News

On 23th and 24th November 2022, the REEPRODUCE consortium gathered in San Sebastian (Spain) to discuss the project status and progress since its official launch in May 2022.  

The meeting started with the review of the work done and the achievements reached so far. The consortium presented the activities related to the development of intelligent sorting system for End-of-life (EoL) products containing neodymium permanent magnets (Nd-PMs), as well as the dismantling pilot to extract the components containing Nd-based PMs from them.  

The discussion continued with the latest updates on the optimisation of the process for extracting Nd-based PMs from devices, as well as for separating Nd-based PMs material from ferrous shredded fractionate small scale.  Moreover, the consortium presented the results obtained in the innovative hydrometallurgical and high temperature electrolysis processes to extract rare earth oxides from the spent Nd-based PMs and their subsequent conversion into rare earth alloys to be used in the manufacture of new magnets.  

To wrap up the meeting, the last topic addressed was the road map to follow for the engineering, construction and commissioning of the different pilots at different locations, as well as the status of the environmental (LCA), social (sLCA) and economic (LCCA) sustainability assessment. Moreover, a short summary of all the communication, dissemination and exploitation results achieved from the beginning of the project was presented.  

The consortium had the opportunity to visit the laboratory facilities of the host CEIT dedicated to vision and robotics, materials technology, as well as the atomisation pilot plant.   

Stay tuned and subscribe to receive more details about the progress achieved so far. The first newsletter of the REEPRODUCE project will be released shortly.