Table 2 Details of case study firms Case... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Details of case study firms

Case	Location	Organization type	Age (y)	Size*	SC positioning	Case information
A	Italy	Consortium	2	–	Indirect recycling	Case A is in the project phase and is led by two Italian companies. The project is currently proceeding with two streams: one related to the construction of a pilot plant for the recycling of REE magnets, and the other related to the assessment of suppliers of scrap metals, inputs of the plant. The plant is going to implement the hydrometallurgical process of magnet separation (indirect recycling). The positioning in the supply chain as an indirect recycler is critical: the consortium is trying to partner with big manufacturing companies of electronic products to reduce the complexity in terms of the number of different end-of-life magnets treated
B	Spain	Start-up	3	<10	Direct recycling	Case B performs direct recycling by recovering the magnet by transforming the shape or producing powders. It produces powders that can be directly input into magnet manufacturers’ machines; thus, their customers are magnet manufacturers. The firm needs as input the magnets already separated and its suppliers are magnet and electric motors manufacturers, recycling companies that manage industrial waste. However, there is no continuous flow of scrap magnets. Case B does not have long-term contracts with suppliers, but only informal agreements based on the temporary availability of some scrap magnets
C	France	Start-up	7	10-50	Direct recycling, magnet manufacturing	Case C is a direct recycler of permanent magnets. It uses a hydrogen decrepitation process to treat scrap magnets and produce powders, and it is positioned in its chain as magnet manufacturer, using its recycled material as input for the production. At the moment, the firm has a plant with 50 t/y magnets capacity. Case C sources materials from all applications where magnets can be found. The scraps are sourced from two different streams: recycling companies (end-of-life magnets), customers (production scraps). Also in this case, the major criticality is the shortage of scraps due to the absence of a market for scraps and to the exporting of scrap material outside Europe to be re-processed
D	Germany	Start-up	4	<10	Direct recycling, magnet manufacturing	Case D is a direct recycling start-up born as a university spinoff. Case D also performs manufacturing of magnets selling directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The firm has a single supplier of magnet scraps, having signed a memorandum of understanding with a big German primary recycler. The firm also serves as consultant for its own supplier regarding the identification and extraction of magnets inside of scrap products. Case D developed and is developing its recycling capabilities by participating in European R&D projects
E	Estonia	Multinational company	7	∼2000	Separation, exploration, magnet manufacturing	Case E is the biggest and most integrated player in the REEs industry in Europe, even if headquartered in Canada with production sites and offices in North America, Europe, China and South-East Asia. In Europe, the firm operates a separation plant that covers the whole separation phase from carbonates to oxides. Besides, it is investing massively to implement a vertical integration strategy both upstream (exploration and mining) and downstream (magnet manufacturing). Its customers are mainly big automotive players
F	Germany	National company	101	∼1000	Magnet manufacturing	Case F is a long-lived European magnet manufacturer. Its main production plant in Germany has a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per year of magnets. It covers the whole magnet-making phase, from crushing and powder making, to sintering, machining and magnetizing. Magnet production is all customer-specific and covers different applications, serving customers from aerospace, defence, sensors, medical devices and automotive and renewable energies industries. Its suppliers mainly come from China, where it sources from various suppliers in different regions of China to minimize its chances of supply shortages. Suppliers are also coming from Australia, USA and Europe
G	France	National company	5	10–50	Separation, indirect recycling	Case G is a French company focused on creating an industrial project on the recycling of REEs magnets through separation (long-loop recycling). The plant inputs both end-of-life magnets (2k tonnes/y) from which it produces light REEs (neodymium and praseodymium), and mining concentrates (5k tonnes/y) from which it produces heavy REEs (terbium and dysprosium). It holds key relationships with institutional and industrial stakeholders in France, including the national government and the other French players in the REEs industry, whose business models are mainly based on shot-loop recycling technologies and therefore complementary to case G’s one

