On 8–9 October 2025, the MAGELLAN consortium met at CEA in Grenoble for its fourth General Assembly, reviewing progress across all work packages and aligning on the next phase towards demonstrating the manufacturing of high-performance permanent magnets with recycled content for electric vehicle traction motors. The meeting combined technical deep-dives with programme planning, focusing on how recent milestones can accelerate demonstration and impact.
A major backdrop to the discussions was the recent inauguration of the Orano–CEA pilot line in Grenoble, a pre-industrial state of the art facility designed to produce magnets at tens of kilograms per batch, with end-to-end steps from hydrogen decrepitation and jet milling to pressing, sintering and annealing.
Driving Impact, Visibility and Awareness
The General Assembly opened with a session dedicated to communication, dissemination, and networking, led by TALOS, which coordinates MAGELLAN’s impact activities. The presentation provided an overview of how MAGELLAN’s outreach and networking activities are helping to position the project within Europe’s evolving discussion on rare earths, recycling, and sustainable magnet value chains – and how this work directly supports the project’s long-term objectives.
Partners were presented with an overview of the project’s communication efforts and visibility actions over the past year. These activities, which include a growing participation in industrial and scientific events, and the organisation of several networking events were discussed in terms of how they have contributed to raising awareness among manufacturers, policymakers, and researchers about the strategic importance of recycling permanent magnets in the EU. The presentation highlighted how these efforts – amplified by the technological progress across the consortium – are encouraging industry to view the production and use of magnets with recycled content as both technically viable and economically necessary for Europe’s resilience.
The consortium also revisited MAGELLAN’s ongoing networking initiatives, with a focus on the Rare Earth Roundtable series coordinated by EIT RawMaterials under its “SIGN” initiative, in collaboration with Orano and TALOS. Through seven online editions to date, this platform has brought together experts from industry, research, and policy to discuss subjects such as financing, regulation, and the circular economy. The results of these discussions were presented as valuable inputs that not only shape MAGELLAN’s communication work, but also support collaboration between the project’s partners and external stakeholders across Europe.
In addition, the consortium was reminded of MAGELLAN’s active participation in European-level advocacy to improve the framework for circularity. Earlier this year, the project joined eight other EU-funded initiatives in a joint public letter to the European institutions, calling for the introduction of dedicated waste codes for permanent magnets. The presentation underlined how this action – an initiative led Orano, demonstrates MAGELLAN’s engagement beyond research – helping address one of the main practical barriers to scaling up magnet recycling.
The session also showcased how cross-collaboration between the communication and technical work areas has allowed MAGELLAN to present cohesive, accurate information to external audiences. Project visuals, news stories, and participation in public events were discussed as examples of how partners’ scientific work is being translated into accessible messages that support the deployment and recognition of the MAGELLAN solution.
Advancing Permanent Magnet Manufacturing and Recycling
Following the discussion on impact and outreach, the General Assembly continued with a technical session devoted to magnet manufacturing and recycling activities. Partners were presented the latest advances in developing MAGELLAN’s high-performance permanent magnets manufacturing processes. The objective, as discussed with the consortium, is to manufacture N44EHB-grade magnets containing 25% recycled material, produced from end-of-life magnets sourced from EV traction motors, e-scooters, and e-bikes. These materials will later feed into the project’s demonstration phase, where recycled magnets will be validated within an electric motor.
Frederico Orlandini Keller (Orano) shared how the consortium has successfully implemented a two-step strip-casting approach to create stable, high-quality alloys using a combination of recycled and virgin materials. In the first step, fully recycled magnet scrap undergoes homogenisation casting to stabilise the composition and reduce oxygen contamination. The second, recycling casting introduces 25% of this material into a new melt with 75% virgin inputs, achieving a composition compatible with the N44EHB reference grade. This method was presented as a robust pathway to overcome feedstock variability while improving alloy purity – a crucial step towards industrially relevant recycling. The laboratory-scale proof-of-concept magnets produced through this process have already demonstrated magnetic compositions and properties closely aligned with those of the reference automotive magnets, confirming the technical feasibility of this approach. The next phase will test the robustness of the recycling process across several input streams – including e-scooter EoL magnets, EV traction motor EoL magnets and mixed batches – to ensure consistent performance regardless of feedstock variability. These activities will provide the data needed to validate the process under variable and representative conditions.
Matej Zaplotnik (Magneti Ljubljana) presented complementary work on coating and grain boundary diffusion (GBD), aimed at improving the coercivity of the produced magnets. Initial experiments using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) were tested with several solvents and additives but proved challenging to scale. In parallel, physical vapour deposition (PVD) trials using terbium coatings achieved promising results. Difficulties in equipment availability and global supply constraints were also discussed, with the consortium aligning on adaptive strategies to ensure continuous progress.
