Cyclic Materials, VAC sign 10-year rare earth magnet recycling deal

Canadian rare earth and metals recycler Cyclic Materials announced Wednesday an expansion of its partnership with magnetic materials developer VACUUMSCHMELZE (VAC).

The companies have signed a 10-year exclusive agreement for recycling 100% of the magnet by­products from VAC’s new manufacturing facility in Sumter, South Carolina, which is set to begin operations at the end of 2025.

Cyclic Materials raised $57 million in its Series B equity round last year, backed by Microsoft, Amazon, Hitachi Ventures, BMW iVentures, Jaguar Landrover’s lnMotion fund, and specialized funds such as Energy Impact Partners, ArcTern Ventures and Fifth Wall.

In April, Cyclic announced it invested over $20 million in its own first commercial facility in Mesa, Arizona.

The extended partnership with VAC builds on the 2024 agreement, ensuring efficient recycling of critical materials used in high-performance permanent magnets, the Ontario-based company said.

VAC produces neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) rare earth magnets, which are essential to automotive, defense, industrial and renewable energy applications. VAC said the extended agreement also strengthens its commitment to circularity with the option to reintegrate recycled mixed rare earth oxides (rMREOs) from Cyclic into its own production processes.

“At Cyclic Materials, our mission is to recover critical materials from permanent magnets that can be put back into the magnet supply chain to reduce the reliance on traditional mining methods and overseas sources,” Cyclic chief executive officer Ahmad Ghahreman said in a news release.

“With the extension of our partnership with VAC, we’re collectively building more momentum towards our goal of building a North American supply chain,” Ghahreman added. “VAC brings not only a reliable source of raw materials for extraction but also decades of expertise in rare earth magnet technology.”

“The addition of this new contract for our South Carolina facility strengthens our ability to localize the recovery and reintegration of REEs back into our production,” Erik Eschen, CEO of VAC, stated.

“By continuing to leverage Cyclic Materials’ innovative recycling processes alongside our advanced magnet manufacturing, we are collectively ensuring a sustainable and high-purity feedstock for high­ performance magnets to meet current and future industrial demand.”