Cyclic Materials Opens Pilot Plant, Demonstrates 8000 Tonnes Annual Magnet Recycling Capacity

The new pilot plant scales the advanced metals recycling company’s proprietary Mag-Xtract™ technology to near commercial size

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced metals recycling company Cyclic Materials today announces successful results from its new Kingston, Ontario pilot plant, where its proprietary Mag-Xtract™ technology isolates magnets from recycled end-of-life products. The design capacity of the plant is 1,000 kg/hour (8,000 tonnes per year), and initial runs have processed several tonnes of magnet feedstock per day.

“The launch of our pilot plant is a major step forward for developing a domestic, circular supply chain for critical materials at the scale needed to support the clean energy transition and technological innovation,” said Ahmad Ghahreman, co-founder and CEO of Cyclic Materials. “Our magnet-agnostic recycling technology produces one of the cleanest and highest quality mixed rare earth oxide products available on the global market—an environmentally sustainable, first-of-its-kind solution to the limited international supply of critical magnet materials.”

In 2022, Cyclic Materials completed an initial proof-of-concept of Mag-Xtract™, processing 4000 kg of magnet-containing products—including copper, aluminum and steel— from end-of-life products. These materials are critical to the development of electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones and other technologies. In addition to developing Mag-Xtract™, Cyclic Materials is scaling its proprietary hydrometallurgy technology to convert magnet feedstock and manufacturing waste into mixed rare earth oxide, cobalt-nickel hydroxide, and other by-products. Last fall, Cyclic Materials piloted its hydrometallurgy technology at a capacity of 10 tonnes/year. It is currently developing the first commercial demonstration plant for this technology in Kingston, ON, with a target launch date in Q2 2024.

Cyclic Materials investors include BMW iVentures, Energy Impact Partners, Planetary Capital, Fifth Wall and Bio-industrial Innovation Canada, totaling over USD $30M in funding raised to develop its advanced metals recycling processes. The company has also received a CAD $3.6M (USD $2.6M) grant from Sustainable Technology Development Canada (SDTC).

About Cyclic Materials

Cyclic Materials is creating a circular supply chain for rare earth elements and other materials critical to electrification. Through its innovative technology, the company economically, sustainably and domestically transforms end-of-life products into valuable raw materials that are essential to the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines and motors for the electronics we use in our daily lives.

To learn more, visit cyclicmaterials.earth.