Circular Economy Roadmap Report
for Rare Earth Elements (REE) in Permanent Magnets
Circular Economy Roadmap Report
for Rare Earth Elements (REE) in Permanent Magnets
Introduction
This report is produced by the UKRI Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals (Met4Tech.org). It describes important considerations about developing a circular economy (CE) roadmap for the Rare Earth Elements (REE) in permanent magnets in the UK. REE are used in key applications such as wind turbines for renewable energy, traction motors for electric mobility, and electronics.
This report addresses the specific challenges and opportunities presented by the REE magnet sector in the UK and globally. The set of messages draws on best practices and insights from existing CE strategies developed through stakeholder consultations and new interdisciplinary research across the whole magnet value chain in the Met4Tech Centre.
Roadmaps provide a strategic framework to guide stakeholders in implementing CE principles, ensuring that the transition to a low-carbon future is both environmentally sustainable and economically resilient. The development of this CE roadmap for REE magnets has involved deep dives, value chain analysis, stocks and flows modelling, stakeholder engagement, roadmapping workshops, and writing sprints.
Met4Tech is part of the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme and collaborated with the CE-Hub to engage a wider group of stakeholders to lever joint understanding to address the main ‘pain points’ that inhibit security of supply and circularity in the value chain. The CE-Hub is using the results to develop a more conceptual framework1,2, whilst the Met4Tech team are looking at the specific uses of REE in the UK (EV mobility, wind power, etc.) to develop the tech metals Roadmap for UK government decision makers3.
The Met4Tech Centre has also created a ‘UK Technology Metals Observatory’ at the British Geological Survey (BGS) for primary and secondary technology metals, with information on key products, metals and flows. This provides an introduction and case examples of Rare Earth Elements used in Magnets: see techmetalsobservatory.org
The Met4Tech Centre has close association with the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) at the BGS. The CMIC team have prepared Foresight reports on key technologies, such as Wind power4. Other resources and publications about Rare Earth Elements in the magnet value chain are provided at the end of this report, and on the Met4Tech website: see met4tech.org/resources
Jan 2021
Met4Tech project kick-off.
March 2022
Roadmap design sprint.
June 2022
Magnet deep dive.
Oct 2022
Roadmap sessions on inputs.
2022-23
Case study REE magnet value chain in UK.
Jan 2023
First roadmapping workshop.
2023-24
Material flow analysis REEs magnets in UK.
Jan 2024
Second roadmapping workshop.
March 2024
Roadmap session on outputs.
April 2024
Industry stakeholder event.
Sept 2024
Writing sprint.
Oct 2024
Met4Tech finale event.
Nov 2024
Writing sprint.
Dec 2024
REE magnet CE roadmap report.
REE Circular Economy model showing pain points hindering circularity
Magnet circular EMF butterfly - tablet
Periodic table
Periodic table of the elements highlighting the REE ‘family’: scandium, yttrium and the lanthanoids (La-Lu).
Neodymium and praseodymium plus small amounts of dysprosium and terbium are the REE components of the neodymium iron boron permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. Some neodymium iron boron magnets also contain the less expensive REE, lanthanum and cerium. Samarium (Sm) is used to make samarium cobalt magnets.
Lanthanide series:
Timeline for REE magnet circular economy roadmap for UK
Jan 2021
Met4Tech project kick-off.
March 2022
Roadmap design sprint.
June 2022
Magnet deep dive.
Oct 2022
Roadmap sessions on inputs.
2022-2023
Case study REE magnet value chain in UK.
Jan 2023
First roadmapping workshop.
2023-2024
Material flow analysis REE magnets in UK.
Jan 2024
Second roadmapping workshop.
March 2024
Roadmap session on outputs.
April 2024
Industry stakeholder event.
Sept 2024
Writing sprint.
Oct 2024
Met4Tech finale event.
Nov 2024
Writing sprint.
Dec 2024
REE magnet CE roadmap report.
1. Lysaght, Oliver & Khedmati Morasae, Esmaeil & Zils, Markus & Hopkinson, Peter. (2022). A guide to public data resources for a circular economy modelling & measurement framework. CE-Hub Technical Report. 10.13140/RG.2.2.12796.21125.
2. Esmaeil Khedmati-Morasae, Markus Zils, Peter Hopkinson, Ryan Nolan, Fiona Charnley, Okechukwu Okorie, Halid Abu-Bakar, Advancing the discourse: A next-generation value chain-based taxonomy for circular economy key performance indicators, Sustainable Production and Consumption, Volume 48, 2024, Pages 219-234, ISSN 2352-5509, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2024.05.013.
3. https://ce-hub.org/knowledge-hub/nicer-case-study-rees-in-the-magnet-value-chain Mapping the flows and stocks of permanent rare earth elements for powering a circular economy in the UK, (June 2024), Sustainable Production and Consumption, Volume 47, pages 37-46, Hsu WT, Petavratzi E, Zils M, Einarsson S, Morasae EK, Lysaght O, Hopkinson P. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2024.03.027.
4. Petavratzi, E, Josso, P, Shaw, R, Horn, S, Hsu, W-T & Singh, N 2024. A UK foresight study of materials in decarbonisation technologies: the case of wind turbines. British Geological Survey CR/24/009N. (Keyworth, UK: BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.) https://www.ukcmic.org/downloads/reports/demand-foresight-studies/ukcmic-foresight-report-wind-turbines.pdf
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