A Birmingham-based rare earth magnet recycling plant aims to reduce the UK’s reliance on imports and cut carbon emissions.

The commercial-scale facility uses a “ground-breaking” hydrogen-based process developed by the Magnetic Materials Group at the University of Birmingham.

This hydrogen processing of magnet scrap (HPMS) technology efficiently extracts rare earth magnets from end-of-life products without the need to fully disassemble them.

Rare earth magnets are among the critical minerals needed for the development of low-carbon technologies such as wind turbines and electric vehicles as well as medical equipment, pumps, robotics and electronics. 

The recycling facility at Tyseley Energy Park will be able to extract over 400kg of rare earth alloy powders per batch and will directly recycle these materials into new sintered magnets at a capacity of about 100 tonnes per year on a single shift, rising to more than 300 tonnes annually on multiple shifts.

The plant, which brings sintered rare earth magnet production back to the UK for the first time in 25 years, can produce magnets using both recycled materials and primary feedstock.

The recycled feedstock includes end-of-life products such as hard drives, electric motors, wind turbines, robotic actuators, pumps, filters and other electronics. According to the Birmingham University team, the process delivers a 90% reduction in carbon footprint compared with conventional mining and processing methods.

Minister for industry Chris McDonald, who officially opened the new plant, said: “This new facility is great news for the West Midlands which will help create hundreds of well-paid local jobs and is testament to our world-leading expertise in rare earth recycling. 

“This is our critical minerals strategy in action, backing innovative projects to boost our critical minerals supply chains and power the green industries of the future.” 

Professor Rachel O’Reilly, pro-vice chancellor at the University of Birmingham, said: “By developing complete circular solutions for the supply of critical minerals such as those found in rare earth magnets, the University of Birmingham is playing an essential role in helping the UK become a technological leader in this field.”

The recycling facility has been funded through a £4.5m Innovate UK investment, with supporting grants via the Innovate Climates Programme, EPSRC, the Advanced Propulsion Centre and EU Horizon grants. 

The Magnetic Materials Group at the University of Birmingham has licensed its HPMS technology exclusively to spin-out HyProMag, which is fully owned by Maginito, a subsidiary of the Canada-based rare earths company Mkango Resources.

William Dawes, chief executive of Mkango and director of HyProMag, said: “It is fantastic to see HPMS technology progress to commercialisation. This development provides a strong platform for further scale-up in the UK and international roll-out, already under way in Germany, USA and other countries.”