NdFeB magnets play a critical role in the fight against climate change as they are used in clean technologies, such as wind turbines generators and motors in electric vehicles. As we transition to an electrically driven society, the demand for these materials will increase almost exponentially.

The supply of these materials is geographically concentrated in certain parts of the globe and these materials have been identified by the EU as being of greatest supply risk compared to all other energy related materials.

The aim of SCREAM was to provide a UK based supply of these materials by recycling magnets from end of life scrap. HyProMag, Mkango Rare Earths UK, GKN Automotive, European Metal Recycling, Jaguar Land Rover, Bowers and Wilkins and the University of Birmingham worked together in the SCREAM project to secure critical permanent magnets for the UK.

The SCREAM consortium demonstrated two innovative paths to introduce scrap material back into the rare earth supply chain. The first was to scale up a process developed at the University of Birmingham, “Hydrogen Processing of Magnetic Scrap” from automotive, robotic, separator and loudspeaker scrap streams. The second was to produce a mixed rare earth carbonate for the rare earth supply chain.

HyProMag scaled this process to develop magnets that are different grades for a range of applications. Bowers and Wilkins, GKN Automotive and Jaguar Land Rover assessed the suitability of the magnets for a range of products, and calculated the environmental footprint for production of these materials. The output of the project was motors, loudspeakers and holding magnet applications containing recycled magnets.

The SCREAM project was funded by the Driving the Electric Revolution challenge, delivered by Innovate UK for UK Research and Innovation.  It started in March 2022 lasted for 3 years.

The magnets produced by HyProMag have been tested in two different automotive applications for ZF Automotive and GKN Automotive. Sean Worrall (Chief Engineer Product Sustainability, GKN Automotive) commented on the success of this work. “As the key physical testing and simulation partner, we are pleased to confirm that the recycled magnets replicated expected performance exceptionally closely during testing. This means HyProMag’s short-cycled magnets can be reliably used in motor design simulation to deliver real world performance. The HPMS process enables a supply chain of sustainable, competitive, rare-earth magnets, decoupled from the problems of the virgin material supply chain.