Sustainable Recovery, Reprocessing and Reuse of Rare-Earth Magnets in a Circular Economy (SUSMAGPRO)

Project Information

SUSMAGPRO

Grant agreement ID: 821114

DOI

10.3030/821114

Project closed

EC signature date 3 May 2019

Start date 1 June 2019

End date 30 November 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 14 700 756,07

EU contribution

€ 12 977 445,62

Coordinated by

HOCHSCHULE PFORZHEIM
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SUSMAGPRO (Sustainable Recovery, Reprocessing and Reuse of Rare-Earth Magnets in a Circular Economy (SUSMAGPRO))

Reporting period: 2022-06-01 to 2023-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Europe currently lacks large exploitable Rare Earths (RE) deposits and is therefore dependent on imports, making RE critical raw materials for the production of permanent magnets needed in various industries such as mobility, green energy, medical devices, robotics or consumer electronics. To reduce this dependency, the SUSMAGPRO partners have created a stable source of secondary materials for RE by developing and demonstrating innovative pilot plants at Technology Readiness Levels 6–7 for the clean and sustainable recycling of RE from end-of-life (EoL) parts in Europe. These efficient circular routes will cover all steps from design, EoL recovery, reprocessing, remanufacturing, to demonstration, integrating the whole value chain.

In addition to the technical challenges of recycling permanent magnets, the issues of customer acceptance of recycled products in terms of magnetic properties, corrosion resistance, and consistency of supply have been addressed not only by demonstrating industrial processes at pilot scale, but also by incorporating recycled magnets in demonstration products for three of the largest market segments for permanent magnets: automotive rotors and sensors, water and heat pumps, and loudspeakers.

These activities were supported by an overarching communication and dissemination approach including a public roadshow, which presented the developed processes, technologies and demonstrators to a wider audience in order to raise awareness of RE and their challenges, to build customer confidence in recycled magnets, to alter perceptions of recycled products as being inferior, and to address concerns over security of supply.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

SUSMAGPRO had ten specific objectives covering four areas:
Technical Objectives (TO), Economic Objectives (EO), Environmental Objectives (ENO) and Societal Objectives (SO).

The following work was carried out:

TO1: Automated pilot lines have been constructed to locate, identify and extract RE-magnets from waste. With a flexible design, the lines can handle different EoL parts such as loudspeakers, rotors, mixed waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or hard disk drives (HDD). The HDD line is designed in a modular and transportable manner, allowing on-site segregation of magnet-containing scrap and thus recovering the value of the magnets prior to secure data destruction, e.g. at computer server farms.

TO2: Three pilot plants in Germany, Slovenia and the UK have been developed and set up to recycle magnets in a shorter-loop using less chemicals with the patented Hydrogen-based Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) technology. They have reached TRL 7–8, and are capable of processing 50 t/yr of clean RE powders; 10 t/yr for the pilot in Germany.

TO3: Four pilot remanufacturing processes have been developed, also in Germany, Slovenia and the UK, which convert extracted RE materials into either refined and purified cast alloys or magnets in sintered, injection-moulded or metal-injection-moulded forms. The remanufactured magnets have been tested in collaboration with industrial end-user companies to demonstrate that they meet industry standards.

TO4: 500 demonstrator components for rotors, sensors, pumps and loudspeaker modules based on recycled magnets have been produced to gain user acceptance for recycled products. More than 160 scrap sources have been analysed and integrated into a comprehensive database containing information on the chemical, geometric and magnetic properties of EoL magnets, the resulting HPMS powders and re-manufactured magnets. It will provide the basis for redesigning existing and new products to facilitate magnet recycling contribute to future standards for recycling-friendly designs.

EO1: A market analysis has been completed to determine the geographical locations, volumes, chemical compositions, and positions in applications for scrap RE magnets. Two tools have been developed: a material flow analysis model, that allows for a fine-grained analysis by providing information at the level of individual EU Member States and product groups; and a recyclability assessment framework, which provides insights into the broad set of factors that determine if recycling is successful.

EO2: Initial plans for the commercial exploitation of SUSMAGPRO industrial processes beyond the end of the project, in particular for spin-out companies called HyProMag, as well as further knowledge transfer and recommendations for policy and standardisation, have been drafted, accompanied by Techno-Economic Assessment. The target capability to sustainably produce 15% of EU demand (450 t/yr) for RE magnets within 5 years of the project was confirmed.

ENO1, 2 & 3 (to reduce the environmental impact and health risks associated with the presence of metals such as RE, to reduce the energy consumption, and the environmental damage associated with, the mining and refining of RE and to reduce the amount of waste related to applications entailing RE magnets by improving primary production recyclability) ran in parallel with Life Cycle and Social impact analyses. Comprehensive data has been generated and analysed and positive social and environmental effects, confirmed.

SO1 & 2: Various activities have been carried out to raise awareness of RE, its challenges and the solutions provided by the project. Findings have been communicated to the general public, research, industry, local and national governments and the European Commission through reports, trainings, press releases, social media, website, printed materials, scientific papers, participation in conferences and a public roadshow in several European cities. Clustering and synergy activities with related national and H2020 projects, ERMA, EIT RawMaterials, non-EU initiatives such as REIA and global standards organisations have been implemented.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

SUSMAGPRO aims to revolutionise the way magnets are recycled. Its short-loop reprocessing routes enable Europe to gain a better foothold in the world’s growing markets and achieve the future of zero-carbon mobility and energy.

Automated sorting, combined with new sensor arrays enables fast, high-yield sorting of today’s and future’s waste sources. The highly efficient HPMS process combined with innovative coating removal methods provides high quality secondary raw materials not only for established magnet production routes such as polymer bonding and sintering, but also for the innovative, waste-free metal-injection-moulding process. Re-casting of low-end RE materials or blending of secondary materials with NdH2 or primary alloys produces high-grade materials and allows permanent magnets to be tailored to specifications that meet the requirements of mass production or high-end applications, where field strength and temperature resistance are at a premium.

Combined with an ambitious programme to design future applications for easier recycling and to evaluate new processes such as hydrocyclone separation of the Nd-rich phase from secondary materials or the extrusion of magnetic shapes for new applications, the project is expanding the availability of raw materials for permanent magnets and initiating their introduction into a range of new magnet products for Europe.