Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are essential for the Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs), which are required for e-motors and additional components. REE supply is volatile and can disrupt commercial ecosystems. The UK has limited natural REE resources but does boast successful industries reliant on REEs. The only realistic route for an insulated, sustainable, UK REPM supply chain is to develop robust recycling technology, and the integrated working practises in this project will allow it to thrive. Recyclers, mid-stream manufacturers, and OEMs will collaborate to optimise REE resources and maximise the UK e-motor opportunity and complimentary opportunities.

ORE Catapult, University of Leeds, University of the West of England, University of Birmingham, EMR, and Ionic Technologies are seeking to establish a network to explore the regulatory and legislative drivers and barriers impacting the development of innovation in the circular supply chain for the wind sector. With the earliest turbines coming towards the end of their operational life, the need for a well-established end of life materials handling system to enable a circular economy is becoming of increasing importance. A 2020 report by WindEurope stated that approximately 9GW of European installed onshore wind capacity is 20- 24 years old and approximately 1GW is 25 years or older. This provides a clear market opportunity around the decommissioning of wind farms, which is set to grow steadily over the next decade. Historically, waste management practices have had the primary objective of disposing of materials in a way that protects the environment and human health. However, as recently highlighted in the Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review into Green Industries, existing legislation risks stifling innovation associated with the reuse, repair, and recycling of components and materials. The current classification of materials greatly impacts downstream applications and logistics, with 'End of waste' regulations highlighted as a particular challenge for the sector. Innovators require clear guidelines and certainty on the flow of materials to ensure viable business models and secure investment. Regulatory science is a critical factor in ensuring that the UK economy can benefit from the opportunities that are being provided by the decommissioning of wind turbines. The implementation phase project will centre on the topics of waste regulation, navigation of the regulatory landscape, and standardisation activities, and builds on work carried out during an initial 6 month discovery project, which focused on stakeholder engagement, need identification, and desk based landscape reviews.

Ionic Technologies (IOT), Materials Processing Institute (MPI) and Swansea University (SU) are seeking to establish optimised processes for comminution for end of life magnet recycling, by utilising innovative techniques specifically for magnets deployed in offshore wind turbines. Production of critical minerals of all kinds is expected to rise sharply, some as much as 500% by 2040\. Given the current dependency on imports of REEs into the UK, it will be vital for recycling of REEs to become mainstream and to integrate REE recycling into the UK REE supply chain. Ionic Technologies have demonstrated patented technology at the Demonstration Plant in Belfast, in order to produce high purity REEs at a rate of 10 tonnes per annum. At 99.5% purity or higher, the REEs produced are suitable for use in high specification magnets for EVs and other technology contributing towards the UK's NetZero ambitions. Ionic Technologies have developed demonstration scale comminution processes for a variety of magnets, and this project seeks to establish the optimum comminution processes for a commercial scale plant, receiving both magnetised magnets and arrays. Materials Processing Institute (MPI) is a Not-for-profit, research technology organisation (RTO), expert in pilot scale metal processing, with various facilities including various pilot plant equipment, ranging from a 7-tonne Electric Arc Furnace, to 100 litre hydrometallurgy vessel, to a novel rotary kiln (microwave assisted with controllable atmosphere); supported by the advanced materials characterisation centre and digital technologies group. During this project, MPI will be seeking to optimise demagnetisation techniques based around a selection (individual/combination) of temperature, microwaves and hydrogen routes. Swansea University (SU) have developed a series of rapid radiative heating techniques to process materials, along with development of instrumental and analytical techniques to characterise them. The team at SU will utilise their infra-red expertise to assess demagnetisation potential utilising this technology and how it could be scaled for offshore wind and other magnets. By bring together technical expertise from a business, RTO and academic institution with vast amounts of technical understanding in magnet processing, the collaboration is confident that the optimum solution for commercial demagnetisation can be realised. In summary, this project seeks to establish the preferred method for magnet comminution at commercial scale to compliment the established REE recycling technology that Ionic Technologies are commercialising.

Less Common Metals (LCM) Ltd, UK, is leading an initiative called "Industrial Scrap-to-Magnet" in collaboration with Ionic Technology and Vacuumschmelze (VAC) through the REEVALUATE project. The initiative aims to develop high-quality NdFeB magnets using 100% recycled heavy and light rare earth elements (REEs) with full traceability. This project addresses the anticipated surge in demand for REEs by 2040 due to the increasing adoption of clean energy technologies, electric vehicles, and electronic devices. The project will focus on reclaiming pre-consumer industrial scrap from magnet manufacturing and material processing stages, which account for 36% of valuable RE content. VAC will provide pre-consumer magnet scrap, while Ionic Technologies will use patented technology to produce high purity RE oxides from the scrap at their Demonstration Plant. LCM, the only industry in the Western world producing RE metals and alloys for permanent magnet production companies, will then use unique technologies to reduce the oxides to RE metals/alloys and supply them back to VAC at the required specification for magnet production. In addition to this, the byproduct scrap formed during material processing at LCM will be further processed at Ionic and will continue in the loop. The successful outcome of the REEVALUATE project will establish a sustainable, circular supply chain for REEs in the UK, supporting the magnet industry and the country's NetZero ambitions.