The General Assembly continued with a presentation from Aybike Paksoy (Technische Universität Darmstadt), sharing progress on developing magnet compositions that use fewer critical raw materials while maintaining functional performance. The work, carried out under MAGELLAN’s Ce–La substitution studies, focuses on producing N35-grade magnets in which up to 40% of the neodymium and praseodymium is replaced by a Cerium-rich composition – a more abundant and less critical rare earth element. TUDa presented laboratory-scale experiments using the two-powder method, where separate Nd-rich and Ce-rich compositions are prepared and blended to achieve the desired balance between magnetic performance and resource efficiency. Results showed that while the Nd-rich composition has already been validated, the Ce-rich alloy requires further optimisation to control microstructural effects such as grain growth and CeFe₂ phase formation, which can reduce magnetic strength. Although this N35 grade is not intended for high-performance traction motors, it serves as an essential proof of concept for demonstrating that significant substitution of critical rare earths is feasible. The updated Ce-rich composition is expected to be finalised and validated by early 2026, marking a key step towards developing magnets that combine reduced criticality with reliable magnetic properties.
In a presentation by Olivier Tosoni (CEA), the consortium reviewed the latest advances in producing near-net-shape permanent magnets (PMs) using Powder Injection Moulding (PIM) – a technique that can reduce overall PM mass in traction motors while enabling precise geometries and therefore optimised rotor designs for increased performance and recyclability. A major milestone shared during the meeting was the commissioning Orano’s inert atmosphere kneader at CEA’s facilities, which allows compounding and pelletising feedstocks containing fine Nd-Fe-B powders under extremely low oxygen levels. This equipment will help minimise oxygen contamination – a recurring challenge in earlier less-controlled PIM feedstock batches – and improve both consistency and magnetic performance. The consortium had the chance to see first-hand the first PIM magnets produced with feedstock from the newly commissioned inert kneader, with initial trials displaying promising results regarding the density of the manufactured magnets, confirming that the PIM process is maturing toward industrial relevance.
Designing for Performance and Recyclability
The first day of the General Assembly continued with a session dedicated to magnet and rotor design for performance and recyclability. The presentation by Fabio Scaffidi Muta (Centro Ricerche Fiat), with contributions from IFP Energies Nouvelles, reviewed the progress linking magnet development with motor design and integration. Updates on the reference EVTM were presented, which has now been fully reverse-engineered and digitally modelled. This digital twin enables the simulation of both recycled and newly designed magnets, allowing the team to assess their impact on motor performance. The motor’s geometry, magnetic layout, and integration parameters have been finalised, providing a complete set of design inputs for the manufacturing and demonstration stages that will follow.
Fabio also outlined the start of the activities which are focusing on optimising rotor and magnet geometries to reduce material use while maintaining performance. Using the digital twin developed by IFPEN, initial simulations have already shown promising stability even before further design optimisation. The next steps will refine these models while also evaluating the potential of PIM-enabled rotor designs and validate them through virtual testing. Overall, the work presented illustrates a smooth progression from design definition to integration readiness, establishing the technical foundation needed for the upcoming motor demonstration.
Scaling Up Recycling from End-of-Life Magnets
The second day of the General Assembly opened with a series of presentations on the recycling of end-of-life magnets containing rare earth elements, delivered by David Bastin from Université de Liège (ULiège). The session highlighted how MAGELLAN is addressing one of the most challenging stages in the circular value chain – retrieving magnets from end-of-life (EoL) products and transforming them into high-quality raw materials for new magnet production.
The consortium was presented with an overview of the latest sourcing and dismantling activities, showing how partners have successfully processed and characterised a growing number of end-of-life components. Specifically, over 400 e-scooters, 200 e-bikes and 24 rotors from 11 different vehicle brands and models have been sourced. With the majority of these end-of-life motors now dismantled, the consortium has established dismantling protocols and identified key bottlenecks across e-scooter, e-bike, and electric-car systems. A key point of discussion concerned the variety of rotor designs encountered across different products. Partners explained that while the employed thermo-mechanical extraction method has proven an effective method for EoL magnets for many configurations, some rotor designs and magnet coatings require alternative approaches. The collected EoL magnets feed directly into ongoing alloy production and manufacturing trials.
The insights gathered from dismantling and extraction activities were documented and will directly contribute to MAGELLAN’s broader goal of addressing the circular value-chain challenge from multiple angles, linking material recovery, design improvement, and policy action. Additionally the diversity of rotor designs has provided valuable insights into how magnet recycling technologies must adapt to the growing range of electric traction motors on the market as well as the increasing importance of designing for recycling.
