Recycling Rare Earth Magnets from End-of-Life Electric Vehicles

The South Korean government is working to establish a system for recovering and recycling rare earth permanent magnets from the drive motors of end-of-life electric and hybrid vehicles. Through a pilot project, officials estimate that up to 15 tons of these magnets can be recovered annually from approximately 14,000 scrapped vehicles.

On September 22, the Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment announced that it would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Environment Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company, and the Korea Automobile Recycling Association at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul. The agreement aims to create a domestic recycling system for rare earth permanent magnets found in electric vehicle drive motors.

Drive motors in electric and hybrid vehicles contain about 0.75 to 1.5 kilograms of rare earth permanent magnets, depending on the vehicle type. However, current practices at scrap yards primarily involve processing these motors as scrap metal or recovering valuable materials like copper and aluminum, with no established system for separately recycling the rare earth magnets.

The government plans to implement the pilot project in two phases: one focusing on general end-of-life vehicles for 'circular use support' and the other using test vehicles for new car development by Hyundai for 'circular economy demonstration.'

In the circular use support phase, a recovery and distribution system will be established to supply drive motors from scrap yards to domestic recycling companies. The Korea Environment Corporation will oversee the selection of recycling companies, bidding, and performance management, while the Korea Automobile Recycling Association will recruit and support participating scrap yards. Hyundai will provide information on the location and presence of rare earth magnets in vehicles, as well as methods for removing drive motors.

The circular economy demonstration phase will utilize a regulatory sandbox to validate the recycling process, from disassembly and separation of drive motors to the sorting and recovery of valuable resources like rare earth magnets and copper. The project will assess the safety of disassembling drive motors, the recovery rates of valuable resources, and the practical application of separation and recovery technologies.

The ministry anticipates that the pilot project will enable the recovery of up to 15 tons of rare earth permanent magnets from around 14,000 end-of-life electric and hybrid vehicles each year.

Based on the results of the pilot project, the government plans to pursue regulatory improvements. It aims to ensure that drive motors are smoothly recovered and transferred to recycling companies during the scrapping process and to establish appropriate recycling standards for the recovery of valuable resources like rare earth magnets.

Kim Han-seung, the first deputy minister of the climate ministry, stated, "As the adoption of electric vehicles increases, the demand for rare earth permanent magnets used in drive motors is also rising. We will strengthen the domestic recovery system for drive motors and develop applicable recycling technologies to enhance the rare earth supply chain."