Europe Advances Rare Earth Magnet Recycling to Reduce China Dependence

Rare earth elements (REEs), including neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium, are crucial to modern technologies like smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced military systems due to their unique magnetic and catalytic properties. China currently dominates the global rare earth supply chain, controlling about 70% of production and nearly half of the world's reserves, which presents significant geopolitical and economic challenges for other regions, especially the U.S. and Europe. The extraction of rare earths is complex and environmentally challenging, with economically viable mining limited despite relatively abundant global deposits. Europe is heavily reliant on imports, particularly from China, for rare earth magnets used in electronics and green technologies, and is investing in recycling initiatives like the EU-funded HARMONY project to develop closed-loop recycling of neodymium-iron-boron magnets to reduce dependency. Rare-earth magnets, particularly neodymium and samarium-cobalt types, are indispensable for the miniaturization and performance of high-tech and green energy applications. The U.S. faces the challenge of building its own rare-earth supply chain to reduce Chinese exposure and avoid future supply crises, emphasizing the strategic importance of this sector in the global economy.