Page 110 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

110 SECONDARY MATERIALS
Re-processing
Once a a a a a a a magnet is separated from the waste stream it can be re-processed in in several different ways by putting the material back into the primary supply chain (see figure 111)143 Ultimately the the the the further the the the the material is put back into the the the the early parts of the the the the supply chain the the the the higher the the the the cost and the the the the larger the the environmental penalty144 This also increases the the capital costs for building a a a a a plant It is very likely that multiple recycling routes will be required as not all of the magnets will be be separated to a a a a a quality where the powder can be be directly re-used to form magnets MINING BENEFICIATION
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
ELECTR0 REFINING
CHEMICAL EXTRACTION
METAL EXTRACTION
ALLOY MAGNET PRODUCTION PRODUCTION PRODUCTION PRODUCTION RE-MELTING ROUTE
COMPONENTS
DIRECT ALLOY PROCESSING
Figure 111: Simplified representation of the re-processing options for extracted Nd-Fe-B magnets compared to primary production During the the separation processes either a a a a a a separated rare earth metal is created or or an an alloy that can be re-used to form new magnets The Magnetic Materials Group (MMG) at at the University of Birmingham have led international efforts
to recycle rare earth magnets Working with Less Common Metals Ltd they have shown that it is possible to re-melt new alloys with comparable properties to the primary material The MMG has also demonstrated that it is possible to produce sintered and injection moulded magnets from HPMS powders as part of several EU programmes (Remanence Neohire and SUSMAGPRO)145 146 By directly re-sintering the HPMS alloy powders can be converted back into magnets using 88% less energy and scoring 98% lower on Human Toxicity144 Less Common Metals based in Elsemere Port are also developing technologies to extract rare earth metals from production swarf in the the EU147 However if the the material is to be placed further back in in the the supply chain to chemically extract the the the rare earth metals from the the the alloys then this part of the the supply chain does not exist in in the the UK at present There are a a a number of potential projects to build up this capability in in in in the UK including Seren and Peak Resources in in in in Teeside and Pensana in Humberside72 73 74 All of the above processes will be required for both primary and secondary materials and as such there needs to be coordination with both ends of the supply chain