February 27, 2024

White Paper: Product Category Rules for Rare-Earth Concentrates, Oxides, Metals, and Magnets

The Rare Earth Industry Association (REIA) has developed a Product Category Rules (PCR) document on rare-earth concentrates, oxides, metals, and magnets in collaboration with Minviro. The document was published on 25^th January 2024 by EPD International.

The PCR provides instructions for the conduct of life-cycle assessments (LCAs) on rare-earth products, from mine to oxide production, oxide to metal conversion, and metal to magnet manufacturing. The goal of developing PCR documents is to ensure consistency and comparability of LCA results for products within the same category, which allows for meaningful comparison between products based on their environmental performance.

REIA has prepared a simplified version of this PCR document in the form of a white paper, designed to enhance understanding. It offers a concise summary of the key points and rules, including:

• The reason for creating the PCR document for rare earths;
• Definitions of each rare-earth product and precursor to ensure comprehensive coverage of rare-earth products across the entire supply chain;
• Description of the life-cycle stages of the production process;
• System boundaries;
• Explanation of allocation rules, covering allocation of co-products and waste respectively; and
• Data-quality requirements and selection criteria.

For more detailed information, please refer to the main PCR document, which can be accessed here.