Cyclic Materials

Cyclic Materials is an Ontario-based advanced metals recycling company focused on recovering rare earth elements (REE) used in high-performance magnets from end-of-life products. It re-circulates REEs back into the supply chains of automobiles, renewable wind energy, electronics, and more. Additionally, the company’s process recycles copper, aluminum, steel, cobalt, and nickel—metals that are also required for electrification and decarbonization. Cyclic Materials' closed-loop process reportedly uses less than 2% of the water and requires only 40% of the CO2 emissions of newly mined material. 

In February 2024, Cyclic Materials expanded to process two new streams, wind turbine generators and MRI machines to create a circular supply chain that feeds these critical metals back into the North American and European markets.

Cyclic's first facility, operational since September 2023, processes approximately 2,200 pounds of devices per hour, or nearly 18 million pounds per year, using its Mag-Xtract magnet removal process. Additionally, its hydrometallurgical process, which underwent trial runs in 2022, has an initial capacity of 22,000 lbs per year. As of March 2024, the company was developing its first commercial demonstration plant for this technology in Kingston with a target launch date in Q2 2024. Plans are also underway to expand with multiple facilities in the US and Canada.

Key customers and partnerships

In 2022, Cyclic Materials partnered with Polestar for the development of REEs of recycled magnets for use in Polestar cars, as well as explore ways to efficiently recycle existing magnets. ‍In February 2023, the company partnered with Solvay for the production and supply of recycled mixed rare earth oxides (rMREO). The company also partnered with Arnold Magnetic Technologies, a leading magnet manufacturer, in April 2023, to establish a rare earth recycling program that would recycle all elements from Arnold's supply feed. In March 2024, the company partnered with Vacuumschmelze, a developer of magnetic materials and solutions, to recycle by-products containing critical materials used in high-performance permanent magnets.

Funding and financials

In April 2023, Cyclic Materials raised USD 27 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing round led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and BMW i Ventures (BiV) to scale up its technologies for future growth in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as meet the rising demand for REEs. The company was also among the 17 companies selected to receive USD 3.6 million in funding in February 2023 from the Sustainable Development Technology Council (SDTC) of Canada to support the scaling of their proprietary technology.