Circularity, Explained
October, 2023
Circularity vs. Sustainability
A circular economy is an economic system designed to minimize waste, make the most of resources, and promote sustainability. In circular economies, the traditional linear model of "take, make, dispose" is replaced with a closed-loop system where products, materials, and resources are reused, refurbished, remanufactured, and recycled.
Circularity and sustainability, though related, have distinct scopes. Sustainability is a broader concept, addressing environmental, social, and economic aspects with a long-term goal of ensuring the well-being of current and future generations. A circular economy is a specific approach within sustainability, focusing on resource efficiency and waste reduction in economic systems. It centers on practices like reusing and recycling materials within shorter timeframes. While sustainability seeks holistic balance, circularity is a strategy that directly tackles resource optimization and waste minimization in industrial processes. Both are vital for a cleaner future.
Circularity, Explained
Rare earth magnets are critical to powering a more sustainable future - but as the world looks to transition to low-carbon, electric technologies, the volume of end-of-life rare earth elements and magnetic material waste piling up in landfills continues to increase. Currently, less than 1% of the world’s rare earth elements are ever recovered or recycled, and hundreds of thousands of tons of end-of-life NdFeB rare earth magnets continue to pile up in our landfills.
Noveon is on a mission to change that by establishing a circular economy for rare earth magnets that maximizes recovery, promotes sustainability, and enables us to reduce our dependence on traditional sources. Our process is material agnostic and leverages patented technology to enable the recovery of end-of-life magnetic material from end-of-life channels and diverse material streams, including motors, energy systems, medical devices, data storage, and more. We then utilize these end-of-life materials as a feedstock to produce next-generation, high-performance magnets. Our process introduces a new methodology within our waste infrastructure by optimizing material recovery while also lowering energy consumption and bypassing many of the fundamental steps in magnet manufacturing that make traditional magnet manufacturing processes so hazardous to the environment.
Notably, for every ton of magnets successfully recycled using Noveon’s methods, there is a reduction of 11 tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Noveon’s process is also 90% more energy efficient than traditional mine-to-magnet processes and 48% more energy efficient than the metal-to-magnet process. This differs greatly from traditional rare-earth supply chains which can produce one ton of acidic and radioactive wastewater per ton of magnet produced, while the Noveon process releases no acidic wastewater or radioactive waste byproducts. Our organization’s circular process will ultimately help preserve the environment by decreasing carcinogens, smog, respiratory effects, and ozone depletion.
Circularity at Noveon
Moreover, since our production process can utilize end-of-life magnets, we — and, by extension, our customers — are insulated from the pricing and availability risks that have challenged the industry for years.
Noveon utilizes what is known as a “short-loop” recycling process, meaning that our EcoFlux magnets can be manufactured directly from harvested end-of-life magnets while bypassing the process of chemical separation. This process is ideal for larger form-factor magnetic materials that are at least the size of HDD magnets or HEV traction-drive motor magnets and allows us to further reduce waste by recycling 100% of the magnetic material from end-of-life sources instead of just the rare earth elements within.
This is distinct from “long-loop” recycling, which is defined by the use of existing mining technology to separate ore into oxides for conversion into metal and subsequently alloy. Long-loop recycling processes require that end-of-life rare earth magnets endure a chemical separation process that captures only the rare earth elements within them, with the remaining material treated as a waste byproduct. This process is ideal for magnet machining slurries/sludge and smaller form-factor magnets like those that can be recovered from end-of-life headphones or cellphones.
While all recycling processes are considered more sustainable than relying on mined sources, a long-loop approach is far more energy intensive and less energy efficient for larger form factor magnets as it fails to eliminate the most environmentally hazardous steps of the manufacturing process, namely chemical separation and metal production, and it does not recovery all of the elements within the magnet
Short-loop recycling prioritizes the immediate reuse of all the material within the magnet, as well as the valuable rare earth materials, and efficiently incorporates them into a manufacturing process to produce newly engineered, high-quality products without the impacts of chemical separation, it is widely considered to be the preferred method of rare earth recycling from post-consumer material supply chains when it comes to accelerating the transition to an electric future, as well as mitigating the overall impacts of climate change.
Short-loop vs Long-loop recycling for Rare Earth Materials
In addition to long-loop vs. short-loop recycling, open-loop and closed-loop supply chains are two distinct approaches to circular economies. Open-loop supply chains involve using end-of-life feedstock flexibly within our material resource plan to produce new magnet products.
For example, when using a HDD magnet as a feedstock to manufacture new magnets used to power electric vehicle traction motors, this is considered an open-loop supply chain. Conversely, closed-loop supply chains keep materials within the same product category, such as using an end-of-life HDD magnet to manufacture a new generation of HDD magnets.
Both approaches have their merits, and the key to a sustainable future ultimately lies in finding a balance between them. Open-loop recycling spurs innovation and creativity, while closed-loop recycling maximizes resource conservation. Together, these strategies can help build a more circular and eco-friendly economy.
Open-Loop vs. Closed-Loop Recycling within Circular Economies
Why Circular Solutions are Critical to Achieving a Clean Energy Economy
Rare earth magnets are critical building blocks of virtually all clean energy economy technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries. As the world accelerates its transition towards a low-carbon, clean energy economy, demand for rare earth magnets and the critical materials used to manufacture them is skyrocketing. Therefore, identifying solutions to rapidly keep up with this demand, and do so sustainably, is paramount.
Circular systems as a whole conserve resources, reduce environmental impact, and bolster supply chain resilience. Within the rare earth magnet industry, circular approaches are more energy efficient and help to strengthen U.S. resource independence, establishing a secure domestic supply chain that can ensure the long-term viability of critical magnet applications.
Circular solutions are a crucial component of our quest for a cleaner energy future. Embracing circularity is an essential step towards securing a sustainable and accessible energy landscape for all.