The Centre of Excellence for Rare Earth Recycling combines processing and R&D programs to convert up to 500 tonnes of feedstock annually

Cyclic Materials has picked Kingston, Ont., for the site of its new Centre of Excellence for Rare Earth Recycling.

In an announcement today, the Toronto-headquartered rare earth element (REE) recycler says it plans to have the facility up and running by Q1 2026. REEs are an essential component of electric motors in EVs and are a critical link in Canada’s national supply chain.

“Spanning over 140,000 square feet, the first-of-its-kind facility will serve as Cyclic’s industrial and innovation backbone, combining full-scale commercial processing and cutting-edge research and development (R&D) to address one of the world’s most pressing supply chain challenges: the resilient sourcing of rare earth elements for use in permanent magnets,” reads the press release.

Cyclic Materials already has an existing facility in Kingston for commercial demonstrations and announced its first commercial facility in Arizona in April of this year.

Addressing a need

Cyclic Materials says less than one per cent of REEs are recycled and, today, the global supply of rare earth elements are overwhelmingly anchored in China.

“With this Centre of Excellence, we’re advancing our core mission: to secure the most critical elements of the energy transition through circular innovation,” said Ahmad Ghahreman, CEO of Cyclic Materials, in a press note. “Kingston is where Cyclic began—and now it’s where we’re anchoring our commercial future.”

Cyclic Materials says its process to recover REEs from end-of-life products (including EVs, wind turbines and hard drives) uses its own MagCycle and REEPure technologies.

The goal is to process 500 tonnes of feedstock into recycled Mixed Rare Earth Oxide (rMREO), annually when the facility reaches scale. The company says the new Kingston facility will act as a “Hub” for Cyclic’s production and will process feedstock from its Arizona “Spoke.”

The Centre will also support 45 new jobs in Kingston and deepen the existing partnership established by Cyclic, Queen’s University, Kingston Process Metallurgy (KPM), Impact Chemistry and local innovation coalition RXN Hub.

So far, Cyclic has several strategic alliances and North American off-take agreements with companies such as Solvay, Glencore, Lime Micromobility and Sims Lifecycle Solutions.

The company announced it also has plans to expand across Europe and Asia.