Rare earth metals recycling

A not so rare challenge

As we rely more heavily on rare metals, coming up with sustainable ways to source and recycle them becomes increasingly important. 
Currently, only about 1% of rare earth elements in old products are recycled, mainly due to factors like the complexity it poses to separate the blends that contain them and the hazardous substances involved in the highly-energy-consuming traditional recycling methods. Innovative engineering is on the eve of making circularity in rare metals’ lifecycle possible.

GEA’s expertise helps unlock the full potential

Our evaporation, crystallization, distillation and drying technologies are behind the purification and separation steps in the recycling process while our emission control expertise tackles the off-gas and exhaust air product of the recycling plants.

Crystallization is a key selective technique in the purification of rare earth metals. By carefully controlling the temperature and concentration of the solution, specific rare earth elements can be selectively crystallized out, then separated from the solution, and often recrystallized to further increase purity.

Our engineers skillfully integrate decades of process engineering expertise with our broad palette of technologies to tailor efficient and environmentally friendly recycling processes that adjust to each customer’s specifications, helping them keep the pace up with the growing demand for rare metals while reducing dependency on primary mining. All with the lowest energy consumption and keeping harmful emissions in check.

Why GEA?

• Over a century of evaporation, crystallization and drying expertise.
• Deep know-how of the hydrometallurgical process.
• We design and fabricate centrifugal separators, evaporators and crystallizers suitable for all process steps of the recycle process.
• Our Equipment is shop- or field- fabricated to ASME, ANSI, AS, PED and ASTM specifications.
• GEA installations are always closely supervised by our experts.