On 24 March 2026, the REEsilience consortium gathered at Hosokawa Alpine AG in Augsburg, Germany, to address one of Europe’s most pressing industrial questions: how to build a resilient European rare earth supply chain — from mine to magnet.
The event was moderated by Maëva Pratlong (Steinbeis Europa Zentrum), with Michael Kuhnen, CEO of Hosokawa Alpine AG, co‑hosting. The industrial setting underscored the event’s core message: resilience in rare earth magnets will not be achieved through policy or technology alone, but through their alignment with real industrial processes.
Opening the programme, Prof. Dr. Carlo Burkhardt (Pforzheim University), coordinator of REEsilience, reflected on the project’s trajectory as it enters its final phase ahead of its June 2026 conclusion. He positioned REEsilience as a response to a structural imbalance: Europe is highly competitive in applications such as electric mobility and renewable energy, yet remains dependent on external actors for critical rare earth materials, alloys and magnets.
This imbalance was the central focus of Panel 1: From Mine to Magnet – Strengthening the Permanent Magnet Supply Chain in Europe, moderated by Prof. Dr. René Kleijn (Leiden University). Drawing on his background in industrial ecology and resource governance, Kleijn steered the discussion beyond individual technologies toward interdependencies across the permanent magnet value chain.
A defining contribution came from Matej Zaplotnik, Head of R&D at Magneti Ljubljana, representing the REMHub project. Drawing on Magneti Ljubljana’s industrial experience and REMHub’s Horizon Europe innovation activities, Zaplotnik emphasised that European magnet manufacturing capability must be rebuilt as a system rather than through isolated pilot plants. Secure access to alloys, scalable recycling routes, predictable quality of secondary materials, and industrially relevant powder and magnet technologies were highlighted as prerequisites for reliable European production of NdFeB and SmCo magnets.
Other panellists reinforced this message from their respective positions along the chain. Yener Bicakci (Hosokawa Alpine AG) linked advanced powder processing and fine grinding directly to magnet quality, reproducibility and competitiveness. Karla Kosmač (Kolektor Mobility) highlighted the role of plastic‑bonded magnets in rotors and sensors, stressing that application‑driven requirements must shape material choices. From an end‑user perspective, Dr. David Schuller (ZF Friedrichshafen) underlined how sustainability, traceability and supply security increasingly influence material selection in electric drivetrains.
REMHub was also represented at coordinator level by Merie Kannampuzha, signalling close strategic alignment between EU projects funded for permanent magnets . While approaching the challenge from complementary angles, both REEsilience and REMHub address the same structural need: rebuilding European capability across rare earth processing, magnet production and circularity through coordinated, system‑level action.
The panel converged on a clear conclusion: Europe’s downstream strength cannot compensate for upstream fragility. Achieving resilience requires coordinated investment from processing and materials through to magnets and applications, supported by long‑term industrial demand signals.
The morning session closed with a technical showcase, where REEsilience partners presented concrete solutions developed within the project. Laura Grau of Pforzheim University, whose doctoral research centred on Design for Recycling of NdFeB permanent magnets from electric machines, presented approaches to designing magnets with end-of-life recovery in mind from the very start. This upstream design thinking is essential if recycling is to become a reliable source of secondary rare earth materials rather than an afterthought.
Jovey Farthing of HyProMag UK , Franck Fajardie of Carester and Ulziikhuu Otgonbayar of TU Freiberg also presented their solutions.
The second panel, moderated by Laura Melandri (Erion Compliance Organization), expanded the discussion to circularity across applications. Contributions from SUEZ, B&C Speakers, ZF Friedrichshafen, HyProMag and Pforzheim University reinforced a point already implicit in the first panel: circularity is inseparable from design, production and end‑use decisions.
Permanent magnets are embedded across a wide array of products, from traction motors to professional audio equipment, making fragmented approaches ineffective. For industrial players engaged in magnet manufacturing and use, circularity must be predictable, standardised and compatible with large‑scale production.
The keynote by Federica Miccoli (DG GROW, European Commission) provided the policy context underpinning both panels. She outlined how the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and the RESourceEU Action Plan translate Europe’s strategic objectives into concrete measures.
Of particular relevance to Panel 1 discussions were:
These regulatory developments address a key concern voiced by industrial actors: investment in European magnet capacity depends on long‑term regulatory clarity and aligned incentives.
The event concluded with reflections by Carlo Burkhardt and Michael Kuhnen, followed by a factory tour of Hosokawa Alpine AG offering a concrete reminder that mineral processing, powder technology and magnet manufacturing are inseparable in practice.
As REEsilience enters its final months, the Augsburg main event demonstrated that Europe no longer lacks ideas or pilot technologies. The remaining challenge is execution: connecting upstream materials, recycling, magnet production and policy into a system that is not only sustainable, but industrially and strategically robust.
REEsilience is co-funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe grant agreement no. 101058598 and by UKRI under UK government grant number 10038960. More information at reesilience.eu.
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