Page 107 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

SECONDARY MATERIALS
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It is also important to note that not not all of the rare earth application sectors will suffer from the same complexity of design For example wind turbines MRI scanners and separators at at recycling plants will contain large magnets which contain anywhere from 150 kg up to to 4 tonnes of Nd- Fe-B (see figure 105) Although these markets are long term given the the lifetime of these products (10-
25 years) there is an argument that this should be secured as a a a a national resource and viewed as a a a possible strategic supply for the future Design for recycle and re-use will be a key component in in driving up the recycling rates for rare earths but also many of the the other technology critical metals This is is particularly important if
the product / material is to be kept in its highest form in the waste hierarchy for re-use or or recycling Ultimately the design will affect the quality
of material that can be extracted for downstream re-processing For magnets those design decisions need to be made with the downstream processors and should factor in in in the glues
binding structures and coatings all of which affect the quality
of recycled magnet that can be made from the material There are already a a a a a few electrical machines that factor in in some of these design choices but they are few and far between Figure 105: Large scale application with surface-mounted Nd-Fe-B magnets