ERI has taken an equity position in Cyclic Materials, making the US electronics recycler a strategic investor in the Canadian rare earth recycling technology firm. The companies announced the move without disclosing the size of the stake or the financial terms.

The transaction links two complementary positions in the critical-minerals supply chain. ERI, one of the largest IT asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling operators in North America, brings a global collection network that generates volumes of end-of-life hard drives, motors and other devices containing rare earth magnets. Cyclic Materials contributes its proprietary recycling technologies for recovering rare earth elements — including neodymium and dysprosium — from that scrap stream.

The pairing addresses a persistent gap in the rare earth value chain. Collection and pre-processing of magnet-bearing scrap has long been a bottleneck for recyclers seeking feedstock at commercial scale, while companies with the scrap often lack the downstream separation and refining capability to capture magnet value. By combining ERI's inbound material flows with Cyclic's process technology, the partners aim to close that loop and build a domestic North American supply of recycled rare earths.

For ERI, the investment extends its strategy of monetizing material streams beyond standard ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metal recovery. Rare earth magnets in hard disk drives, electric vehicle motors and consumer electronics represent one of the higher-value fractions historically left to downstream buyers or exported.

For Cyclic Materials, securing a strategic investor with control of large collection volumes strengthens its feedstock position as it scales its MagPair and MagCycle process lines. The company has positioned itself as a producer of recycled rare earth oxides and magnet alloys for the automotive, electronics and defense sectors, targeting supply chains under pressure to reduce reliance on imported primary material.

Neither company published tonnage targets, plant capacity figures or commercial timelines alongside the announcement, leaving the operational scope of the partnership to be defined in subsequent disclosures.

The deal lands amid tightening policy support for rare earth recycling on both sides of the border. US and Canadian critical-minerals programs have increasingly flagged recycled feedstock as a supply pillar, and qualification for those programs — along with offtake commitments from magnet and motor manufacturers — will be the market milestones that determine whether the ERI-Cyclic pairing converts announced synergy into built capacity.