Rare earth (RE) permanent magnets are critical to electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other clean energy technologies, yet their production is constrained by geographically concentrated supply and energy-intensive mining. Recycling and remanufacturing of end-of-life magnets offer a promising circular pathway, but most studies remain static and case-specific. This work develops a tensor-based predictive framework that couples techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) for modular disassembly and remanufacturing of RE magnets. The framework encodes four recycling routes (direct, hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, and hydrothermal), two disassembly modes (harvest and shred), three regional archetypes (China, EU, US), and low–mid–high parameter scenarios into a unified data structure. Economic and environmental outcomes are calculated through contraction with regional price and characterization factor vectors, producing predictive outputs for cost, global warming potential (GWP), and derived metrics such as abatement cost and eco-efficiency. Results indicate that direct recycling delivers the lowest environmental burdens, while hydrothermal routes achieve the most favorable balance of profitability and sustainability. Disassembly effort and grid electricity intensity strongly influence outcomes, underscoring the need to integrate design-for-disassembly and regional energy context into future planning. The framework advances toward a digital-twin–ready tool for predictive assessment of circular supply chains in clean energy technologies.
John et al. (Thu,) studied this question.