S2 E79: The Bacteria Pulling Rare Earths From Catalytic Converters

Less than 1% of the world's rare earths are recycled — and a Cornell spinout thinks engineered bacteria can change that. In this episode, Dustin Olsen talks with Alexa Schmitz, CEO and co-founder of REEgen, about using bioleaching to recover rare earth elements from catalytic-converter slag, the waste left behind after recyclers harvest platinum and palladium. Alexa explains how REEgen's biological leaching solution pulls up to 98% of the rare earths out of slag that's 3–3.5% rare earth by weight, why biomining already produces about 20% of the world's copper, and the tradeoff between maximum recovery and real-world economics. She also shares what it was like to be one of 12 founders invited to the White House after China restricted heavy rare earth exports — and why she believes a secure supply chain has to be international, not purely domestic. A microbiologist-turned-founder on turning industrial waste into a domestic rare earth supply.