Rare-earth permanent magnets sit at the heart of electric motors and wind turbines, but making them from freshly mined material carries a heavy carbon cost. A magnet recycler using a short-loop, hydrogen-based process to recover NdFeB from end-of-life scrap believed its route was dramatically cleaner, and needed independent proof.

The client commissioned Minviro to conduct a product carbon footprint in accordance with ISO 14067:2018. Using process data from the client's independent feasibility study and background data from ecoinvent 3.10, Minviro modelled the footprint of the finished recycled magnet and its co-product alloy powder.

The assessment confirmed an exceptionally low footprint for the recycled magnet. Set against primary mine-to-magnet production, the recycled route represents a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions, though, as the client's own disclosure notes, primary-production comparisons drawn from separate studies follow different methodologies and serve as an indicative guide rather than a like-for-like ISO comparison.

The client has published the results to support project financing and to engage customers looking for a low-carbon, domestic source of permanent magnets.