Microbial Recycling of Plastic-Polymer-Bonded Rare Earth Magnets

Nancy Merino | 22-LW-034

Executive Summary

We will identify sustainable microbial processes to break down plastic polymers associated with bonded rare earth magnets by combining synthetic and computational biology. Our findings will enable the development of a bio-recycling approach for recovering rare earth elements from electronic waste and will help reduce the environmental impacts associated with current rare earth element mining and processing.