France Accelerates Layout for Rare Earth Refining and Recycling; EU Develops Strategy to Reduce Dependence on China

After China announced new restrictions on rare earth exports, France and Europe once again realized the urgency of reducing their high dependence on this key strategic resource. To avoid the risk of being "strangled," France is accelerating its layout in the field of rare earth refining and recycling, hoping to establish an independent supply system within a few years.

According to the Central News Agency, currently, nearly half of the world's rare earth reserves are concentrated in China, which accounts for about 90% of the global rare earth refining volume. This high concentration has raised European vigilance. Based on the 2023 passed "Critical Raw Materials Act," the EU has set targets: by 2030, at least 10% of the mining volume, 40% of the processing volume, and 25% of the recycling volume will be achieved within the EU.

In March this year, the EU published a list of 47 strategic projects, with a total subsidy plan of 22.5 billion euros, five of which involve rare earths, and two of them are in France, focusing on the refining and recycling stages respectively.

The first project is undertaken by MagREEsource, a startup based in Grenoble. This company was incubated by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and has developed a new technology for recycling permanent magnets: it can crush discarded magnets and remake them into new magnets. The plan is to achieve an annual production capacity of 1,000 tons by 2028.

The French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) pointed out that currently, less than 1% of used magnets in Europe are recycled, and these metals are almost entirely dependent on Chinese mining. The agency stated in its report, "Considering that these magnetic alloys contain rare earths, and rare earth mines are almost entirely controlled by China, this waste is extremely unreasonable." Therefore, the French government considers magnet recycling as a strategic industry.

The second project is handled by Caremag, which is building Europe's first rare earth recycling and refining plant in Lacq in southwest France. The plant started construction in March this year and is planned to be operational by the end of 2026, capable of recycling approximately 2,000 tons of permanent magnets annually, producing 5,000 tons of concentrate, and extracting about 800 tons of neodymium oxide, praseodymium oxide, as well as 590 tons of dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide.

Dysprosium and terbium, known as "heavy rare earths," are almost entirely dependent on Chinese refining and have significant strategic importance. The Caremag project aims to meet about 15% of the global demand for heavy rare earths, seen as an important part of France's industrial sovereignty. Automotive manufacturers such as Stellantis (Stellantis) have become partners, and the company has also signed partial production contracts with Japanese parties.

At the same time, the Belgian chemical group Solvay launched a rare earth recycling production line at its factory in La Rochelle in western France in April this year, planning to produce neodymium oxide and praseodymium oxide, aiming to meet about 30% of Europe's rare earth demand by 2030.

Clément Beaune, Senior Commissioner for Strategy and Planning in France, said that various trade conflicts have shown the risks of relying on other countries, "With such factories, we can be stronger, create jobs, and at the same time promote climate transition by producing locally in France and Europe."

Source: rfi

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846154246043786/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.