The presentations also introduced recent advances in magnet de-coating techniques post-extraction, a crucial step in preparing recovered magnets for re-melting. Partners shared findings from laboratory trials testing chemical etching methods for the effective removal of zinc coatings from magnets, offering a cleaner input for subsequent alloy production compared to purely mechanical methods like sand or shot blasting. Further updates focused on HPTP plasma melting carried out on EoL magnets by Tecnalia, which is currently being studied as an alternative for EoL magnetic alloy formation. The results presented during the meeting showcased that the process achieves recovery yields of around 95%, with ongoing work aimed at reducing oxygen and carbon contamination.
Evaluating Sustainability and Responsibility
The following session of the General Assembly turned to the environmental and societal dimensions of the project, focusing on the evaluation of sustainability and responsibility. The presentation, led by Hari Kaikkonen (Geological Survey of Finland) with inputs from Lomartov and the University of Liege, explored how MAGELLAN’s research is shaping a deeper understanding of the environmental and economic implications of establishing a European circular magnet value chain.
Hari presented the research carried out by the University of Liege and its findings on sourcing rare earth elements from end-of-life products. The completed report shows that no fully developed recycling value chain for rare earth magnets currently exists in Europe, with collection still limited to a few voluntary schemes in some EU countries. The presentation outlined several barriers hindering large-scale recovery – including the lack of recycling targets and eco-design requirements, gaps in product information, and the regulatory complexity of transporting and classifying magnet-bearing waste. Manual dismantling also remains costly and inefficient, underscoring the need for automation and design-for-recycling solutions. Despite these challenges, the analysis indicates that end-of-life magnets hold the theoretical potential of meeting around one-quarter of the EU’s demand for rare earths by 2035–2040 if efficient collection and recovery systems are established, offering a realistic pathway to more transparent and resilient European supply chains.
The session continued with insights from another report delivered by the University of Liege on the sourcing of rare earth elements from primary raw materials. The report confirms that no rare earth mines are currently operating within the EU or EEA, even though the region hosts several promising deposits, mainly in Greenland and Norway. Under the Critical Raw Materials Act, EU aims by 2030 to extract 10% of its annual REE consumption from domestic mining, meet 40% of its refining demand with domestic refining capacity, and satisfy 25% of REE demand through recycling. The presentation noted that while rare earths themselves are relatively abundant, economically mineable concentrations are scarce, with neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium accounting for most of the market’s value. Several refining initiatives are already under way – including Neo Performance Materials, Solvay, Caremag, and MagFactory – with some of them selected as strategic projects under the CRMA. However, Europe still relies heavily on imported materials, particularly from China, which continues to dominate global production. The analysis concludes that building a fully European rare-earth value chain is possible but will require major investment in refining, separation, and processing capacity, supported by coordinated policy and industry action.
The consortium also reviewed the results of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) studies currently being carried out by Lomartov, which establish MAGELLAN’s environmental and economic baseline for magnet production. The completed analysis covers sixteen impact categories and confirms that the extraction and processing of rare earth elements dominate both the carbon footprint and the cost of manufacturing high-performance magnets. Highlights of the discussion included the findings that around 85% of the total climate-change impact arises from material production, with neodymium and praseodymium identified as the dominant contributors relative to their low mass share. This means that even modest reductions in the need to source these elements through conventional mining and refining can yield disproportionately large improvements in the overall climate-change performance of magnet production. Raw materials also account for about 70% of the production cost of Permanent Magnets with rare earths accounting for over 98% of total raw material costs, underscoring the importance of improving resource efficiency and recycling. Alongside the reference route based on virgin raw materials, a theoretical long-loop recycling scenario is being modelled to provide a comparative benchmark. The forthcoming assessment of the MAGELLAN solution – encompassing short-loop magnet-to-alloy recycling and high-performance permanent magnet production – will be directly compared against the established baselines. This evaluation will quantify the project’s anticipated effects in environmental and cost impacts relative to conventional production from primary sources as well as with long-loop recycling routes.
The session concluded with an update on the preparation of MAGELLAN’s Guidelines on Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability, led by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK). Partners were presented with the main points of an early draft of the document, which compiles insights from ongoing interviews with industrial, academic, and policy stakeholders active in the rare earth and permanent magnet sectors. These discussions are helping to identify the most relevant environmental, social, and governance aspects linked to the sourcing and recycling of rare earth elements, from traceability and labour practices to circular-design principles and end-of-life management. The forthcoming guidelines, to be finalised by the end of 2025, will translate these findings into a set of practical recommendations for responsible, sustainable, and transparent management of rare earth resources across both primary and secondary supply chains.
