Rare earth metals, REEs, which is a group of metallic elements, are used in LEDs for creating colored light. REEs are produced by mining in different countries, where China accounts for about 90% of global production.

The recovery of REEs appearing in LED lights are now virtually non-existent and Stena Techno World AB has requested a study showing how the composition of REEs looks for LEDs with the aim to evaluate how a future recovery process might look. This project consisted of a literature review, interviews and field trips.

REEs is present in extremely small quantities in each LED application, and this makes it very difficult to separate the REEs from the LED in a recycling process. This project has compiled the existing recycling solutions that are used for fluorescents, since  the recovery process theoretically can be the same for the LED lights, if one ignores the fact  that it is difficult to separate  REEs from LED lights. A summary of the presence and quantity of REEs in LED lights with white lights presented in the results section of the project. In the results section is also reported a security strategy developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, where the aim of the strategy is to reduce dependence on China's REE resources.

The discussion deals with the fact that a separation of REEs is difficult to achieve , and which aspects can justify an investment in recycling technology for REEs appearing in LED lights. The discussion also present calculations of how much of each REE present in the recycling loop of LED lights.