ORE Catapult, University of Leeds, EMR, and Ionic Technologies are seeking to establish a network of wind and regulatory stakeholders to explore the regulatory and legislative drivers and barriers impacting the development of innovation in the circular supply chain in the wind sector. With the earliest turbines coming towards the end of their operational life, the need for a well-established end of life materials handling system to enable a circular economy is becoming of increasing importance. A 2020 report by WindEurope stated that approximately 9GW of European installed onshore wind capacity is 20- 24 years old and approximately 1GW is 25 years or older. This provides a clear market opportunity around the decommissioning of wind farms, which is set to grow steadily over the next decade. Historically, waste management practices had the primary objective of disposing of materials in a way that protects the environment and human health. However as highlighted in the recent Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review into Green Industries, existing legislation risks stifling innovation associated with the reuse, repair, and recycling of components and materials. The current classification of materials greatly impacts downstream applications and logistics, with 'End of waste' rules highlighted as a particular challenge for the sector. Innovators require clear guidelines and certainty on the flow of materials to ensure viable business models and secure investment. Regulatory science is a critical factor in ensuring that the UK economy can benefit from the opportunities that are being provided by the decommissioning of wind turbines.

Ionic Technologies, Less Common Metals (LCM) and Ford are seeking to establish a demonstration circular supply chain for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in the UK, by utilising innovative technologies to create high specification magnets containing 100% recycled REEs for use in Electrical Vehicles (EVs). Production of critical minerals of all kinds is expected to rise sharply, some as much as 500% by 2040\. Given the current dependency on imports of REEs into the UK, it will be vital for recycling of REEs to become mainstream and to integrate REE recycling into the UK REE supply chain. Ionic Technologies have demonstrated patented technology at the Demonstration Plant in Belfast, in order to produce high purity REEs at a rate of 10 tonnes per annum. At 99.5% purity or higher, the REEs produced are suitable for use in high specification magnets for EVs and other technology contributing towards the UK's NetZero ambitions. LCM is a world leader in the manufacture and supply of complex alloy systems and metals including those based on REEs. LCM produces alloys made from REEs, which are supplied to permanent magnet production companies worldwide. As there is no producer of sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs) for the automotive industry in the UK, a sub-contract magnet producer will be used to manufacture multiple magnet types which meet Ford's specifications. Ford currently has 4 drive production facilities globally; the majority of EU production will come from its UK based Halewood facility which is planning to produce close to half a million units per annum by 2026\. To support production at this facility there will be a requirement for over 600 tonnes of magnet raw material per annum. Ford will test and analyse the performance of magnets provided through the project, to prove the efficacy of high specification magnets containing REEs of recycled origin. Inevitably, each stage of the process from REE recycling to EV testing will generate waste (swarf), including the magnets used in Ford's EV motors. Ionic technologies will recycle this material, thus completing a totally circular REE supply chain within the UK. In summary, this project seeks to build a demonstration supply chain of recycled REEs in the UK, utilising industry leading technology at each stage of magnet manufacture and testing.

Ionic Technologies and British Geological Survey (BGS) are seeking to remove obstacles currently preventing the establishment of a secure supply of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) for the UK, through the implementation of an ambitious and advanced study into the REE ecosystem within the country and the feasibility of a first-of-kind commercial REE production facility in Belfast, fed exclusively with waste magnets and end-of-life material. The two organisations have created an extraordinary collaborative working group in order to meet coherent interests in the public interest, as well as satisfying Ionic Technologies' technical requirements to enable the next phase of the business' rapid growth to commercial scale in the UK. The project will expand on the existing BGS material stocks and flows model for REEs developed already with new, pertinent data on wind turbines, EVs and other vehicles, all containing significant REE content, which could be recycled within the UK. With this data, Ionic Technologies will be able to specify a commercial facility, capable of receiving end-of-life or waste magnet material of varying quality, putting this material through a plant designed using Ionic Technologies' patented technology, in order to produce Rare Earth Oxides (REOs) with purity of around 99.5%+ quality. REOs of this quality can be used for high specification magnets, utilised in EVs and defence applications as well as technology such as wind turbines. In addition to a significant expansion of publicly owned data on the REE eco-system in the UK, the project will also equip Ionic Technologies with essential technical data to create a source of REOs that could provide the UK with a secure, sovereign supply of REEs independent of geo-political influence and supply chain insecurity.

Global demand for rare earth magnets is expected to rapidly outpace supply within the next 5 years with upwards of 80% of EVs projected to use rare earth metal permanent magnets. Review of the global rare earth mining project development pipeline indicates that future supply of magnet rare earths -- namely Nd, Pr, Tb and Dy -- will not be met owing to many projects having limitations associated with mineralogical, technical or environmental aspects. The residual shortfall between magnet rare earth supply and demand will need to be -- at least in part -- fulfilled by recycling of spent rare earth magnets. Currently, the most widely practiced route for recycling rare earth magnets is to export for re-processing in an established rare earth refining process plant. This has been a tolerable albeit inefficient option to date, and the operators are becoming increasingly conscious of its limitations which include geostrategic risks, exposure to additional tariffs and duties, and the application of refining practices that have a significant carbon and environmental footprint. Other methods for the recycling of rare earths from magnets includes processes such as hydrogen decrepitation. Such processes generally do not allow production of high-quality magnets and research has shown these are not suitable for deployment in electric vehicles or wind turbines. Seren has developed a rare earth separation and purification technology -- based on the use of ionic liquids -- for the recovery of rare earths from magnets. The company has developed the technology and progressed through research and development, and techno-economic qualification. The next step for the company is to embark on construction and operation of a demonstration plant to (a) provide large-scale samples for customer qualification and (b) to de-risk the technology to secure investment for construction of a full-scale plant.