🏆 CIRCULAR REPUBLIC AWARD — Rare Earth Recycling Takes the Stage
The 2026 Circular Technology Award isn’t just another trophy wall. It’s a snapshot of who’s actually building the infrastructure for a circular critical‑minerals economy.
Two names in particular jump out on the recycling side: Ionic Technologies and HyProMag — and DEScycle flying the flag for UK deep‑eutectic solvent metals recovery. 💥
🧵 Here’s why this line‑up matters.
🔬 Ionic Technologies — Ionic liquids, not smokestacks
Belfast‑based Ionic Technologies (100% owned by ASX:
$IXR) is pioneering Multifunctional Amide Ionic Liquid (MAIL) chemistry to separate Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb from end‑of‑life magnets and mixed rare earth concentrates.
Their tech has already run 24/7 in a demonstration plant, producing >99.5% pure magnet oxides and securing major UK backing through TDAP, SuRV, CLIMATES, REEValuate and the £11m CirculaREEconomy (CREEM) consortium.
The Circular Republic spotlight underlines what the UK government has already concluded: this is one of the few Western platforms that can turn mixed scrap into battery‑grade rare earth oxides at scale.
#IonicTechnologies #MAIL #RareEarths #MagnetRecycling #Belfast #CircularEconomy #IXR
🧲 HyProMag — Hydrogen cracking for magnets
HyProMag brings something equally powerful and complementary: Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) — a technique that uses hydrogen gas to crack NdFeB magnets into a demagnetised powder without dissolving them.
That short‑loop route saves up to 90% of the energy versus making magnets from fresh ore, and it’s already moving into commercial operation in the UK and Germany, backed by Innovate UK and Mkango.
Seeing HyProMag on the same Circular Republic stage reinforces the message: rare earth magnet recycling is no longer niche R&D — it’s entering the industrial mainstream.
#HyProMag #HPMS #NdFeB #EVSupplyChain #WindEnergy #CriticalMinerals
🧪 DEScycle — Deep eutectic solvents from the UK, scaling into Europe
DEScycle is another UK‑rooted name showing up across circular‑metals awards and prospectuses — now also recognised by Germany’s SPRIND and EU programmes for its deep eutectic solvent (DES) approach to metal recovery.
Instead of high‑temperature smelters or aggressive acids, DEScycle’s chemistry uses benign, low‑energy DES solvents to strip critical metals from e‑waste and residues, with modular, capital‑light plants that sit next to collection points rather than at giant smelters.
Having DEScycle in the same conversation as Ionic and HyProMag underlines how strong the UK’s circular‑metals toolbox has become.
#DEScycle #DeepEutecticSolvents #UrbanMining #Ewaste #UKInnovation
🌍 And the wider cohort — real innovators across materials & disassembly
The rest of the Circular Republic line‑up brings in automated disassembly, robotics, battery recovery, and advanced materials tracking — each tackling a different choke‑point in circular supply chains.
Together, this cohort is building the plumbing we’ll need if Europe and its allies are serious about getting 20% of critical minerals from recycling and circular flows, not just words in a policy document.
Ionic Technologies and HyProMag on magnets, DEScycle on metals, and the other award finalists on automation and analytics — that’s a serious ecosystem forming.
#CircularRepublic #CircularTechnologyAward #CircularEconomy #CriticalMinerals #RecyclingInnovation #GreenTech #ResourceRecovery
🔁 Why I’m watching this space
Awards aren’t the end game — tonnes through plants are. But the Circular Republic Award is fast becoming a good signal of who’s moving from lab to factory in circular metals and magnets.
I’ll be tracking how Ionic Technologies, HyProMag, DEScycle and the rest of this year’s finalists turn recognition into commissioned capacity, locked‑in feedstock and real tonnes of Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb.
Stay tuned. 👀
#MagnetRecycling #MetalsRecycling #EnergyTransition #SupplyChainResilience #EUIndustry #UKManufacturing #Sustainability #Innovation @roblun1