REEPRODUCE: Dismantling and recycling rare earth elements from end-of-life products for the European green transition
The REEPRODUCE project will break new ground by establishing a sustainable and complete European industrial-scale value chain for recycling the rare earth elements (REEs) in permanent magnets. REEPRODUCE will capitalise on the knowledge generated by previous R&D projects (REE4EU) and tackle all the remaining technical challenges along the value chain. This innovative technique will be able to produce new permanent magnets using environmentally-friendly technologies at a competitive cost and using end-of-life (EoL) products as a resource.
This EU-funded project will contribute to Europe's industrial leadership and increase autonomy in key strategic value chains by ensuring security of supply for raw materials. The project will contribute towards the following ambitious objectives:
- Optimisation of innovative technologies for recycling REEs from EoL products at a competitive cost;
- Engineering, construction, operation and validation of the REEPRODUCE process in different industrial environments across Europe;
- Demonstration of the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the REEPRODUCE process in the recycling of REEs;
- Communication of activities and dissemination of the project’s results towards society and the scientific and industry communities; and
- Maximisation of market uptake of these technologies in Europe.
A consortium of 15 partners from large, small and medium-sized enterprises and research and technology institutes covering the whole European REE-recycling value chain is involved in the development of REEPRODUCE solutions. SINTEF (Norway) is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the project.
Mid-term
- Scale up promising raw materials recycling from EoL products, technologies and urban mines
- Develop pilot projects showing that raw materials can be produced in an innovative and sustainable way
- Strengthen the competitiveness of European raw materials industries
- Contribute to the EU's ambitious energy and climate targets for 2030
- Minimise environmental impacts and risks and maximise circularity
- Ensure resource circularity.
Long-term
- Establish a resilient, sustainable and secure REE value chain for European ecosystems
- Take the lead in producing materials for decarbonising industries
- Take the lead in circular economy approaches that strengthen cooperation along the value chain and enable SMEs to develop their activities.