BMW Invests in Cyclic Materials’ Rare Earth Recycling Technology

BMW is investing in Canadian startup Cyclic Materials, which specializes in recycling rare earth elements and other metals such as copper, aluminum, steel, cobalt and nickel. At the end of 2022, Cyclic Materials had already entered into a cooperation with Polestar.

Cyclic Materials reports raising $27 million in Series A funding. The round was led by BMW through its investment subsidiary BMW i Ventures and Energy Impact Partners, other sponsors were Fifth Wall, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada and existing investor Planetary Technologies – although the exact sums per investor are not broken down. The Canadian company has said it has developed pilot plants since it was founded in 2021 and now wants to use the fresh capital to set up commercial operations.

Rare earths are among the least recycled metals “because it’s difficult to separate the different magnetic materials in end-of-life products,” Cyclic Materials shares. However, with the global market for rare earth elements projected to triple by 2030, developing new sources is crucial. Through proprietary technology, Cyclic Materials claims it can cost-effectively recycle rare earths from a variety of end-of-life products.

“Rare earth elements are critical for many applications, from small electronic devices to large wind turbines, but they are very difficult to produce,” says Kasper Sage, Managing Director of BMW i Ventures. “The Cyclic team has developed a novel process that can create a sustainable, secondary source of supply. We are excited about the company’s plan to scale this technology to help secure the metals supply chain of the future.”

“We are very excited about this new financing and our new partnerships (…) which will help us plan our future growth in North America, Europe and Asia,” said Ahmad Ghahreman, CEO and co-founder of Cyclic Materials.

At the end of 2022, Cyclic Materials had already entered into a cooperation with the electric car manufacturer Polestar, which envisages the development of recycled magnets for use in electric motors in Polestar vehicles. At the time, the Swedish Geely brand stated that in the case of the Polestar 2, which relies on permanent magnet synchronous machines (PSM) with permanent magnets, they had found “that electric motors, which contain valuable rare earth elements such as neodymium and dysprosium, are the second most valuable raw material after car batteries – have a footprint”. Since neodymium and dysprosium have a decisive influence on the properties of the permanent magnet installed in the rotor, they are very important.
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