The EU-funded SUSMAGPRO project has developed a circular recycling route for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, demonstrating how rare-earth materials recovered from discarded products can be returned to the manufacturing cycle. The programme ran from June 2019 to November 2023, with a total project cost of approximately €14.7 million, including almost €13 million in EU funding. Its work covered the recovery of magnets from end-of-life equipment, processing the recovered material into reusable feedstock and producing new magnetic components.
At the centre of the project was hydrogen processing of magnet scrap (HPMS). The technology uses hydrogen to penetrate the magnet structure, causing the material to break down into a powder that can subsequently be separated and processed for new applications. Unlike recycling routes that dissolve magnets completely and then recover individual elements through chemical processes, HPMS can retain a larger share of the original alloy’s value. This provides a route for converting magnet-containing waste directly into a feedstock for new magnet production.
Recycling Rare-Earth Magnets Could Strengthen Europe’s Supply Chain
The technology addresses a strategic challenge for Europe’s rare-earth supply chain, which remains dependent on China for major parts of rare-earth separation and permanent-magnet manufacturing. Large quantities of valuable rare-earth elements are already contained in products reaching the end of their useful lives. Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium can be found in magnets used in electric motors, hard drives, industrial machinery and wind-turbine equipment.
Recovering these materials from existing products creates the possibility of treating discarded magnets as a secondary raw-material resource rather than allowing them to remain embedded in mixed waste streams.
SUSMAGPRO demonstrated how magnet-containing scrap can be collected, processed and converted into material suitable for manufacturing. The project also helped support commercial initiatives linked to HyProMag, extending the technology pathway beyond academic research and temporary pilot operations.
Scrap Collection Remains a Major Challenge
Scaling rare-earth magnet recycling will depend not only on processing technology but also on the availability of suitable feedstock. Magnets are distributed across a wide range of consumer and industrial products, while their presence is not always immediately identifiable. Removing them can also require specialised dismantling processes, particularly when magnets are integrated into complex equipment.
Reliable recycling volumes will therefore depend on stronger collection and recovery systems. Automated dismantling, digital product passports and design for disassembly could make it easier to identify magnet-containing products and recover their components efficiently. The availability of consistent scrap supplies will be particularly important as recycling capacity expands and processing facilities require predictable volumes of material to operate commercially.
From EU Research Funding to Commercial Magnet Recycling
SUSMAGPRO illustrates how European research funding can be used to develop a technology with a pathway toward commercial ownership and industrial deployment. Its work connects several stages of the circular supply chain, from recovering magnets from end-of-life products to producing reusable material and manufacturing new magnetic components.
For Europe, the significance extends beyond waste reduction. Establishing domestic recycling routes for rare-earth magnets could provide an additional source of critical materials while reducing reliance on imported raw materials and overseas processing capacity. The project therefore represents a practical example of how rare-earth recycling technology can move from research and demonstration toward industrial applications, provided that sufficient magnet scrap, collection infrastructure and commercial processing capacity are developed alongside the technology.
