Texas-based companies are the pioneer in recycling e-wastes into rare and rare earth elements that are essential for national defense.
The goal of this project is to resume demonstration facilities and progress in a trial run of commercial facilities, which is expected to produce 50 tons of zoned oxides each year.
Important minerals of defense magnets
REECYCLE aims to collect four important factors essential for Neodim Iron Bolon (NDFEB) magnets, which are essential for various defense applications, such as air platforms, missiles, submarines, and drone electric motors.
Pentagon said that this initiative matches the target of the 2024 Defense Industrial Strategy, which strengthens domestic production of important minerals to enhance the recovery of supply chains.
According to Dr. Laura Taylor Kale, Secretary of Defense for Industrial Foundation, the elements of rare earth require a variety of sources from recovery to magnetism.
She pointed out that REECYCLE’s abilities help to reduce the perfection of the United States by extracting complete value from materials discarded in landfills.
REECYCLE’s proprietary process recovers more than 98 % of the rare earth element neodymium, placeeodes, abnormalities, and over 98 % of the NDFEB magnets used in major defense systems.
E-WASTE RECOVERY supports DOD efforts to secure rare earth supply.
REECYCLE STORY, founded at the University of Houston in 2012, began when a chemist Dr. Samarasekere was inspired by the two -energy reports on two important materials for future energy use. In 2013, he discovered a chemical reaction that could extract 15 out of 17 rare earth elements from the discarded electronic waste.
Later, the team focused on launching this innovative process into the market. In particular, focusing on neodymium and disruption, DOE is the most important for clean energy and the most risky in terms of supply. From 2014 to 2016, REECYCLE won the highest honor and national award in business planning components sponsored by major universities. In the latter half of 2014, the company secured all three top prizes in DOE’s National Clean Energy Prize Competition.
Texas companies claim that they have the only recycling process that can minimize the impact on the environment and have the only recovery process that can safely and sustainably recover the most rare earth elements from E-Waste. After resuming the demonstration plant, REECYCLE plans to launch a commercial facility and establish its position as a supplier of a company involved in metalization and magnet production.
According to Anthony di Stasio, director of the manufacturing capacity expansion and investment priority ranking (MCEIP), the latest prize is REECYCLE collecting important materials from electronic waste, and the supply of rare earth required to defend the Ministry of Defense is expanded. It will be possible to support the Pentagon’s initiatives to do. production.
This is the sixth award from the DPA purchase office since the start of the 2025 fiscal year, a total of $ 2959 million. It supports the goal of boosting the production of important minerals in the 2024 national defense industrial strategy and strengthening supply chain resilience.
