Cyclic Materials is a cleantech startup with a mission to create a secure and circular supply chain of rare earth elements and other critical metals in the North American market. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cyclic Materials’ CEO, Ahmad Ghahreman, to learn more about the company.
Ahmad Ghahreman’s Background
Ghahreman earned his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia before joining the world’s largest gold mining company, Barrick Gold Corporation, as a metallurgist. Ghahreman adds:
“Later, I joined the faculty at Queen’s University for eight years as a hydrometallurgy professor. There, I built the largest and most funded research team in this field in North America.”
“Before founding Cyclic Materials in 2021, I was an early co-inventor of Jetti Resources’ copper-mining extraction technology, which is now a $2.5 billion startup. As a technical consultant and advisory board member, I also led the technical side of the lithium-ion battery recycling company Li-Cycle in its infancy. The company went public on the NYSE at a $1.7 billion valuation.”
Formation Of Cyclic Materials
How did the idea for Cyclic Materials come together? Ghahreman shared:
“While working on a Li-Cycle project back in 2017, I learned that some metals and materials are critical both for electric vehicle battery manufacturing and magnets inside EV motors. By 2021, EV sales were skyrocketing, yet the industry still depended on a limited supply of magnets from foreign countries. My focus on battery recycling grew further when I discovered that about 99% of viable magnets are discarded into landfills. That was the moment I decided to found Cyclic Materials.”
Core Products
What are Cyclic Materials’ core products/services? Ghahreman explained:
“Cyclic Materials’ advanced metals recycling technology takes end-of-life consumer products and produces high-quality rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical materials (such as copper, aluminum, steel, cobalt, and nickel) necessary for the development of electrical vehicle motors, wind turbines, consumer and industrial appliances and other products designed for the electric transition.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for Cyclic Materials so far? Ghahreman reflected:
“A few great memories that stand out to me include the day I tested the idea behind Cyclic Materials’ technology in my garage, long before I had even founded the company, and it worked. The day I convinced Cyclic Materials’ co-founder, Patrick Nee, to move back from Italy to North America to help me start the company. The day we hired our first employee, an engineer. And January 10, 2022, when we hired our first full group of employees and launched a full week of onboarding.”
Challenges Faced
Has Ghahreman faced any specific bottlenecks in his sector recently? Ghahreman acknowledged:
“After the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping and lead time disruptions for capital equipment have become a challenge for nearly every industry– one we are not immune to. Companies like us have no control over these delays, which can hold up projects at any time.”
Evolution Of Cyclic Materials’ Technology
How has Cyclic Materials’ technology evolved since the company launched? Ghahreman noted:
“It has evolved significantly, and we are still learning every day. As we’ve begun work with actual feedstock and moved into large-scale operations, new challenges have sprung up. But that’s why startups must have teams like ours full of technical individuals with a problem-solving mindset and a deep focus on our goals.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of Cyclic Materials’ most significant milestones? Ghahreman cited:
“A year ago, in October 2022, Cyclic Materials completed an initial production run at our pilot magnet recycling plant, providing large samples to supply chain partners– including magnet and automobile manufacturers. In the past year, we have also signed memorandums of understanding with Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer Polestar to create closed-loop recycling pathways for REEs and with French chemical company Solvay to partner on the production and supply of recycled mixed rare earth oxides.”
“In April, we partnered with Arnold Magnetic Technologies Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of high-performance magnets and more for mission-critical applications, to work together to develop a rare earth recycling program and create a circular supply chain for rare earth materials. Cyclic plans to recycle all elements from Arnold’s supply feed of permanent magnets made from rare earth materials, offering a broader range of recycled materials at a much higher yield. In turn, Arnold will source recycled, rare earth samarium, neodymium, and dysprosium, along with cobalt, from Cyclic.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Ghahreman about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“The operations waste of one of our U.S. customers has historically gone straight to landfills. Starting last year, we began receiving waste material from their team and have been able to recycle all the metals in these materials. This has significantly reduced the companies’ carbon and waste footprint and helped them achieve their circularity goals.”
Funding
When I asked Ghahreman about the company’s funding, he revealed:
“In April 2023, Cyclic Materials raised a $27 million Series A in a round led by Energy Impact Partners and BMW i Ventures. Other participants included Fifth Wall, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) and existing investor Planetary Technologies Capital. This funding round brought the total capital raised to over USD $33 million and will contribute to the scaling of our technologies.
“Additionally, the Sustainable Development Technology Council of Canada awarded us a $3.6 million grant in February 2023.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Cyclic Materials from competitors? Ghahreman explained:
“Cyclic Materials is the only advanced metals recycling company that holds a holistic view of the magnet supply chain– from end-of-life products to raw materials for magnet manufacturing. Unlike most of our competition, we believe we should isolate and recycle magnets from end-of-life products rather than just process magnets that are already isolated. The latter group is only a very small portion of the market.”
Future Goals
What are Ghahreman’s future goals for Cyclic Materials? Ghahreman concluded:
“We are making significant progress on scaling up our two technologies. This December, we announced results from our Kingston, Ontario pilot plant, where our proprietary Mag-Xtract demonstrated the capacity to recycle 8000 tonnes of magnets per year. We are also scaling our proprietary hydrometallurgy technology to convert magnet feedstock and manufacturing waste into mixed rare earth oxide, cobalt-nickel hydroxide, and other by-products. We are currently developing our first commercial demonstration plant for this technology with a target launch date of Q2 2024.”
