Cyclic Materials Opens First Commercial-Scale Rare Earth Magnet Recycling Plant
The Mesa, Arizona facility can process 25,000 metric tons of magnet-bearing products annually to recover neodymium-iron-boron materials.
Cyclic Materials has commenced commercial operations at its new recycling plant in Mesa, Arizona, marking the first commercial-scale deployment of its MagCycle process for rare earth magnet recovery.
What Happened
The Mesa facility is designed to process up to 25,000 metric tons of magnet-bearing end-of-life products per year. The plant utilizes Cyclic Materials’ MagCycle technology, an automated mechanical separation process that extracts magnets from discarded items. The recovered materials include the company’s Mag-Xtract rare earth magnet material, alongside copper, aluminum, and steel. According to the company, the plant was completed 17 months after its initial announcement.
Why It Matters
This development is significant for the electric vehicle supply chain because most EV traction motors are permanent-magnet machines built with neodymium-iron-boron magnets, the specific class of material this process recovers. By providing a domestic destination for these materials, the plant aims to keep resource-rich products within the United States rather than exporting them as waste. CEO Ahmad Ghahreman stated that the facility helps close gaps in the domestic supply chain, potentially shaving months or years off the delivery of critical materials needed for AI, energy, and defense sectors.
The Bottom Line
More than 7,000 metric tons of magnet-bearing material have already been delivered to the Mesa site under long-term commercial supply partnerships. The company expects the first shipments to US customers to occur in September 2026, while a second rare earth recycling campus in South Carolina remains in development.
