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UPCYCLING OF NdFeB MAGNETS IN THE EU FOR GREEN APPLICATIONS

Project description

Turning e-waste into valuable resources

Rare earth magnets from old hard disk drives pose a recycling challenge. These magnets contain valuable elements like neodymium, iron, and boron, but most end up in landfills. This not only wastes resources, but also creates environmental hazards. Recycling these magnets efficiently could help address both resource scarcity and pollution. To address this issue, the EU-funded NEO-CYCLE project will develop methods to upcycle these spent magnets into high-quality materials for industries like pharmaceuticals and fertilisers. By reaching a high level of technological readiness, the project will demonstrate effective separation and upcycling processes. It involves a broad range of stakeholders, including technology developers and commercial companies, to ensure that the solutions are practical and market-ready.

Objective

The NEO-CYCLE project aims to demonstrate at TRL6 the sustainable upcycling of spent NdFeB magnets comings from hard disks drives (HDDs), reaching high quality end products for 4 case studies: pharmaceutical, ammonia, fertilizers, and polymers industries; and will include necessary paths to reach the market uptake. To reach this aim, NEO-CYCLE involves all the relevant actors in the value chain, from public authorities to WEEE recycler companies, technology developers, associations, NGOs, SMEs and commercial companies in the targeted sectors.
A summary of the main activities in provide below:
1) Demonstration of a Solid-State Chlorination, Electrochemical and Purification processes at TRL6 to separate Nd, Fe and B reaching market needed purities.
2) Demonstration of upcycling approaches for Nd, Fe, and B at TRL6 by developing industrial catalysts for the four case studies.
3) Validation of the quality and performance of final products by leading commercial companies
4) Including processes and products digitalisation: mathematical modelling and optimisation, monitoring and digital twins of plants, and digital product passports.
5) Sustainability assessments (LCA, LCC, s-LCA, circularity, risk and energy efficiency, green logistics and TEA) to demonstrate the techno-economic and social viability of solutions, including a guide to consider the gender dimension in the different project stages.
6) Paving the way to the market uptake by a) assessments of current legislations and future development, b) performing a standardisation roadmap, c) plan and develop communication, dissemination and exploitation activities including clustering with other projects and at least 13 stakeholder engagement events, d) creating new business models for at least 11 Key Expected Results, and e) development of 13 training courses targeting soft and technical skills to promote inclusion and new jobs in the value chains.

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HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01

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Coordinator

IDENER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AGRUPACION DE INTERES ECONOMICO
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 276 623,00
Address
CALLE EARLY OVINGTON 24-8
41300 LA RINCONADA SEVILLA
Spain

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Region
Sur Andalucía Sevilla
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

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Participants (21)

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