Cyclic Materials, a company specialising in the recycling of rare earth elements (REEs), has announced an investment of more than $82m (C$110.86m) in a new rare earth recycling campus in McBee, South Carolina, US.
The company plans to establish its second US spoke facility and its largest hub facility at the new site.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The facility will have the initial capacity to process 2,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of magnet material, with future expansion to 6,000t planned.
Cyclic Materials’ proprietary MagCycle and REEPure processes will be integrated into the site to recover mixed rare earth oxides (MREOs) from end-of-life products that usually remain unrecycled.
The facility is expected to initially produce 600tpa of recycled MREOs, with plans to expand its capacity to 1,800tpa to meet increasing demand.
The establishment of this facility will allow Cyclic Materials to quickly bring the production of essential materials, especially heavy rare earths, to the US.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataOnce fully operational, the expected 1,800tpa of MREOs would provide enough REEs to produce six million hybrid transmissions each year.
This initiative aims to create a robust North American source for REEs, which are essential for manufacturing vehicles, advanced electronics, AI infrastructure, and high-performance permanent magnets used in defence systems and wind turbines.
Cyclic Materials co-founder and CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said: “At Cyclic Materials, our mission is to recover critical materials from permanent magnets that can be put back into the magnet supply chain to reduce the reliance on traditional mining methods and overseas sources.
“With the extension of our partnership with VAC, we are collectively building more momentum towards our goal of building a North American supply chain. VAC brings not only a reliable source of raw materials for extraction but also decades of expertise in rare earth magnet technology. Together we are making the circular economy a reality.”
In conjunction with an agreement finalised in October 2025 with Vacuumschmelze (VAC), Cyclic Materials will exclusively recycle all magnet production byproducts from VAC’s new facility in Sumter, South Carolina.
This collaboration positions South Carolina as a key hub for rare earth magnet recycling and production in the US.
The agreement will span a decade and aligns with start of VAC’s operations at the end of 2025.
The new campus is expected to start operations by 2028 and create over 90 skilled jobs.
This development is part of an effort to accelerate the domestic supply of REE infrastructure more rapidly than traditional mining methods, while being less resource intensive.
Additionally, the project will benefit from both federal and state incentives.
In June 2025, Cyclic Materials announced a $25m (C$34.04m) investment to establish a rare earth recycling facility in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
