The University of Birmingham has launched a new facility for rare earth magnet recycling, which will help reduce the UK’s reliance on imports of rare earth metals, alloys, and magnets.
Rare earth magnets are amongst the key ‘critical minerals’ that are integral to modern life. They form a core building block in technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, medical equipment, pumps, robotics, and electronics.
Therefore, demand for these minerals will only increase as the adoption of low-carbon technologies accelerates.
Professor Rachel O’Reilly MBE FRS, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Birmingham, explained: “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.
“Opening the Birmingham magnet recycling facility highlights the vital role of university-led research and development in delivering industrial capabilities and addressing national resilience and sustainability goals identified among the UK government’s strategic and societal priorities.”
Aiding the UK’s strategic critical minerals focus
In 2021, the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials (BCSECM) produced a Policy Commission report titled “Securing Technology-Critical Metals for Britain” in collaboration with multiple partners.
It warned that the UK faced major industrial shifts as it transitions from fossil fuels to electrification, increasing dependence on technology‑critical metals (TCMs) such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earths.
The report recommended developing strategies for recycling, primary production, processing, and international partnerships, which would be crucial to securing materials needed for the UK’s low‑carbon, competitive industrial future.
The new processing facility reintroduces sintered rare earth magnet production to the UK for the first time in 25 years, and it can be used for primary production of magnets as well as from recycled feeds.
An innovative rare earth recycling process
Opened by Chris McDonald MP, Minister for Industry in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business and Trade, the rare earth magnet recycling facility uses a groundbreaking hydrogen-based process developed by its researchers.
Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) technology is an extremely efficient method to extract rare earth magnets from end-of-life products without the need to fully disassemble them. It transforms waste into a sustainable source of rare earths that can be used to manufacture new metals, alloys, and magnets whilst reducing environmental impact, costs, and supply chain risk.
The facility at Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham scales the process to commercial production levels. The previous proof-of-concept facility handled batches of 50-100 kg, while the new, scaled-up facility can recover over 400 kg of rare-earth alloy per batch and produce new sintered magnets at 100 tonnes per year on a single shift and over 300 tonnes on multiple shifts.
By recycling products such as hard drives, electric motors, wind turbines, robotic actuators, pumps, filters, and electronics, this also delivers a CO2 saving of around 90% compared to producing magnets from minerals extracted from the ground.
A broad circular solution for critical minerals
Rare earth recycling sits within the University of Birmingham’s broader research strengths in battery recycling, robotic disassembly, chemical recovery, and energy storage.
The recycling facility has been funded with £4.5m by Innovate UK’s Driving the Electric Industrialisation Centres (DER-IC), with supporting grants from the Innovate Climates Programme, EPSRC, the Advanced Propulsion Centre, and EU Horizon grants.
This investment supports the UK’s push towards a net-zero carbon economy and contributes to the development of clean technology supply chains.
“This is a fantastic example of research to industry knowledge transfer and has the potential to de-risk the supply of rare earth permanent magnets to the UK’s manufacturing industry and make these crucial components more sustainable,” stated Bruce Adderley from Innovate UK.
Lead investigator and Head of the Magnetic Materials Group (MMG) Professor Allan Walton, from the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials, added: “The University of Birmingham recycling facility will provide recycled feedstock to multiple parts of the UK rare earth value chain, it will drive job creation, workforce skills development, and long-term economic growth in the UK.”
