LG Electronics has developed a technology to recover rare earth magnets, a critical mineral, from discarded electronics. The company aims to expand the scope of e-waste resource recovery, which has traditionally focused on metals like iron, copper, and aluminum, to include rare earth elements, thereby stabilizing the critical mineral supply chain and promoting a circular economy.
On August 27, LG Electronics announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Environment and E-Circular Governance at the Gyeonggi Yongin Resource Recycling Center for a pilot project to recover rare earth magnets from discarded electronic appliances.
The project focuses on separating and recovering rare earth magnets from compressors, a key component in appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners, when they are disposed of.
Rare earth elements are essential for advanced industries, including electric vehicles, industrial motors, and consumer electronics. Previously, the strong magnetic force of rare earth magnets in discarded compressors made them difficult to separate, leading to most being recycled as scrap metal after recovering only some metals like copper.
To address this issue, LG Electronics has developed a proprietary demagnetization technology that utilizes magnetic fields to safely separate the magnets. Unlike traditional thermal processing methods that require high temperatures to separate magnets, this new approach does not necessitate high-temperature processes. This reduces energy consumption and minimizes the deformation and quality degradation of the recovered materials, enhancing their recycling value.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will also play a role in the rare earth recovery process. LG Electronics plans to use vision AI-based image analysis technology to recognize the size and shape of discarded compressors and accurately locate the internal rare earth magnets. Based on the analysis results, optimized separation processes will be applied to improve recovery efficiency.
Through this pilot project, LG Electronics estimates it can recover approximately 1.6 tons of rare earth magnets from around 40,000 discarded appliances annually. The recovered magnets will be used in the development of technologies for producing new magnets.
This initiative also aims to explore the potential of utilizing discarded electronics as a new source of critical minerals. With increasing global supply chain uncertainties, securing a stable supply of critical minerals like rare earth elements has become crucial. The project envisions establishing a resource recycling system that recovers essential materials from end-of-life products for reintegration into production.
Yang Hee-goo, head of LG Electronics' Production Innovation Center, stated, "We will continue to strengthen our technological capabilities in resource recycling to recover and reuse critical materials from end-of-life products, contributing to the realization of a circular economy. We will also take the lead in establishing a stable circular utilization foundation for future critical minerals."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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