A patented process enables the extraction of rare earths from electronic products. The newly founded HyProMag GmbH will market the process in Germany.
Successful projects sometimes require a whole range of partners. This also applies to the recycling of rare earth magnets from discarded electronic equipment. A patented, hydrogen-based process for this is to be used in Germany in the future. The English company HyProMag Ltd. has founded a German subsidiary to market it. As a large market for these permanent magnets in Europe, Germany offers a good basis for the further development of the business model in the region, according to a press release published today on the foundation of the German HyProMag GmbH.
Professor Carlo Burkhardt of Pforzheim University holds a 20 percent stake in the company. His institute is developing new recycling processes for rare earths such as neodymium and dysprosium. Burckhardt is also coordinating the EU-funded research and innovation project SUSMAGPRO. A total of 19 partners from industry and academia are researching methods for the sustainable recycling of permanent magnets as part of the project.
In the future, the circular economy could make an important contribution to diversifying the supply chains for critical raw materials. The synergies already in place and now being developed are now bringing this goal closer. Currently, most of the rare earth magnets needed in the European Union come from China, according to Reuters news agency.
Photo: iStock/YaroslavKryuchka
