Towards neodymium recycling: Analysis of the availability and recyclability of European waste flows

Future environmental impacts of global hydrogen production

“…The increase in human toxicity impacts is tied to the expansion of renewables and the associated release of toxic substances in the environment occurring during the extraction of metals needed to produce photovoltaic panels (e.g., silver, lead, and nickel). [87][88][89] The increase in impact from ionizing radiation is driven by uranium mining as the nuclear power supply expands.…”

“…112 Electrolyzers and renewables will require substantial quantities of metals, however, it has also been shown that the energy transition may substantially reduce the overall mining activity. 89 As rare earth metals required by PEM are concentrated in specific countries, the supply risk of these metals in some regions should be carefully assessed before promoting this technology. Toxicity and other environmental impacts related to mining and metal production can also be reduced through improved technologies and better management, 113,114 which has not been considered here.…”

Green and Sustainable Rare Earth Element Recycling and Reuse from End-of-Life Permanent Magnets

“…The rare earth elements are relatively abundant in the earth's crust, but their concentration in ores is low. The abundances of individual REEs can vary widely, but the crustal abundance of the most abundant RE element-cerium (Ce)-is about 43 ppm [5,10,14].…”

“…According to the published reports, the recycling of waste magnets can be significantly more energy efficient and eco-friendly compared to primary ore mining [5,12,20]. A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment has been performed by Jin et al, evaluating NdFeB magnets produced from newly mined ("virgin") material and magnets produced by a magnet-to-magnet recycling approach [23].…”

“…The data analysis clearly underlines the importance and criticality of both HREEs and LREEs. The further demand for REEs is expected to additionally increase, as the next generation of green technologies for hydrogen energy production, such as electrolysers and fuel cells for stationary and transport applications, also contains REEs [4][5][6]. gen (SmFeN), and neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) [22].…”