and testing 33

5. Agency and Expert Comments 35

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 36

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 38

Table 1. Battery types and key performance metrics 19

Figure 1. Selected critical minerals import reliance, use, and primary import and production sources 11

Figure 2. Rechargeable lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) battery 15

Figure 3. Selected critical minerals in an artificial intelligence data center server 16

Figure 4. Typical steps to pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling of lithium-ion batteries 21

Figure 5. Critical minerals in a consumer device 27

Figure 6. Substitution and recycling technologies crosswalk 31