Unlocking Rare Earth Recycling in used Wind Turbines - Pioneering the Circular Economy:

How long have you been involved in wind turbine recycling and why?

Cyclic Materials was founded in 2021 with a mission to establish a circular economy for Rare Earth Elements as well as the base metals that are critical to the energy transition. In the Fall 2023, we launched our commercial demonstration plant with initial recycling capacity of 8,000 tonne per year of input scrap. This marked the beginning of our industrial journey to actively recycle wind turbine generators and recover the Rare Earths, as well as Copper, Aluminum and steel. Our two-stage multi-patented technology is designed to efficiently recover the Copper, Aluminum and steel while extracting Rare Earth Oxides from the magnets. As the demand goes stronger everyday, we are now scaling that capacity to 25,000 tonne per year. Permanent magnet synchronous wind turbine generators contain significant quantities of Rare Earth magnets, yet today, less than1% of these materials are recycled. While the majority of the value for these components traditionally comes from Copper, our process uniquely recovers both critical materials and the most valuable Rare Earths. Our ultimate goal is to create a sustainable, circular and domestic supply chain for these critical raw materials further support the global energy transition towards a greener future. 

What types of rare earths are found in wind turbines?

Wind turbines utilize key Rare Earth elements, including Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium, and Terbium, in their permanent magnet generators. These elements are essential for improving the efficiency and reliability of wind turbines while minimizing maintenance needs. Neodymium and Praseodymium are the primary components in the powerful magnets that enable high energy density and compact designs. Dysprosium and Terbium are added to enhance the magnets' heat resistance and performance in extreme conditions. These Rare Earths play a critical role in maximizing the performance of modern wind turbines, making them indispensable for the renewable energy sector latest generations.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges in recovering rare earths from wind turbines? 

One key challenge is that end-of-life management and recycling are still growing topics within the ever-growing wind turbine industry[SG1] . With focus on sustainability, there is also a pressing need to integrate Rare Earths recycling into lifecycle planning and regulation frameworks. Rare Earth recycling technologies only reached maturity in the recent years, necessitating significant efforts to raise awareness and educate industry stakeholders about their huge potential. With only 1% of rare earth elements (REEs) currently being recycled and over 90% of global production controlled by China, diversifying and scaling sustainable recycling solutions is critical to securing supply chains all the while reducing geopolitical and environmental risks: this is a major industry challenge that must be addressed collectively. 

We see 3 key challenges across industry

Foster transparency: Our approach to recycling enhances transparency by providing detailed data on material composition and recovery potential at the end of a turbine's lifecycle, enabling more efficient recycling and greater value extraction. We believe such practices will attract more players to ultimately consolidate circular practices across the industry.

Maximize collaboration: At Cyclic Materials, we not only understand the challenges ahead of us but also actively promote the importance of recycling REEs from wind turbines by engaging with manufacturers, operators and policymakers. By demonstrating the environmental benefits, such as CO₂ emission reductions, and the economic value our processes generate, we aim to drive transparency, but also foster broader adoption and collaboration within the industry.

Transportation & Logistics: Handling and transporting larger-capacity wind turbine generators and preparing them for efficient shipping to recycling facilities is an important challenge. To address this, we leverage our global network of logistics experts, building on our experience with transporting large-scale components, such as MRI machines which can weigh over 20 tonnes. This ensures even the largest turbine components are efficiently dismantled, shipped and processed at our facilities for maximum resource recovery.

 
Which turbine types do you consider relevant and which markets?

Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial for wind turbines that use permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs), particularly in direct-drive systems which are known for their high efficiency and lower maintenance needs. As these turbines do not require a gearbox, they are particularly suited for offshore and high-capacity onshore applications. These elements are also key in hybrid systems, which combine a smaller gearbox with permanent magnet generators and are commonly used in medium to large-scale onshore turbines. These hybrid systems are prevalent in the market and form a significant focus of our recycling efforts, driven by the expertise of our engineering teams in handling complex end-of-life materials and optimizing recovery processes. As Cyclic Materials is pursuing its global expansion for Rare Earth Recycling infrastructure, we actively focus on recycling materials from these turbine types, targeting the most dynamic markets, notably the USA, Germany, Spain and the UK.