DOWA Eco-System Co., Ltd. announced that its demonstration project on recycling technology for rare earth magnets used in electric vehicle (EV) drive motors has been selected for the Ministry of the Environment’s fiscal year 2026 “Demonstration Project for Optimizing Renewable Energy-Related Products and Base Materials Toward Building a Domestic Resource Circulation System.”
The company has been developing and demonstrating technology to recover rare earth magnets from motors contained in used household appliances. In November 2025, it began a demonstration test in Akita Prefecture to recover neodymium magnets. Under the newly selected project, the company will expand the scope of recovery to drive motors from end-of-life vehicles, which are expected to increase as EVs become more widespread, applying the knowledge and technology it has cultivated to date.
With the cooperation of stakeholders across the supply chain, the project will work to establish a process for efficiently recovering and recycling rare earth magnets contained in drive motors and other components of used EVs, drawing on the company’s proprietary resource recovery process and sorting technology. Through this, the company aims to improve the resource recovery rate from used products, promote domestic circulation of rare earth resources, and strengthen the domestic resource circulation system.
As EVs and renewable energy-related equipment become more widespread, global demand for rare earth resources such as neodymium magnets used in drive motors and other applications is rising. At the same time, rare earth resources present challenges due to the risk of supply disruption stemming from geographically concentrated production, making it necessary to promote domestic resource circulation and to establish technology for efficiently recovering and recycling rare earth magnets from used products.
The newly selected project is part of the Ministry of the Environment’s “Demonstration Project for Optimizing Renewable Energy-Related Products and Base Materials Toward Building a Domestic Resource Circulation System,” which is being implemented from fiscal year 2023 through fiscal year 2027. The program aims to conserve natural resources, reduce dependence on overseas resources, and reduce CO2 emissions by promoting appropriate reuse and recycling of renewable energy-related products such as solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, and wind power equipment. It provides partial subsidies to cover the costs of demonstrating decarbonized reuse and recycling technologies and schemes.
[Press Release] Demonstration Project for Rare Earth Magnet Recycling Technology from EV Drive Motors Selected for Ministry of the Environment Program
[Press Release] Demonstration Project for Rare Earth Magnet Recycling Technology from EV Drive Motors Selected for Ministry of the Environment Program
[Reference Article] Second Call for Applications for the Fiscal Year 2026 Demonstration Project for Optimizing Renewable Energy-Related Products and Base Materials Toward Building a Domestic Resource Circulation System (Indirect Subsidy)
[Reference Article] Demonstration Project for Optimizing Renewable Energy-Related Products and Base Materials Toward Building a Domestic Resource Circulation System
[Related Article] DOWA Eco-System Establishes Integrated Recovery Process for Lithium, Nickel, and Cobalt from Used Lithium-Ion Batteries