Demonstrating the MAGELLAN Solution in an Electric Traction Motor
The final technical session of the General Assembly focused on the demonstration of the MAGELLAN solution in an EVTM. Miša Milosavljević (IFP Energies Nouvelles) presented the upcoming plans for manufacturing the recycled permanent magnets that will power the project’s demonstration. IFPEN has already received two reference EVTMs from CRF, which have been reverse-engineered and their rotors redesigned to serve as validation platforms. The test-bench integration has been completed, and manufacturing drawings for the required recycled magnets are now available for the manufacturing activities of the project. In parallel, the rotor and magnets, fatigue and endurance test bench has been fully adapted, and the rotor stack to be used in the retrofit demonstration has been manufactured. Current work is now centred on the instrumentation of the rotor and stator, preparing the setup for the upcoming validation phase.
With the necessary design inputs now available, the presentation outlined the upcoming magnet manufacturing phase for the permanent magnets that will be used in MAGELLAN’s EVTM demonstration. This activity, coordinated with Orano and CEA, is scheduled to start in mid-2026, once the final magnet recycling and manufacturing process parameters are defined. For the physical demonstration purposes, the consortium will implement the short-loop magnet-to-alloy recycling route and the conventional magnet manufacturing process to produce high-performance magnets containing 25% recycled material. Once the new recycled magnets become available, they will be integrated into the reference motor’s rotor and tested under real operating conditions to evaluate their magnetic performance, thermal behaviour, and mechanical stability. The resulting data will be used to refine the project’s simulation models and confirm that MAGELLAN’s recycled magnets can operate reliably within demanding traction application, meeting the performance expectations of modern electric vehicles.
The final part of the session focused on the recyclability assessment that will complement the demonstration phase. The reference motor has already been disassembled, providing a baseline for evaluating recyclability and ease of magnet extraction. IFPEN and CRF will prepare a report based on their experience in disassembling and extracting the permanent magnets from the reference EVTM. The consortium will also assess its own recycled magnets to determine how readily they can be recovered at their End-of-Life. Across all dismantling activities conducted within the project, partners observed that older, as well as state of the art EVTMs generally offer limited ease of disassembly and magnet recovery, reinforcing the need to embed design-for-recycling principles in future motor architectures. The outcomes of this work will not only validate the circular potential of MAGELLAN’s recycled magnets but also contribute directly to design guidelines for next-generation electric motors, ensuring that recyclability considerations are integrated from the earliest design stages.
In the closing discussions of the General Assembly, partners reflected on the progress achieved across all areas of the project – from advances in magnet recycling and manufacturing to design optimisation, sustainability evaluation, and stakeholder engagement. Together, these developments show how MAGELLAN is moving steadily from laboratory research toward practical demonstration.
Pilot line visit – From Laboratory to Industrial Readiness
The General Assembly concluded with a visit to the Orano – CEA pilot line in Grenoble – a key milestone for MAGELLAN and one of the highlights of the two-day meeting. Partners had the opportunity to see how the processes developed throughout the project are now being implemented at pre-industrial scale. During the visit, teams from Orano and CEA presented the pilot line’s capabilities and its central role in validating MAGELLAN’s recycling and magnet manufacturing routes. The facility brings together all major stages of the production chain – from strip casting, hydrogen decrepitation, jet milling, pressing, sintering and annealing – under inert atmosphere tightly controlled conditions. It stands among Europe’s most advanced infrastructures for producing high-performance magnets using recycled rare-earth inputs. The consortium also visited the recently commissioned equipment for the Powder Injection Moulding (PIM) process, including the new inert-atmosphere kneader for feedstock preparation and the associated feeding and moulding systems. The visit offered a tangible sense of progress: the pilot line is now fully operational, and procedures are established to enable multi-kilogram production campaigns. It also provided a valuable opportunity for direct exchange among the technical teams, who discussed ongoing efforts to improve process stability, reproducibility, and scalability as MAGELLAN advances toward full demonstration.
With the pilot line and testing infrastructure in place, and end-of-life magnet processing already underway, MAGELLAN is entering the phase where its materials and processes will be validated under real operating conditions. The project’s goal is clear – to prove that high-performance magnets containing 25% recycled content can be produced reliably and used in electric vehicle traction motors and other strategic technologies central to Europe’s green transition. In doing so, MAGELLAN is helping to establish the technical and industrial foundations of a European value chain for permanent magnets, supporting both cleaner mobility and a more circular, resilient economy.
