Sustainable recovery, recycling and reuse of rare-earth magnets in a circular economy (SUSMAGPRO)

Permanent magnets based on Rare Earths such as neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) or dysprosium are used in a variety of industries such as automotive, aerospace, wind power and consumer goods. In recent years, however, the supply of these materials has come under pressure and neodymium and dysprosium are now considered critical materials with a high supply risk. Europe imports far more NdFeB magnets than it produces, putting its industry in a weak position.

The aim of SUSMAGPRO was to identify, separate, process and reuse NdFeB magnets on a pilot scale across Europe. In this way, a circular business model was developed in the sense of the circular economy. Instead of disposing of critical resources or exporting waste containing NdFeB to other parts of the world, SUSMAGPRO used the latest technologies to extract the elements from magnetic scrap and reintegrate the metals into new products over a short cycle. The focus was on applications in automobile rotors, water pumps, loudspeakers and wind turbines. New magnets have been tested in two demonstrator applications with manufacturers in 2023: loudspeakers and electric motors.

18 European project partners along the entire value chain have developed solutions on a pilot scale. The coordinator of the project was Pforzheim University.

As a project partner, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum was responsible for the communication and networking activities; the dissemination of the project results; the development and analysis of exploitation models; the support with coordination and administrative project management.

Further information:

• Project name acronym: SUSMAGPRO
• Funding: European Commission
• Funding budget for all partners: 13 M EUR
• Countries involved: Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom
• Project duration: 06/2019 – 11/2023

Read about SUSMAGPRO in the Press:

• Recycling und Ressourceneffizienz: Acht innovative Forschungsprojekte vorgestellt (vogel.de)
• bvse - Recycelte Seltenerdmagnete erfolgreich in Lautsprechern und Antriebsmotoren getestet