Doug MacMaster

written by Deborah Dull, on site at GreenBiz 2026   I spent today in a room full of people who think about waste for a living. And the word that kept coming up had nothing to do with recycling. It was sovereignty. Here is the situation. The United States imports 95% of its critical mineral supply. Lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, the stuff inside every battery, every semiconductor, every electric motor. We do not make it, we do not mine much of it, and we do not control the supply chain that delivers it. That is not an energy policy problem. That is a national security problem. Now here is the part that should make you put down your coffee. A ton of smartphones contains dramatically more gold than a ton of mined ore. We are talking about concentrations that make urban mining look like a gold rush compared to digging in the ground. And yet the recovery rate for those materials, once a phone leaves its first owner, drops to around 13%. We are losing roughly 80% of the value sitting in devices right now, in drawers, in closets, in landfills. E-waste is also the fastest growing waste stream…

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Did you catch all the episodes? If not, you can check them all out here: We kicked off the week with This Week in Business History, where Scott looks back at some of the biggest historical events in business history for the week ahead, including the birth of the Coca-Cola Company.   Supply Chain Now · “This Week in Business History for July 6th: The Birth of the Coca-Cola Company”     Then on Tuesday, Scott and Greg welcomed John Buglino with Optessa to the podcast to discuss simplifying and streamlining operations.   Supply Chain Now · “Simplifying & Streamlining Operations: John Buglino with Optessa”     On Wednesday we published the Supply Chain Buzz, where Greg and Scott discussed the top supply chain news of the week, and were joined by special guest Tevon Taylor, with FedEx Supply Chain.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Buzz for July 6th: Featuring Tevon Taylor with FedEx Supply Chain”   On Thursday, we continued our new series, TECHquila Sunrise with Greg White, where Greg shares the latest investments, acquisitions, innovations, and glorious implosions in Supply Chain Tech every week.   Supply Chain Now…