If you're interested in this topic I highly recommend Adam Minter as better source on this stuff. He adopts a strictly economic perspective on the recycling trade which makes way more sense.

https://www.amazon.com/Junkyard-Planet-Travels-Billion-Dolla...

The same thing that happened when China "cornered" the rare earth metals market: other mines were opened and a temporary advantage mostly disappeared.

The same will happen here.

In addition, cobalt can be recycled from existing batteries, but it is currently not economical to do so. When you can trade existing batteries to Best Buy for a couple bucks, you'll know the price of cobalt (or nickel, or lithium) is genuinely high.

People interested should read Junkyard Planet: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Junkyard-Planet-Travels-Billion-Dol...

Given the low tech nature, a lot of the 'value' could have already been extracted via any widespread method, and this is the byproduct of already processed recyclables being sold on.

I highly recommend the book Junkyard Planet by Adam Minter, who follows the global scrap trade.

Link to his site: http://shanghaiscrap.com/books/junkyard-planet/ Link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Junkyard-Planet-Travels-Billion-Dollar...

If anyone is interested in the aspects of reuse and recycle touched on in this article, I highly recommend Junkyard Plant, a book about recycling largely but not exclusively focused on China. There are a couple of chapters on electronics and Shenzhen, as well as other chapters ranging from paper & cotton, steel, plastics, aluminium, etc, and the entire sourcing chain.

http://www.amazon.com/Junkyard-Planet-Travels-Billion-Dollar...