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 is to identify, separate, process and reuse NdFeB magnets on a pilot scale across Europe. In this way, a circular business model is 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 uses the latest technologies to extract the elements from magnetic scrap and reintegrate the metals into new products over a short cycle. The focus is on applications in automobile rotors, water pumps, loudspeakers and wind turbines. The coordinator of the project is Pforzheim University.

As a project partner, the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum is 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