Modeling neodymium material flows in Germany with the purpose of establishing a recycling chain

摘要

Neodymium (Nd) is one of the most frequent occurring rare earth elements (REE) and is used in technological applications such as neodymium magnets, lasers, ceramic colors and glass colors. Neodymium magnets are realized as a compound of neodymium, iron and boron and also known as NdFeB magnets. By the current state of technology they are the strongest permanent magnets and therefore they are particularly suitable for applications where power density or size of electric motors and generators matter (Gutfleisch et al. 2011).