If you pay attention to the technology news, you’ll notice there’s a lot of talk lately about something called “rare earth minerals” or “rare earth elements.” What are they? Rare earth minerals are ores that contain one or more of 17 elements from the period table of the elements. Though many of them aren’t actually very rare at all (though some are), because of their unique chemical properties, they disperse widely throughout rock all over the earth’s crust rather than concentrating in easy-to-reach deposits and, as a result, are expensive to mine.

Why are they talked about so widely? Because many of these elements are critical in consumer electronics such as smart phones and laptops, for starters, and also for green technologies such as electric car batteries and even solar cells. The second reason is that China does the vast majority of the world’s rare earth mineral mining, meaning it currently controls the supply.

One rare earth mineral mine in California closed in the 90s when the Chinese began undercutting pricing on rare earth minerals, is opening up again this year. As the Chinese begin regulating the export of rare earth minerals more rigidly, the manufacturers of electronics devices and some green technologies may find themselves at a loss.

In any case, many people are starting to wonder about the other major rare earth element source in the world: inside the cell phones and other electronics we throw away when they get outdated or broken. A UN report published last week says that too many of these rare metals that are essential for many of today’s technologies are literally being tossed out or locked up and forgotten in drawers.

The report, from the United Nations Environment Programme, examined the recycling rates of 60 metals. Globally, 34 of them have recycling rates below one per cent, while only 18 have rates above 50 per cent, reported New Scientist. Among the least-recycled metals are tellurium and gallium, which are used in solar cells, and lithium, a key component of the batteries in electric cars. Lithium is also used in the mobile phone industry to make batteries.

“Most metals can be used over and over again,” the study’s lead author, Thomas Graedel of Yale University, told New Scientist. But because few municipalities have rigorous programs to encourage the recycling of old cell phones, most are either thrown out or stored in drawers to gather dust. Better recycling programs are part of the answer, but Graedel said that recycling technology needs a major shot in the arm, as well. Under current processes, about 70 per cent of the metal sent for recycling gets lost during the process.

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