LG Electronics turns discarded appliances into source of rare earth magnets

LG Electronics is turning to discarded refrigerators and air conditioners as new sources of rare earth materials.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the E-Cycle Governance and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment at a resource cycling center in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Thursday. Under the MOU, the three will launch a pilot project to recover permanent magnets from compressors in discarded home appliances.

Permanent magnets refer to magnets that retain their magnetic properties without an external power source.

The project aims to recover 1.6 metric tons (1.8 tons) of rare earth permanent magnets annually from about 40,000 discarded appliances.

Rare earth permanent magnets are critical materials widely used in EVs and industrial motors, but their strong magnetic force has made them difficult to remove from discarded appliances. Until now, only certain metals such as copper have been recovered; most permanent magnets have been recycled together with scrap metal.

LG Electronics has developed a demagnetization technology that uses a magnetic field to remove magnets’ magnetic properties. Compared to conventional methods that use high heat, the technology reduces energy consumption and prevents heat from degrading the magnets’ physical properties.

The company will also use AI-based vision technology to analyze the size and shape of discarded compressors, locate the permanent magnets inside and apply the appropriate separation process.

The recovered magnets will be used to develop technologies to process such magnets into raw materials for new magnets.

“We will contribute to a circular economy by recovering key materials from end-of-life products and putting them back to use,” said Yang Hee-gu, the head of the production innovation center at LG Electronics’ Production Engineering Research Institute.

BY LEE YOUNG-KEUN [[email protected]]