100% Recycled Rare Earth Magnets Passes Durability Test

A team of UK companies has successfully created a full recycling loop for rare earth materials used in electric vehicle (EV) motors — and Ford has confirmed the results work just as well as newly mined materials.

Rare earth elements such as neodymium, dysprosium and terbium are essential for the powerful magnets inside EV motors. However, most of the world’s supply comes from overseas, and recent export controls from China have raised concerns about shortages.

In this new project, Belfast-based Ionic Technologies began by recycling scrap neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets. The company separated them into high-purity rare earth oxides using 100% recycled material. These oxides were then sent to Less Common Metals in the UK, which turned them into metal and specialty alloys suitable for magnet production. GKN manufactured the finished magnets in Germany.

Ford then built two test motor rotors at its Halewood plant and tested one at its Dunton research facility in the UK. The recycled magnets passed durability testing and performed comparably to motors made with traditional, mined materials.

The recycled materials met strict purity standards and were produced in volumes large enough for industrial use. Importantly, the heavy rare earth elements dysprosium and terbium — now subject to export controls — were successfully recovered from scrap.

The project was supported by UK government funding. While not yet operating at full commercial scale, Ionic Technologies plans to build a larger recycling plant in Belfast. A follow-up project is already underway to further expand the UK’s rare earth recycling capabilities.