In this project processes will be identified and developed for recovery of rare earths elements (REE), particularly the most critical five, neodymium (Nd), europium (Eu), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy) and yttrium (Y), from waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), namely NdFeB permanent magnets and phosphors, and waste of batteries and accumulators (WB&A), namely NiMH batteries.

The activities will comprise:

Identification of the types of waste and evaluation of the economic aspects associated with project implementation.

Definition of methods for the analysis of REE in different wastes and at different stages of their treatment, for the pre-treatment of waste and for the extraction and purification of REE.

Selection of waste to be treated and experimental implementation of the methodologies selected for pretreatment and extraction and purification of REE.

Scale-up studies of the selected processes, project and implementation of a pilot plant and production and quality testing of pre-batches.