Lower thirds:
0:03  Report by / Karl Harenbrock
0:34  David Schuller, ZF Schweinfurt
2:00  Carlo Burkhardt / Co-founder HyProMag

Script:

This black powder holds huge potential. It’s neodymium—a raw material that belongs to the rare-earth elements. And it’s found, for example, in these so-called permanent magnets, which are in high demand in the automotive industry. They’re built into every electric car motor—as you can see at this factory of a major German carmaker. They make electric motors compact, powerful and efficient. 

But it's becoming more and more difficult for companies to get products made with rare-earth elements. 

O-Ton David Schuller, ZF Schweinfurt
"Rare-earth resources are not distributed evenly across the globe. There are mining areas with very high concentrations that are easy to extract. These are mainly in Asia, specifically in China. Over the years, this has led to the development of a monopoly, with 98 percent of magnet production, as well as the separation and metallization of mined ore, currently coming from China or the Asian region."

One startup is aiming to break this monopoly. This system makes it possible to recycle permanent magnets. It’s brand-new technology. The rare-earth elements are separated from the magnets through a complex process. It’s considered environmentally friendly because it runs on hydrogen.

The biggest challenge for recycling is simply finding used magnets on the market. There are very few suppliers. At the moment, the recycling process is focused on old hard drives. These come from data centers or banks that are upgrading their hardware. They are inexpensive and easy to transport.

First, the hard drives must be broken down; otherwise, the machine cannot extract the rare-earth elements. The magnet is installed in this corner. 

Permanent magnets are also used in wind turbines and electric cars. But many of these products are not yet being recycled because they are still in use. The market situation is unclear. 

O-Ton Carlo Burkhardt, Mitgründer HyProMag
"That is indeed a challenge right now, partly because there are apparently players in the market who are buying this scrap metal at very high prices—prices that make recycling completely uncompetitive. And we suspect that some of it is being shipped abroad and ultimately ends up back in China, but at the moment that’s just a guess."

Despite all the obstacles, full-scale production is expected to be up and running as early as next year. Funding has been secured by partner companies from Canada and the UK.

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