On June 2018, our partners from ELKEM hosted the second review meeting of the REE4EU project in Kristiansand (Norway). During the meeting, the partners analysed the technical aspects and the scientific results of the first batches processed at ELKEM ILE facilities.  Moreover, the partners and also the officer had the opportunity to visit Elkem’s premises at Fiskå, where the REE4EU pilot is installed. In this visit, the two main pilot plants (ILE and HTE) were shown and the related processes explained. Indeed, the project officer was able of reviewing such units, which are now operating at ELKEM.

In addition, a detailed presentation of the results obtained during the trials done so far was given as well as a summary of the main outcomes of the project up to now. At that moment, the ILE unit had treated 1.7 tonnes of permanent magnets swarf, giving a total amount of ca. 250 kg of RE oxides. On the other side, the commisioning of the HTE unit for direct conversion of the RE-oxides into RE alloys was just completed and the pilot is expected to begin its operation in August 2018.

In this meeting, IDENER provided a detailed description of the process that had led the project to evolve from the initial process designs (concept engineering) to the construction of the plants and the successful execution of the first run of tests. Special attention was put on the excellent work done by the HSE department at ELKEM as well as the excellent collaboration between the corresponding ILE and HTE scientific (SINTEF, UPS, TECNALIA, …) and the engineering (INNOVERTIS, IDENER, ELKEM) teams and the rest of project partners.

The project is currently in its third year of activity and it aims at demonstrating closed-loop recycling of permanent magnets by building up pilots that can recycle different RE-containing wastes. The project officer is very enthusiastic about the project achievements, which represents a first-time demonstration of closed-loop recycling for permanent magnets at almost industrial scale and it is funded in the framework of the Horizon 2020 Programme.