Europe is developing five Horizon-backed projects to reduce dependence on concentrated rare-earth and permanent-magnet supply chains, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency highlighted. The portfolio comprises BEETHOVEN, MagNEO, REESilience, CarMine and MAGELLAN, with work targeting electric-vehicle motors, renewable energy and other strategic sectors.
BEETHOVEN and MagNEO are developing magnetic materials that could reduce or eliminate rare-earth use in selected energy and mobility applications. Their work offers a substitution route where performance permits, while the wider portfolio also addresses recovery and supply-chain development rather than relying on one technology.
REESilience covers the supply chain from primary and secondary materials through alloys and powders. Europe’s reliance extends beyond rare-earth ore to separation, alloy production, magnet manufacturing and the technical know-how needed to deliver consistent magnetic performance. Rare-earth permanent magnets are difficult to replace in many traction motors and wind applications because their compact size and high magnetic performance can make alternatives require design trade-offs.
Recycling and vehicle recovery
MAGELLAN is targeting a sustainable permanent-magnet supply chain for high-volume electric-vehicle traction motors. Its work includes recycling, manufacturing and motor designs intended to make magnets easier to dismantle at end of life. The project has a total cost of €7.58 million.
CarMine began in September 2026 and focuses on end-of-life electric vehicles. It plans pilot-scale recovery of lithium, nickel and cobalt from batteries, as well as rare earths from neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) motor magnets. The project’s total cost is €8.63 million, including €7.07 million in EU support.
CarMine also incorporates digital product passports and traceability so recovered materials can be tracked through the value chain and compared with virgin alternatives. Improved dismantling could prevent magnets from going into shredders; recycling can return rare-earth material to alloy and magnet production, while design for disassembly can make future recovery cheaper.
The projects are intended to develop technical components of a European rare-earth and permanent-magnet industrial system and diversify primary and secondary feedstocks. The portfolio’s industrial test is whether the programmes can converge into an ecosystem rather than remain isolated demonstrations. That would require qualified recycled feedstock, stable demand, magnet-manufacturing capacity and acceptance by original equipment manufacturers at the same time.
