The full recording of our second online event of the Rare Earth Roundtable series, held on the 14th of November, is now available on our YouTube channel!
This session, hosted by EIT RawMaterials and Roland Gauß, Director Innovation and Product Development, brought together experts from across Europe to explore the untapped potential of the “urban mine” for Rare Earth Elements (REEs).
With critical materials key to the green transition, the conversation focused on how end-of-life products – from e-scooters and EV motors to discarded electronics – can become valuable feedstock for a European rare earths ecosystem.
Highlights from the second session:
🔹 Edoardo Righetti (CEPS) shared insights into the policy and economic aspects of rare earth permanent magnets recycling. He discussed the need for labelling, EU recycling targets, and the importance of reliable data to unlock the role of secondary REE supply in achieving Europe’s sustainability goals.
🔹 Jürgen Gassmann (Fraunhofer IWKS) outlined cutting-edge recycling technologies, explaining how short-loop and long-loop processes can help recover rare earth magnets efficiently. He emphasised that co-existing technologies will be crucial to handle diverse waste streams and deliver high-quality recycled materials.
🔹 Pierre Fiasse (Comet) provided a recycler’s perspective, detailing the challenge of recovering magnets profitably at industrial scale. He underlined the need to integrate magnet extraction within broader dismantling operations and highlighted the importance of stable policy frameworks and labelling to ensure stable supplies of end-of-life resources.
🔹 Lukas Brandl (BLC – The Battery Lifecycle Company) focused on the automotive sector, illustrating how dismantling EV motors can help unlock valuable materials from end-of-life vehicles. He emphasised the necessity of automation and standardisation in recycling operations, as well as policy measures that ensure critical components remain within Europe’s circular value chain.
Throughout the discussion, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and eco-design principles emerged as central tools to guide industry, recyclers, and policymakers towards a more circular and self-sufficient rare earth value chain.
If you missed any part of the event or would like to revisit the discussions, the recording of the webinar is now available, watch it here.
Follow the MAGELLAN project on soical media for further updates, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like to engage further.
We look forward to welcoming you to future events of the Rare Earth Roundtable Series!
