A company based in Texas has developed a new approach for recycling electronic waste (e-waste) into rare Earth elements necessary for national defense.

REEcycle intends to restart a demonstration facility and to commission a commercial facility that is expected to produce 50 tons of rare Earth oxides annually.

Source: FreepikSource: Freepik

Specifically, REEcycle’s goal is to recover four elements — neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium — necessary for the manufacture of neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets. These magnets, according to the company, are essential in assorted defense applications, including electric motors for air platforms, missiles, submarines and drones.

The company added that REEcycle’s capabilities promise to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources because the company extracts full value from materials that would otherwise be discarded in landfills by recovering more than 98% of the rare Earth elements.

The company suggests that they are in possession of the only recycling process that can recover the highest amount of rare Earth elements from e-waste, both safely and sustainably, while also minimizing environmental impact.

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