According to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP-RM), 30 million jobs in Europe depend on the availability of raw materials. Among these, rare earth elements (REEs)—a group of seventeen chemical elements including Scandium, Yttrium, and the Lanthanides—are considered to have the highest supply risk. Due to their geochemical properties, REEs are typically dispersed and rarely found in concentrated, economically viable deposits. They are key enablers of green technologies, used in hybrid electric vehicles, wind turbines, and high-efficiency electric motors.
Although the EU is one of the world’s largest consumers of REEs, it relies on China for around 90% of its REE supply and currently lacks its own refinery capacity. This dependence on external sources makes Europe—and Western countries in general—highly vulnerable. To address this, the REE4EU pilot project set out to develop a novel, circular, EU-centred value chain by recovering REEs from waste streams. PNO supports the project by helping this innovative recycling technology find its way to the market.
Overview of the REE4EU project
REE4EU’s technology to recover REEs from secondary sources involves two steps: ionic liquid extraction followed by high temperature electrolysis. The technology was validated and showcased through a pilot plant, integrated into an existing facility. Different waste feeds were used to carry out proof-of-concept at industrially relevant scale. First, permanent magnet swarf (PMS) was targeted. Then, the process was replicated with end-of-life permanent magnet (PM) and other end-of-life wastes from an existing battery recycling plant.
The output material from the REE4EU pilot process was validated by producing and characterising permanent magnets and assessing their quality in terms of magnetic properties, i.e., remanence, coercivity, intrinsic coercivity and maximum energy product, as well as chemical composition. The results showed that the permanent magnets prepared from the recycled material obtained by the REE4EU solution had the same properties as those manufactured using virgin material.
Thus, REE4EU demonstrated for the first time a closed-loop recycling scheme for permanent magnets in Europe. This leads to the conclusion that Europe should develop and implement the right market conditions for REE recovery, as well as enable best practices on end-of-life products’ management to maximise the recovery of REE, especially in the case of waste from electronic and electric equipment.
The REE4EU consortium comprised 14 partners from 8 European countries. The project started in October 2015 and continued until September 2019. Funding was received from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. On September 11th 2019, the consortium gathered to present to the European Commission’s project monitor the latest results and overall achievements.
Objectives of the project: validate new raw materials technology
In this project, the technology will be validated and showcased through a pilot plant, integrated into an existing facility. Different waste feeds will be used to carry out proof-of-concept at industrially relevant scale. First, permanent magnet swarf (PMS) will be targeted. Then, the process will be replicated with end-of-life permanent magnet (PM) and with other end-of-life wastes from an existing battery recycling plant. End product validation will take place by the actual production of an end-of-life permanent magnet, then assessment of the product’s performance. This will provide input to the final proof-of-concept.
Our involvement in the REE4EU project
We have several responsibilities within the REE4EU project:
- We ensure and maximise the impact of the REE4EU project, paving the way for the market uptake of the proposed technology.
- We will identify a relevant audience of stakeholders, policy makers, researchers and investors by performing a stakeholder analysis and market analysis. These activities allow us to build a targeted set of communication and dissemination actions.
- We will prepare a business plan, assessing the profitability of the envisioned REE4EU plant.
