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Projects
REEGENERATE
Update from REEcycle Inc. CEO Fermin Oliver on the year 2022:
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“REEcycle reached the majority of its milestones for this year, as we have made significant progress in our research and development efforts.
Fermin Olivan joined REEcycle in June as the CEO of the company. Fermin Olivan has a broad experience in the global recycling market being his last position as the CEO of a recycling company in Texas working for the Department of Defense. Under his leadership REEcycle has successfully completed our R&D in the Hydrogen Decrepitation process, this process allows us to go from magnet blocks to particles under 100 microns size, this step is needed for the further extraction of the Rare Earth elements from their iron matrix for its separation in our chemical reactor.
In December, REEcycle began separating magnets from Hard Disc Drives (HDDs) in our Houston facility using our first Drive Disassembly Machine (DDM). We are currently running the equipment internally before deploying it at a third-party site, where they will be able to separate the magnets and supply them to us for further processing.
We have purchased the necessary equipment to assemble two additional DDMs.
We have also repaired our chemical pilot plant to operate at its full capacity, the plant was not used for more than three years, additionally to this repair we signed the agreements with the suppliers of the chemicals needed to run the plant.
For 2023, subject to a successful fundraising round in our series B, we will be able to scale our Hydrogen Decrepitation technology to a pilot scale (50 Kgs/batch) this equipment will generate enough magnet material to feed our chemical facility.
We will deploy the additional DDMs and start receiving magnets from HDDs from our HDD disassembling partners.
We are currently awaiting funding to execute our agreements for the purchase of magnets from different sources in the US. Once REEcycle is able to run the pilot plant at full capacity, we will reach additional agreements with more companies and secure funding for a commercial facility.”
In pilot testing, REEcycle has been able to achieve up to 99.8% separation/recovery efficiency of pure rare earth elements from the other materials in the magnet (Iron and Boron). The process is carried out at atmospheric pressure, under mild temperatures, producing water (pH 6) which contains Iron and Boron at concentrations compliant with those specified by municipal sewage treatment systems. Rare Earth Oxide (REO) concentrate exists in carbonate form but can easily be converted to an oxide.
REEcycle aims to provide an alternative option to traditional mined sources of rare earth metals as well as reduce supply chain uncertainty and geopolitical risk for companies reliant on these materials. Some benefits of this process include:
REEcycle has received significant positive support from reputable sources like the Scientific American, stating “With their innovative (and proprietary) approach to recycling a pair of critical rare earth materials, the REEcycle team introduced the energy industry to an innovative way to turn waste into a domestic stream of rare earth elements.”
Rare Earth Elements are a part of the unstoppable macro-environment movement with the global economy transitioning to cleaner energy sources. Market applications of NdFeB magnets include wind turbines, electric vehicles, electric bikes and air conditioning with demand increasing by 17.5% annually. REEcycle is positioned to take advantage of growing applications of NdFeB magnets by recycling end-of-life products and supply ethically sourced REEs to the market.
