Design of collection strategies for neodymium magnets present in end-of-life wind turbines and electric vehicles in the European Union

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

A. Kumar Technology, Policy and Management

Contributors

M.W. Ludema Transport and Logistics - TPM (mentor)
J.N. Quist Energy and Industry (graduation committee member)
M. Comes System Engineering - TPM (coach)
Faculty
Technology, Policy and Management, Technology, Policy and Management
Copyright: © 2022 Arnav Kumar
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

30-09-2022

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Technology, Policy and Management

Abstract

The demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines have been rising significantly in the EU as the EU wants to become carbon neutral by 2050 and generate 40% of its energy through renewable sources in order to avoid climate change and its consequences. However, both these technologies use several critical raw materials essential for their functioning. Wind turbines generate electricity through generators, and EVs are driven by motors. An important component used in both these technologies is neodymium magnets. The magnets contain rare earth elements (mainly neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium) which are defined as critical raw materials by the European Commission. Against the massive usage of neodymium magnets in these green technologies, there is no collection plan that focuses on recovering and reusing the magnets from EVs and wind turbines. Currently, less than 1% of neodymium magnets are recycled in the EU due to no collection in place and a lack of large-scale recycling. End-of-life (EoL) EVs and wind turbines will be massive sources of scrap neodymium magnets in the EU. However, in order to reuse or recycle neodymium magnets, these magnets first need to be collected, which is seen as an opportunity. Only when a high collection rate is achieved, a significant amount of magnets can be recycled into magnets or their constituent rare earth elements (REEs) and thus contribute to more secure access to REEs in the EU. This master thesis uses a design approach to develop a set of collection strategies that can be implemented in the EU. To develop the strategy, requirements and functions are identified by the means of four analyses- neodymium magnet market analysis, reuse and recyclability of neodymium magnets, legal analysis, and stakeholder analysis. Based on the functions formulated, means are identified that can fulfil the functions. Finally, the chosen means are categorised in five themes: Legislation and regulation, Finance, Infrastructure development, Information exchange and Material flow. Furthermore, the different solutions are categorised into short-term (can be implemented 3-6 years), medium-term (can be implemented 6-9 years), and long-term plans (can be implemented 9-12 years).