Case	Location	Organization type	Age (y)	Size*	SC positioning	Case information
A	Italy	Consortium	2	–	Indirect recycling	Case A is in the project phase and is led by two Italian companies. The project is currently proceeding with two streams: one related to the construction of a pilot plant for the recycling of REE magnets, and the other related to the assessment of suppliers of scrap metals, inputs of the plant. The plant is going to implement the hydrometallurgical process of magnet separation (indirect recycling). The positioning in the supply chain as an indirect recycler is critical: the consortium is trying to partner with big manufacturing companies of electronic products to reduce the complexity in terms of the number of different end-of-life magnets treated
B	Spain	Start-up	3	<10	Direct recycling	Case B performs direct recycling by recovering the magnet by transforming the shape or producing powders. It produces powders that can be directly input into magnet manufacturers’ machines; thus, their customers are magnet manufacturers. The firm needs as input the magnets already separated and its suppliers are magnet and electric motors manufacturers, recycling companies that manage industrial waste. However, there is no continuous flow of scrap magnets. Case B does not have long-term contracts with suppliers, but only informal agreements based on the temporary availability of some scrap magnets
C	France	Start-up	7	10-50	Direct recycling, magnet manufacturing	Case C is a direct recycler of permanent magnets. It uses a hydrogen decrepitation process to treat scrap magnets and produce powders, and it is positioned in its chain as magnet manufacturer, using its recycled material as input for the production. At the moment, the firm has a plant with 50 t/y magnets capacity. Case C sources materials from all applications where magnets can be found. The scraps are sourced from two different streams: recycling companies (end-of-life magnets), customers (production scraps). Also in this case, the major criticality is the shortage of scraps due to the absence of a market for scraps and to the exporting of scrap material outside Europe to be re-processed
D	Germany	Start-up	4	<10	Direct recycling, magnet manufacturing	Case D is a direct recycling start-up born as a university spinoff. Case D also performs manufacturing of magnets selling directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The firm has a single supplier of magnet scraps, having signed a memorandum of understanding with a big German primary recycler. The firm also serves as consultant for its own supplier regarding the identification and extraction of magnets inside of scrap products. Case D developed and is developing its recycling capabilities by participating in European R&D projects
E	Estonia	Multinational company	7	∼2000	Separation, exploration, magnet manufacturing	Case E is the biggest and most integrated player in the REEs industry in Europe, even if headquartered in Canada with production sites and offices in North America, Europe, China and South-East Asia. In Europe, the firm operates a separation plant that covers the whole separation phase from carbonates to oxides. Besides, it is investing massively to implement a vertical integration strategy both upstream (exploration and mining) and downstream (magnet manufacturing). Its customers are mainly big automotive players
F	Germany	National company	101	∼1000	Magnet manufacturing	Case F is a long-lived European magnet manufacturer. Its main production plant in Germany has a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per year of magnets. It covers the whole magnet-making phase, from crushing and powder making, to sintering, machining and magnetizing. Magnet production is all customer-specific and covers different applications, serving customers from aerospace, defence, sensors, medical devices and automotive and renewable energies industries. Its suppliers mainly come from China, where it sources from various suppliers in different regions of China to minimize its chances of supply shortages. Suppliers are also coming from Australia, USA and Europe
G	France	National company	5	10–50	Separation, indirect recycling	Case G is a French company focused on creating an industrial project on the recycling of REEs magnets through separation (long-loop recycling). The plant inputs both end-of-life magnets (2k tonnes/y) from which it produces light REEs (neodymium and praseodymium), and mining concentrates (5k tonnes/y) from which it produces heavy REEs (terbium and dysprosium). It holds key relationships with institutional and industrial stakeholders in France, including the national government and the other French players in the REEs industry, whose business models are mainly based on shot-loop recycling technologies and therefore complementary to case G’s one

Note(s): *n° employees 2023

Source(s): Authors’ own work