Funding to support restart of demo facility, commercial plant for REEs.

In a move that emphasizes the strategic importance of rare earth elements to national security, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Rare Resource Recycling Inc. (REEcyle) $5.2 million to restart a demonstration facility and advance a commercial plant capable of recovering 50 tons of rare earth oxides annually from recycled electronic waste.

Critical to the functionality of missiles, submarines, and other defense platforms, rare earth elements such as neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium have long been a vulnerability in U.S. supply chains.

To address this, REEcycle has developed proprietary technology capable of recovering more than 98% of these materials from electronic waste, positioning the company as a leader in mitigating reliance on foreign sources.

Specializing in the recovery of rare earths essential for the manufacture of neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets, REEcycle's work aligns with the DOD's broader strategy to reduce dependence on foreign supplies, a priority outlined in the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy.

Over the past year, DOD has made several strategic investments to secure domestic supplies of critical minerals vital to national security. These include a $20 million award to Electra Battery Materials for its cobalt refinery in Ontario, $6.4 million to Fortune Minerals for its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Northwest Territories, and a joint U.S.-Canada investment of $27.3 million to advance Fireweed Metals' Mactung tungsten project in Yukon.

Now, DOD has turned its focus to rare earth elements with a $5.1 million investment will support the restart of REEcycle's demonstration facility and the commissioning of a commercial plant capable of producing 50 tons of rare earth oxides annually, helping to secure materials essential for neodymium iron boron magnets used in defense technologies.

"A resilient mine-to-magnet supply chain will require diverse sources for rare earth elements," said Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. "REEcycle's capabilities will help the United States become less dependent on foreign sources by extracting full value from material that would otherwise end up in landfills."

Following the restart of its demonstration plant, REEcycle intends to commission a commercial plant and establish itself as a merchant supplier to companies engaged in downstream metallization and magnet manufacturing.

"By enabling REEcycle to recover critical materials from electronic waste, this award will support the DoD's work to expand the supply of rare earths needed for the production of defense articles," said Anthony Di Stasio, Director of the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) directorate. "These awards are an essential tool for mitigating risks in the defense industrial base and reducing overreliance on foreign supplies."