A pilot project for recycling rare earth elements from discarded air conditioner outdoor units and other sources is being initiated under South Korea's circular economy regulatory exceptions.
The South Korean Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced on October 10 that it will implement regulatory exceptions for three resource recycling projects aimed at promoting the recycling of rare earths, lithium from discarded batteries, and other materials. The regulatory exception system, introduced in 2024, allows businesses to test new technologies and services with relaxed legal constraints for limited locations, periods, and scales. Successful pilot projects may lead to improvements in regulations to facilitate the commercialization of these technologies. Previous projects have included the recycling of discarded solar panels and the re-extraction of lithium iron phosphate batteries among 21 undertaken so far.
The three projects receiving regulatory exceptions include the recovery of rare earth permanent magnets from discarded electrical and electronic products, lithium recovery from residual materials based on mineralization, and the development of automotive interior and exterior materials from discarded banners. The recovery of rare earths from discarded electrical and electronic products has previously been hampered by inadequate collection systems and separation technologies, despite the significant volumes of rare earths estimated in various appliances such as air conditioners, electric vehicles, and wind turbines. If successful, the recycling of these rare earths could lead to considerable economic benefits for South Korea, which currently does not mine these materials domestically.
The initiative is a collaborative effort between a recycling organization known as 'Circulation Governance,' which has an established collection system for electrical and electronic products, and LG Electronics, which possesses separation technology for permanent magnets. Circulation Governance will collect the outdoor units of air conditioners to recover the rotors containing permanent magnets, and LG Electronics will employ a demagnetization process to extract the magnets. The magnets obtained can then be refined and reused in domestic and international electronic products, marking a significant step towards a more sustainable approach in managing electronic waste in South Korea.
