European manufacturing relies on permanent magnets for wind energy, electric mobility, hard disc drives, appliances and other digital and low-carbon technologies. Neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets are particularly important, but Europe remains highly dependent on external supplies of the rare earth elements required to manufacture them. At the same time, permanent magnet recycling capacity and an integrated European value chain remain limited. Collection and dismantling are costly, end-of-life products vary widely, and promising recycling technologies often struggle to progress towards industrial deployment.
SICAPERMA addresses these challenges by connecting 14 organisations across seven countries and 11 regions, with particular attention to less developed and transition regions. It will establish an interregional value chain covering the collection and dismantling of magnets from appliances, electrical and electronic equipment and hard disc drives; their conversion into ingots, flakes, powders and pellets; the manufacture of recycled sintered and bonded magnets; and their integration into industrial applications.
Three connected demonstration pilots will cover the full recycling cycle. The first will focus on multi-stream dismantling and material processing, the second on the production of recycled sintered and bonded magnets, and the third on their integration and testing in wave energy converters, electric motors, safety switches and robotic grippers. Environmental and economic assessments will compare these processes with magnets manufactured from primary materials. SICAPERMA will also work with regional ecosystems, small and medium-sized enterprises, research organisations, clusters, funders and investors to prepare the replication and wider industrial deployment of the value chain across the EU.