Dive Brief:
- Apple signed a $500 million purchasing and development deal with rare earth materials miner and processor MP Materials, according to a July 15 press release.
- Under the agreement, Apple will buy high-performance rare earth magnets used in advanced electronics, electric motors and defense technologies from MP's flagship processing plant in Fort Worth, Texas.
- The two companies also agreed to establish a rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, where MP has a mining and processing facility, to develop magnet materials and processing technologies.
Dive Insight:
Apple's use of recycled rare earth materials in its magnets is part of an ambition to make products with 100% recycled or renewable materials, and falls under its commitment to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, per the press release. Other recent initiatives include using recycled cobalt in company-designed batteries and recycled tin soldering and gold plating in Apple-designed circuit boards.
Nearly all the rare-earth magnets in Apple devices are made of recycled material, according to the company.
Once operational, the new California facility will recycle rare earth materials from used electronics and post-industrial scrap to be reprocessed for Apple products, the company said. Apple and MP have been piloting advanced recycling technology for the last five years.
Meanwhile, at MP’s Texas factory, the two companies will build a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products, the tech giant said. MP will also ship the rare earth magnets across the U.S. and globally.
"Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the release.
The companies also agreed to provide workforce training for the new magnet production, which will support dozens of jobs, according to the release.
Apple is one of several companies turning to rare earth recycling as the Trump administration pushes to boost the domestic metals supply chain. In May, Clarios, a U.S.-based global manufacturer and recycler of low-voltage batteries, said it would invest up to $1 billion to build a U.S. critical minerals processing and recovery plant.
