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Cyclic Materials, an advanced metals recycling company focused on creating a circular supply chain for critical materials, has signed a multi-year offtake agreement with Glencore, a global natural resources company, to supply recycled copper from its Spoke operations. The partnership is intended to advance sustainable practices, foster copper circularity, and address the escalating demand for reliable sources of recycled materials essential to the energy transition.
- Refinement Process: Copper will be further processed and refined at the Horne Smelter and Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR) into copper cathode suitable for new end-products.
- Critical Resource: Copper, noted for its natural conductivity, is classified by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of eight critical materials driving the energy transition.
- Industry Alignment: Both companies share a mutual commitment to promoting responsible resource utilization and reducing environmental impact.
- Market Demand: The agreement underscores the need for innovative recycling strategies to maintain secure supplies of materials supporting electrification.
“We share Cyclic Materials’ vision to create a circular supply chain for the materials required for the energy transition,” said Kunal Sinha, global head of recycling at Glencore. “Adding Cyclic Materials as a partner broadens the scope of our recycling activities in this field as we will now receive copper materials from electric motors, in addition to other metals we already recycle such as battery materials. We see Cyclic Materials filling a critical gap in the market with their focus on rare earth recovery, a much-needed solution to further drive sustainability in critical materials.”
This collaboration is expected to encourage sustainable sourcing and reduce dependence on primary raw materials, thereby strengthening global supply chain resilience. Recycling previously undervalued materials helps offset the footprint of resource extraction and conserves existing resources, transforming what was once waste into valuable feedstock for new manufacturing processes.
“We are excited to be partnering with Glencore on the recycling of copper materials. This is a significant milestone in establishing key partners to purchase our recycled materials and close the loop for all critical materials we will produce,” said Ahmad Ghahreman, co-founder and CEO of Cyclic Materials. “We’re eager to further partner with Glencore and expand our offtake agreements for the primary materials we will recover, prior to ramping up our operations to global commercial scale, opening new facilities in the US and in Europe to better serve our partners where they are.”
Cyclic Materials’ proprietary technologies, deployed since 2021, are tailored to efficiently recover critical raw materials from end-of-life electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and data center electronic scrap. Over the past year, the company has forged key alliances with Solvay, Vattenfall, Synetiq, and VACUUMSCHMELZE to recycle magnets containing rare earth elements, thereby contributing to a more circular supply chain. This trajectory has been bolstered by a recent oversubscribed USD $53 million Series B equity round, aimed at expanding global operations and infrastructure.
In 2023, Cyclic Materials commissioned a commercial demonstration facility dedicated to recovering rare earth magnets through its MagCycle℠ process. By 2024, it opened a second demonstration facility in Kingston, Ontario, producing Mixed Rare Earth Oxide using its REEPure℠ hydrometallurgical technology. With the global demand for rare earth magnets projected to surge significantly by 2030, these initiatives represent a proactive step toward ensuring stable and sustainable supplies of critical materials needed to drive the energy transition.
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