Cyclic Materials to build $82M rare earth recycling plant in South Carolina

Cyclic Materials is investing more than $82 million to establish a rare earth recycling campus in McBee, South Carolina.

The new site, host to its second facility in the US, would have a processing capacity of 2,000 tonnes of magnet material per annum, with a planned expansion to 6,000 tonnes.

The combined spoke-and-hub facility will utilize the company’s proprietary MagCycle and REEPure processes to separate and recover mixed rare earth oxides (MREO) from end-of-life products that are typically not recycled today, the Canadian-based Cyclic stated in a press release.

The aim, it added, is to enable a resilient, North American anchored source of REEs, which are critical to the production of vehicles, advanced electronics, AI infrastructure and high-performance permanent magnets used in defense, wind turbines, and advanced manufacturing systems.

The new recycling campus will initially have the capacity to produce 600 tonnes of MREO a year, rising to 1,800 tonnes following expansion.

Deploying such a facility will enable Cyclic Materials to onshore the production of these critical materials in short order, particularly the much-needed heavy rare earths, the company stated, adding that the 1,800 tonnes of MREO produced annually would supply enough materials needed to build 6 million hybrid transmissions per year.

The announcement follows Cyclic’s agreement last year with VACUUMSCHMELZE (VAC) to recycle 100% of magnet production byproducts (swarf) generated at VAC’s new manufacturing facility in nearby city of Sumter, which began operations at the end of 2025.

Together, the two companies’ facilities position South Carolina as a strategic hub for rare earth magnet recycling and production in the US, Cyclic said.

“Announcing the opening of our second US recycling site in South Carolina is a major milestone and a clear signal of our long-term commitment to building resilient, domestic critical minerals infrastructure in the US,” Cyclic Materials CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said in a news release.

“This facility will enable Cyclic to reliably serve partners such as VAC, while scaling our advanced recycling technologies that support manufacturing,” Ghahreman added. 

By scaling regional sourcing and processing of rare earth elements, Cyclic said it is accelerating domestic deployment of rare earth elements supply infrastructure years faster than traditional mining projects, in addition to being much less resource intensive.

The South Carolina project will also be supported by a range of federal and state incentives. Operations for the campus are expected to begin in 2028, creating over 90 new skilled jobs for the state, it added.

“Cyclic Materials’ new facility in Chesterfield County reflects the confidence companies have in South Carolina’s workforce and our ability to support advanced manufacturing,” South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said in the statement.