ORNL Recycling Technology Could Turn Scrap Magnets Into U.S. Rare-Earth Supply
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's membrane-based process can recover high-purity critical rare earths from discarded permanent magnets, potentially turning part of the U.S. e-waste stream into a domestic materials source.
MONTREAL (RecyclingMonster): A recycling technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could help turn discarded permanent magnets into another domestic source of critical rare earth elements for U.S. manufacturing.
ORNL researchers Syed Islam, Ramesh Bhave and colleagues developed a membrane solvent extraction, or MSX, process capable of recovering neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium from permanent magnets found in discarded electronics and other equipment.
The technology has already been licensed to two companies for commercialization: Momentum Technologies and Caldara LLC.
Rare-Earth Supply Remains Highly Concentrated
The recycling work comes as global supply of magnet rare earths remains heavily concentrated in China.
According to the International Energy Agency, China accounted for approximately 60% of global mined magnet rare-earth production in 2024, 91% of refining and 94% of sintered permanent-magnet manufacturing.
Those magnets are used in products ranging from smartphones, hard disk drives and air conditioners to electric vehicles, wind turbines, industrial robots, data-center equipment and defense systems.
How ORNL's Membrane Recycling Process Works
The process begins by crushing a scrap permanent magnet and dissolving the material in an acidic solution.
That liquid is fed into an MSX module containing thousands of microscopic hollow-fiber polymer membranes. A chemical extractant held inside the membrane pores selectively binds to targeted rare-earth ions while materials such as iron remain in the original solution.
The selected rare-earth ions move across the membrane into a separate stripping solution. The extractant then returns to capture additional ions, allowing the separation process to operate continuously.
The concentrated rare-earth solution can subsequently undergo precipitation and additional processing to produce high-purity rare-earth oxides suitable for further manufacturing steps.
ORNL Has Scaled the Process Beyond the Laboratory
ORNL has tested MSX using permanent magnets recovered from sources including hard disk drives, mobile phones, MRI equipment, hybrid vehicles and manufacturing scrap.
Earlier scale-up work demonstrated rare-earth oxide purity above 99.5% and recovery above 95% under tested conditions.
Researchers also scaled the technology from bench-scale membrane modules to systems capable of processing up to approximately one ton of scrap permanent magnets per month.
Recovering the Magnet Is Only Half the Challenge
The takeaway: The real value of ORNL's work is not simply getting rare earths out of old electronics. The harder step is separating chemically similar elements into the purity needed for new high-performance materials.
Dysprosium shows why separation mattersDysprosium may be used in relatively small amounts, but it can improve the ability of neodymium-based magnets to retain performance at elevated temperatures. That makes high-purity dysprosium particularly valuable in demanding motor and industrial applications.
In a 2026 ORNL-led study using electric-vehicle swarf magnets, the MSX system produced dysprosium at 99.6% purity with 82.6% cumulative recovery after five separation stages.
Recycling attacks the most concentrated part of the supply chainChina's share of rare-earth mining is significant, but its dominance becomes much greater further downstream: the IEA estimates China holds 91% of global magnet rare-earth refining and 94% of sintered permanent-magnet manufacturing.
That makes separation and refining capacity particularly important. Recovering a magnet from an old hard drive does not create a domestic supply chain unless those mixed rare earths can also be separated, purified and returned to manufacturing.
A U.S. recycling chain is beginning to take shapeRecyclingMonster recently reported that HyProMag USA is advancing a Texas rare-earth magnet recycling and manufacturing hub, while earlier projects have focused on removing magnets from electronic scrap before shredding.
ORNL's work addresses another part of that chain: separating and purifying the valuable elements after magnet material has been recovered. Together, collection, magnet removal, chemical separation and new magnet production are the pieces required for a functioning domestic recycling loop.
What to watch nextThe technology has been licensed, but commercial deployment at meaningful scale remains the next test. Feedstock availability, collection systems, processing economics and demand for recovered rare-earth products will determine how much material can realistically move from America's discarded electronics back into new magnets.
Technology Could Extend Beyond E-Waste
ORNL researchers are also evaluating rare-earth recovery from mine tailings containing relatively low concentrations of the targeted materials.
That broadens the potential role of membrane-based separation beyond discarded electronics and permanent magnets to secondary mineral resources that might otherwise remain unused.
Rare-earth recycling is not expected to eliminate the need for new primary supply, but technologies capable of recovering and refining critical materials from existing products could provide an additional domestic source as U.S. demand grows.
Courtesy: www.oakridger.com
ORNL Rare-Earth Recycling: What to Know
Which rare earths can the ORNL process recover?
ORNL research has demonstrated recovery of neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium from scrap permanent magnets.
What is membrane solvent extraction?
MSX uses hollow-fiber membranes and chemical extractants to selectively transfer targeted rare-earth ions from one liquid solution into another for separation and purification.
How pure are the recovered materials?
Earlier ORNL scale-up work demonstrated rare-earth oxide purity above 99.5% and recovery above 95% under tested conditions. Results vary by feedstock and process configuration.
Has the ORNL technology been licensed?
Yes. ORNL records identify rare-earth MSX licenses to Momentum Technologies and Caldara LLC.
Can recycled rare earths replace mining?
Recycling can supplement primary production and diversify supply, but it is not expected to eliminate the need for mined rare-earth materials.