# Sustainable Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Hard Disks: Grinding NdFeB Magnets and Financial and Environmental Analysis

## TL;DR

This paper presents a sustainable method to recover rare earth elements from hard disk magnets, optimizing grinding techniques and analyzing costs and environmental impact.

## Contribution

A novel grinding method for recovering rare earth elements from NdFeB magnets in hard disks is developed with optimized parameters and economic-environmental analysis.

## Key findings

- Grinding with a planetary mill achieved an average particle size (d50) below 5 μm, suitable for further processing.
- The method minimizes energy use and avoids specialized conditions or expensive pretreatment processes.
- Economic and environmental analyses were conducted to evaluate neodymium alloy production feasibility.

## Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs), particularly neodymium (Nd), dysprosium (Dy), and praseodymium (Pr), are critical in the production of neodymium–iron–boron (NdFeB) magnets used in electronic devices, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. Due to the limited availability of these metals, their recovery from waste electronic equipment such as hard disk drives (HDDs) offers a promising solution. The aim of this study was to develop a method to grind NdFeB magnets obtained from the physical recycling of HDD. The recycled magnets were ground using a planetary mill. A review of the literature highlights the limitations of the currently used grinding methods, which require energy-intensive pretreatment processes, specialised conditions, or expensive equipment. This study employed a Fritsch planetary mill, tungsten carbide grinding balls, and ethanol as a grinding medium. NdFeB magnet samples (120 g) were ground for different durations (0.5 h–15 h) at a speed of 300 rpm, using a cyclic operating mode to minimise material heating. The resulting powders were analysed using a laser particle analyser, an optical microscope, and an X-ray diffractometer. The results enable the determination of optimal grinding parameters, achieving an average particle size (d50) below 5 μm, which is essential for further processing and new magnet production. Finally, the economic and environmental aspects of producing the neodymium alloy were analysed.