Electronics recycler ERI and rare earth recycling company Cyclic Materials have signed a global partnership agreement to recover rare earths and other critical minerals from high volumes of e-waste. The companies say the deal will create one of the largest commercial portfolios of rare earth recycling feedstock in the US.
Fresno, California-based ERI will collect and prepare the old electronics, then send the magnet-containing materials to Cyclic Materials’ Mesa, Arizona, plant for processing. The goal is to build a large domestic mineral supply to reduce US manufacturers’ dependence on foreign suppliers.
E-waste is a potentially huge source of rare earths and critical minerals, but much of it is still discarded without those materials being recovered. Recycling products already in circulation can also produce domestic supplies faster than developing and permitting new mines.
That’s especially important for EVs and renewables, which depend on rare earth magnets for everything from electric motors to wind turbines. Demand is also growing from AI and advanced manufacturing.
From e-waste to new raw materials
ERI processes more than 1 million pounds of electronic waste every day. It will use its global collection network and eight US recycling centers to separate and prepare products containing rare earth magnets and other critical materials.
The company says its AI-based software and hardware can identify products containing magnets and sort materials by purity. Those materials will then go to Cyclic Materials, which will recover the rare earth elements.
The companies are already analyzing samples to determine which products are suitable for recycling. They say they’ve identified several high-volume product categories, but haven’t yet disclosed which products they are.
Cyclic Materials’ Arizona plant can process up to 25,000 metric tonnes of end-of-life components each year. Its process will also recover other valuable materials, including copper and aluminum.
“As one of the world’s largest electronics recyclers, ERI processes an immense volume of products annually, and this partnership will transform that volume into an impactful supply of rare earths for the US,” said Cyclic Materials CEO and founder Ahmad Ghahreman.
John Shegerian, ERI’s chairman and CEO, said, “Cyclic’s innovative technology and state-of-the-art facility provide commercial capabilities that make the circularity of heavy rare earth elements more accessible than ever before.”
Building a US rare earth supply chain
ERI and Cyclic Materials will also jointly bid on government and commercial contracts to recycle critical materials in the US.
The partnership comes as governments push to reduce their dependence on imported rare earths and strengthen domestic supply chains. Trade tensions have made that dependence increasingly difficult to ignore, including in the EV and renewable sectors.
Cyclic Materials is expanding its rare earth recovery operations across North America, Europe, and Asia to turn a growing waste problem into a US source of minerals that would otherwise have to be mined and imported.
The companies haven’t provided a timeline for when material from the partnership will begin entering the US supply chain. For now, they’re qualifying products and building the feedstock stream that will keep the Arizona operation supplied.
Read more: A US battery recycler lands a massive $1.1B metals refining deal
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