MaXycle offers a highly innovative combination of applied research, technology development and integration. The project opens up a completely new perspective for an efficient and innovative recycling of RE magnets, by creating a much more environmentally friendly ‘short cycle’ re-processing route enabling a new circular economy ecosystem. The project approach is summarised as follows:
1.Definition of standardised quality criteria for EOLM and a classification system for contamination levels to categorise products by pre-processing requirements.
2.Development of a labelling system for newly produced RE magnets to identify different magnet types and qualities, including provision of reliable and durable marking methods.
3.Investigation of treatments to eliminate pre-processing residues/coatings to avoid contamination in the HPMS process.
4.Investigation to upgrade properties of recycled EOLM based on powders of different contamination levels.
5.Circular economy evaluation of impacts for industrial upscaling of new methods by means of LCA and TEA investigations.
In order to accomplish these challenging tasks, the MaXycle consortium brought together the leading scientific experts in RE magnets, powder processing, state of the art materials characterisation and powder injection moulding and sintering with a group of 3 research institutions and 2 innovative SMEs.