Ex-ante LCA of a hydrometallurgical route using weak acid for recycling of REEs from EOL HDD’s NdFeB permanent magnet

The rare-earth elements (REEs) are Europe’s most critical raw-materials group due to the high supply dependency on the Chinese REEs near-monopoly. The NdFeB permanent magnet in EOL hard disk drivers (HDDs) is an actual source of REEs. However, REEs recycling routes are still under development. Hydrometallurgical routes are attractive because...