The manufacture of certain electrical appliances requires components made of rare earth metals. However, these rare earths are not located in France and this creates a dependency for companies with other countries such as China. To reduce this dependence, four companies have decided to join forces. The mission of this consortium: to create a value chain for the recycling of used magnets.
The four companies are located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (for Célimer and Poral) and in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (Ecm Technologies and REEfine technologies), reports the gallery†
† We want to market permanent magnets made from recycled magnets. […] We rely on a short circuit process to produce a magnetic powder that retains 90% of the magnetic properties of the original magnets† †
Jean-Yves Gannard, President of REEfineat “The Tribune”
REEfine technologies were created specifically for this operation. With ECM Technologies it becomes responsible for collecting used magnets and converting them into reusable raw material, we read in the gallery†
Polar and Celimer will reclaim this powder to make new magnets. They can then be offered to the markets for cosmetics containers, home automation and finally electric motors.
An investment of 6 million euros
6 million euros has been invested for this project. These are funds from the four companies and financial support from the State from the recovery plan. The first recycled magnets are expected in 2023.
Excellent news for the recycling and fight against the waste of rare earth components.