China have sent the price of fluorescent lightbulbs and other products that use rare metals through the roof after placing restrictions on the sale of the metals in an attempt to combat pollution caused by the mining process.

The country has announced that the industry will essentially be shut down for the near future as the country looks to combat an increasing set of environmental issues. Whilst this is great for China, the knock on effect is that many products that use the materials are now increasing in price, including a host of household products.

The country produces around 95% of the world’s rare earth and metal materials, which means the industry effectively gets shut down if they pull a move like they have done recently.

The issue China has is that mining for such materials traditionally sends toxic and harmful emissions into the atmosphere. As the country heads further towards industrialisation, such environmental concerns have been moving increasingly to the forefront.