The New Strategic Metal: How Recycling Is Securing America's Rare Earths

LOS ANGELES, CA – July 28, 2026

A recent podcast conversation might not seem like the typical front line of geopolitical strategy, but when Ahmad Ghahreman, the founder of Cyclic Materials, spoke on the Impact Podcast, the implications echoed far beyond the studio. Ghahreman’s company is at the vanguard of a movement that treats urban scrap heaps and factory waste not as refuse, but as strategic mineral reserves. By pioneering methods to recycle rare earth elements (REEs), Cyclic Materials is directly addressing one of the most significant economic and national security vulnerabilities facing the United States today.

REEs are the lifeblood of the modern economy. These 17 obscure metals are indispensable components in everything from the permanent magnets in EV motors and wind turbines to the sophisticated guidance systems in defense technology and the servers that power AI. For decades, the West outsourced the dirty, complex, and capital-intensive business of mining and processing them. The result is a staggering dependency: China currently controls an estimated 90% of global REE processing. As Ghahreman noted during his discussion with host John Shegerian, this reality has become untenable.

“Ensuring a resilient and speedy supply of rare earths has become critical in the current context of trade tensions, geopolitics, as we safeguard the future of key sectors such as AI, defense, automotive, energy infrastructure, robotics, and other advanced manufacturing,” Ghahreman stated. His comments underscore a fundamental shift in corporate and national strategy, where supply chain resilience is no longer a logistical concern but a core pillar of security.

The Geopolitical Imperative

The strategic calculus is stark. A 2023 Department of Energy assessment identified multiple rare earths as critical due to high supply risk and their importance to clean energy. This dependency gives a single foreign power immense leverage over the U.S. economy and its defense-industrial base. Analysts at firms like Wood Mackenzie have pointed to China's export controls as a defining feature of the market, creating price volatility and trade friction. The long lead times for opening new mines—often a decade or more due to permitting and construction—mean that traditional supply-side solutions are too slow to address the immediate threat.

This is the chasm that companies like Cyclic Materials are racing to fill. Their proposition is simple yet revolutionary: the most accessible new source of rare earths isn't buried deep in the earth, but is already circulating within our end-of-life products. Less than 1% of REEs are currently recycled, a figure that represents a massive economic loss and a glaring strategic oversight. By “mining” e-waste, discarded motors, and manufacturing scrap, the company is building a domestic, circular supply chain that is faster to deploy and insulated from international political whims.

From E-Waste to Strategic Asset

Cyclic Materials’ approach hinges on a proprietary two-stage technological platform. The first stage, a mechanical process called MagCycle℠, automates the difficult task of liberating magnetic material from complex products like hard drives and electric motors. This yields not only a concentrate of magnet materials, Mag-Xtract™, but also recovers valuable streams of copper, aluminum, and steel. This efficiency is key to the economic viability of the entire process.

The second stage, REEPure℠, is a sophisticated hydrometallurgical process that refines the magnet concentrate. Using solvent extraction, it recovers mixed rare earth oxides with over 90% efficiency and then separates them into the high-purity individual elements—neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium—that are essential for high-performance magnets. Critically, this process boasts a significantly smaller environmental footprint than primary mining, using 95% less water and generating over 60% fewer carbon emissions.

This technological advantage translates directly into strategic speed. While a new mine can take ten years to become productive, Cyclic Materials is deploying its infrastructure at a blistering pace. Its first commercial-scale “Spoke” facility in Mesa, Arizona, which handles the initial mechanical separation, came online this year with the capacity to process 25,000 tonnes of feedstock annually. This rapid deployment provides a crucial near-term answer to supply chain instability.

Building a Domestic Ecosystem

Technology alone is not enough; creating a resilient supply chain requires a complete ecosystem of collection, processing, and offtake. Cyclic Materials is aggressively building this out with substantial capital and strategic partnerships. The company recently closed a $75 million funding round, bringing its total equity raised to over $162 million, with the capital earmarked for an ambitious U.S. expansion.

At the heart of this expansion is an over $82 million investment to build a rare earth recycling campus in McBee, South Carolina. Scheduled to begin operations in 2028, the campus will host the company's first commercial-scale “Hub” facility for hydrometallurgical refining, initially capable of producing 600 tonnes of mixed rare earth oxides per year—enough for the magnets in millions of hybrid vehicles. The site will also be home to its second U.S. Spoke facility.

This physical infrastructure is supported by a web of crucial alliances. A partnership with ERI, the major electronics recycling firm led by podcast host John Shegerian, provides a nationwide feedstock pipeline, turning a stream of e-waste into a reliable source of critical minerals. In another landmark deal, Cyclic Materials will recycle 100% of the manufacturing byproducts from a new VACUUMSCHMELZE magnet factory in South Carolina, creating a closed loop right at the source. An offtake agreement with chemical giant Solvay ensures a ready market for its finished rare earth oxides, proving the commercial viability of its recycled product.

“It was an honor and a privilege to have our insightful and innovative partner and friend Ahmad on the podcast,” said Shegerian, whose position at the helm of ERI gives him a unique vantage point on the material lifecycle. “The conversation we had was timely, eye-opening and informative.”

This integrated strategy—combining innovative technology, rapid infrastructure deployment, and symbiotic partnerships—is a case study in the modern, security-first mindset. It demonstrates how addressing a geopolitical vulnerability can simultaneously drive economic growth, create skilled domestic jobs, and advance environmental sustainability. By transforming waste into a strategic asset, Cyclic Materials and its partners are not just building a business; they are forging a critical link in America’s future security.