In our "rare" Earth Day roundup, we discussed how important it is to recycle rare-earth magnets in order to keep them affordable and accessible. Some universities in the U.S. have made progress on how to safely and effectively recycle rare earth elements (REE) from electronics and reuse the materials in new equipment. Recently, competition from across the pond is putting the United Kingdom at the forefront of rare-earth magnet recycling efforts.

A Recycling Collaboration

Reports released in March reveal a collaboration between several companies and universities in the UK that could change the landscape and scope of REE recycling for good. Announced as part of a UK Research and Industry grant-funded project known as “Secure Critical Rare Earth Magnets for UK”—SCREAM for short—seeks to establish a recycled source of rare earth magnets that will provide even greater supply security to the UK industry. They report that this will reduce costs and may result in energy savings estimated at 88 percent. Some of the companies involved with SCREAM include Mkango Rare Earths, Hypromag, Bowers and Wilkins, GKN Automotive, Jaguar Land Rover, and the University of Birmingham. They believe this move will greatly support green technologies in the UK and potentially have a regional and global impact.  The Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham, UK, will establish a pilot plant that will process recycled REE from sources such as electronic waste, wind turbines, and electric motors. Currently, there are few primary sources for REE in the UK, so any efforts to bulk up recycling production and reuse of these magnetic materials could potentially solve supply chain issues that the automotive industry and other industries using green technologies are coming to rely on.

Why is REE Recycling Important?

As we mentioned in our rare Earth Day roundup, China currently produces over 90 percent of the Earth’s REE. They set strict regulations and limitations on the global exportation of these materials for magnet manufacturing, and this not only drives up costs but it consequently makes the REE less available. Until researchers developed new recycling methods, it was not feasible to recycle neodymium and samarium-cobalt magnets due to the number of elements used in electronics like computer hard drives—separating and extracting these materials was either incredibly time-consuming or virtually impossible. New methods of recycling include an acid-free dissolution recycling process developed by the Critical Materials Institute (CMI) and Ames Laboratory in Iowa, which won a Notable Technology Development Award in 2018.

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You can find more "Magnetic Facts" in other sections of our blog and website. Interested in purchasing rare-earth magnets? Browse our catalog of samarium-cobalt and neodymium magnets, contact us online, or give us a call at 1-304-257-1193.