Circular Input Rate: novel indicator to assess circularity performances of materials in a sector – Application to rare earth elements in e-vehicles motors

Bobba, Silvia; Eynard, Umberto; Maury, Thibaut; Ardente, Fulvio; Blengini, Gian Andrea; Mathieux, Fabrice

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107037

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The formulation of trade policies pertaining to rare earths also contributes to the security of the domestic rare earth market (Jowitt, 2022). Additionally, the adoption of environmental taxes and the utilization of highly recycled rare earth materials can effectively mitigate the environmental costs associated with the rare earth industry (Bobba et al, 2023;Brown & Eggert, 2018).…”

Section: Solutions To the Challenges Of The Rare Earth Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the competitive landscape of global rare earth resources demand

Guo,

Guo

2024

Manage Decis Econ

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Rare earth elements play a crucial role in modern industrial development. However, the global supply and demand dynamics of rare earth resources have encountered significant challenges due to the escalating conflict between rapidly increasing demand and limited supply in the international market. This study utilizes a gray prediction model to project the future demand of major rare earth‐consuming countries and examines the competitive landscape of global rare earth resource demand. The findings indicate that: (1) China's rare earth consumption is expected to continue its upward trend, while the consumption in the United States and Japan may decline; (2) China, the United States, and Japan are likely to maintain their positions as major consumers of rare earth elements, although the competition for rare earth resources among these countries may weaken; (3) the United States and Japan heavily rely on the import of rare earth upstream products, while China's reliance on midstream and downstream imports remains prominent. Finally, based on these research conclusions, the article presents corresponding policy recommendations.

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Section: Solutions To the Challenges Of The Rare Earth Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the competitive landscape of global rare earth resources demand

Guo,

Guo

2024

Manage Decis Econ

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“…Rare Earth Elements (REEs) constitute indispensable raw materials employed in a diverse range of devices, including but not limited to smartphones, electric vehicles, and clean energy technologies. , While there is an increase in demand for these elements, there is a global supply challenge due to limited availability affecting their procurement . A crucial step in manufacturing these devices involves utilizing highly pure REEs, often obtained through complex and nonsustainable processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gravity-Driven Separation for Enrichment of Rare Earth Elements Using Lanthanide Binding Peptide-Immobilized Resin

Sree,

Swarup,

Gupta

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Bio Mater.

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Rare Earth Elements (REEs) constitute indispensable raw materials and are employed in a diverse range of devices, including but not limited to smartphones, electric vehicles, and clean energy technologies. While there is an increase in demand for these elements, there is a global supply challenge due to limited availability and geopolitical factors affecting their procurement. A crucial step in manufacturing these devices involves utilizing highly pure REEs, often obtained through complex and nonsustainable processes. These processes are vital in isolating individual REEs from mixtures containing non-REEs and other REEs. There exists an urgent requirement to explore alternative techniques that enable the selective recovery of REEs through more energy-efficient processes. To overcome the limitations mentioned above, we developed a microbead-based technology featuring immobilized lanthanide binding peptides (LBPs) for the selective adsorption of REEs. This technology does not require the utilization of external stimuli but uses gravity-based separation processes to separate the bound REE from the unbound REE. We demonstrate this technology's potential by enriching two relevant REEs (Europium and Terbium). Additionally, we propose a mechanism whereby REEs bind selectively to a particular LBP, leveraging the distinctive physicochemical characteristics of both the REE and the LBP. Moreover, these LBPs exhibit no binding affinity toward other frequently encountered industrial ions. Finally, we demonstrate the recovery of REEs through a change in system conditions and assess the reusability of the microbeads for subsequent adsorption cycles. We anticipate that this approach will address the challenges of REE recovery and demonstrate the potential of biomolecular strategies in advancing sustainable resource management.

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“…Current research is focused on developing a feasible, sustainable, and economically viable process for recycling permanent magnets to reduce dependence on the importation of virgin REEs [11,12]. Despite the considerable potential for recycling, current end products embedding REEs have not been designed to be dismantled at End-of-Life (EoL) [8,[12][13][14]. As a consequence, once the end product and REEs are shredded and melted together, the separation of REEs from the other materials becomes a challenging and expensive process [8,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

LCA of Recycled (NdDy)FeB Permanent Magnets through Hydrogen Decrepitation

Accardo,

Costantino,

Spessa

2024

Energies

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Compared to conventional fossil-fueled vehicles, electric vehicles offer several environmental benefits. However, even electric vehicles are not completely environmentally friendly because many of their parts are not recycled today. These parts, especially the magnets that power them, end up in landfills at the end of the vehicle’s life cycle. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of recycled (NdDy)FeB permanent magnets obtained by means of a novel hydrogen-decrepitation-based, magnet-to-magnet recycling technique. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology was used to compare, on a like-to-like basis, recycled and virgin permanent magnets. The core data provided by an industry partner served as the foundation for modelling the recycling process. Three different functional units were investigated based on three parameters, namely the magnet mass, magnetization coercivity, and energy product. Results revealed that the recycled magnet outperformed the virgin magnet in most impact categories. In terms of carbon footprint, recycling permanent magnets through hydrogen decrepitation would allow for an 18─33% reduction with respect to their production from virgin materials, depending on the assumed functional unit.

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Circular Input Rate: novel indicator to assess circularity performances of materials in a sector – Application to rare earth elements in e-vehicles motors

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

Research on the competitive landscape of global rare earth resources demand

Research on the competitive landscape of global rare earth resources demand

Gravity-Driven Separation for Enrichment of Rare Earth Elements Using Lanthanide Binding Peptide-Immobilized Resin

LCA of Recycled (NdDy)FeB Permanent Magnets through Hydrogen Decrepitation

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