Full Conference Agenda
Conference pass gives you access to all 4 conference tracks, the exhibition hall, and all post-event proceedings
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Metal & Critical Raw Material Recycling
DAY 1: Wednesday 28 June 2023
09:00 am – 12:20 am
Opening Keynote Presentations
09:00 am
Opening Remarks
09:05 am – 09:30 am
An overview of metal recycling in Germany: challenges and opportunities
This presentation will focus on
- Status quo of metal recycling in Germany – an overview of infrastructure and processes
- DERA‘s monitoring of primary and secondary raw materials
- Opportunities and challenges of metal recycling for the future
- Key action tasks for improved recycling
09:30 am – 09:55 am
United Nations Framework Classification for resources including case studies on anthropogenic resources and its provisions on the Critical Raw Materials Act proposal
09:55 am – 10:35 am
Panel Discussion: EU Critical Raw Materials Act: Right goals, open implementation
MODERATOR
PANELLISTS
10:35 am – 11:05 am
Coffee Break
11:05 am – 11:30 am
EU legislation: reality, challenges & opportunities for metals recycling
Circularity has been an integral part of the metals industry business model for decades. Europe should make it a priority to build on its recycling leadership and improve the supply of metals and other strategic materials for the green and digital transitions, minimising at the same time material import dependency. To that end, an ambitious, realistic and future-fit EU regulatory waste/recycling framework is key. The presentation will examine the reality, challenges and opportunities for boosting metals recycling, taking into account regulatory developments on the ecodesign of products, Critical Raw Materials, batteries, end-of-life vehicles, waste shipments, etc.
11:30 am – 11:55 am
The Platinum Group Metals; wildly differing market outlooks
11:55 am – 12:20 am
The UK's Critical Minerals Strategy & Partnering with Europe
12:20 am – 13:45 pm
Lunch Break
13:45 pm – 17:15 pm
Sustainable Sourcing and Side Stream Recovery
13:45 pm – 14:10 pm
underMining Metals?
Humans have been processing ores and metals for thousands of years, manual labour turned industrial, gradually depleting the seemingly abundant resources. Metals are easily recycled, but most are being used for decades and, therefore, are considered stocks. Can we satisfy the growing demand for metals, without endlessly mining? Are there such things as “circular metals” beyond the obvious recycled grades? Are we facing metal scarcity? Our journey in the metals world will cover materials and technologies that are currently available, as well as ones the future holds.
14:10 pm – 14:50 pm
Panel Discussion: Growing Demand: the industries which will influence the Materials Market
MODERATOR
PANELLISTS
This panel will explore the various industries that are expected to drive the growth of the materials market in the coming years. Our expert panelists will discuss the current trends and opportunities in industries such as automotive, electronics, and renewable energy, and how they will impact the demand for different materials. Join us for a dynamic conversation that will offer valuable insights into the future of the materials market and the industries that are shaping it.
14:50 pm – 15:20 pm
Coffee Break
15:20 pm – 15:45 pm
Holistic metals recovery from side streams and waste
Metals are found in economically interesting quantities in various waste streams, such as tailings, metallurgical side streams and incineration ash. At the same time when both primary and secondary material streams are getting more complex, mining and recycling have approached each other and use similar technologies. When treating waste streams, the material should be considered as comprehensively as possible. In addition to main metals, also by-product metals and end residues need to be valorised following the zero-waste principle, whenever possible. Our research shows that it is possible to recover metals from challenging low-grade material streams and at the same time reduce the environmental impacts related to disposal.
15:45 pm – 16:10 pm
Effective recovery and recycling of dissolved metals
Massive amounts of critical raw materials are lost in liquid streams for example industrial side streams and wastewaters. Dissolved materials, the some of which are harmful or even toxic, can end up in the environment or to waste. Recovering metals in dissolved form is challenging and 4D Scavenger (4DS) technology enables efficient recovery of materials even at very low concentration levels. It can target precious and toxic metals and many critical raw materials. This innovative technology makes selective and effective recovery of dissolved metals feasible. The 4DS technology combines benefits of 3D printing and different recovery materials (e.g. ion exchange resins). By changing the chemical functionality of the filter, it is possible to capture different metals even from highly complex liquid streams. 4DS technology has been successfully used for example in recovering palladium from complex process water. The recovery method reached over 99% recovery rate and the 4DS technology made it possible to recover palladium in a form that could be returned to the original process. This method streamlined the industrial process and was found economically very profitable.
16:10 pm – 16:35 pm
Enabling Sustainability and Circularity in the Metal Industry with Digital Product Passports
Join Circularise Founder, Mesbah Sabur, at the Metal Recycling Conference as he explores the transformative potential of end-to-end supply chain traceability in the metal industry. Discover how Circularise’s digital product passports empower sustainability and traceability, enabling stakeholders to unlock new opportunities for transparency, efficiency, and responsible practices in metal recycling. Gain insights into the role of digital solutions in reshaping the industry and driving a more sustainable future.
16:35 pm – 17:00 pm
How to measure credits in circular life cycle assessments?
Metal & Critical Raw Material Recycling
DAY 2: Thursday 29 June 2023
09:00 am – 11:55 am
Critical Raw Materials
9:05 am – 09:30 am
Feeding Europe’s battery targets: How will future legislation affect the continent's ability to source battery materials?
The European battery passport legislation sets ambitious targets for the recycled content of batteries produced in and imported into the EU. Supply and demand forecasts for recycled materials show a significant disconnect between ambition and reality. The commission have reserved the right to amend these targets, though is this a lack of confidence in its ability to deliver, or a realistic failsafe?
The announced Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) may provide another driver for recycling capacity growth through incentivising low carbon products. However, will the supply of feedstock to recyclers be sufficient given capacity growing faster than supply?
Will the CBAM, along with the battery passport regulation, drive growth or will the market’s inability to provide critical material feedstock limit their implementation? Project Blue will provide market intelligence on this sector’s growth, through a granular bottom-up approach, and will identify key supply deficits in the recycled cobalt, nickel, and lithium markets and evaluate the ability of policies to deliver their objectives.
09:30 am – 09:55 am
NEW-RE, Neodymium and Rare Earth from Waste Recycling
EU countries do not have available primary source of REEs that are currently imported from China. At the same time, the demand for magnets is rapidly increasing and these products represent a relatively high economic value. Aiming to reduce the amount of imported materials, NEW-RE will improve the end-of-life management of PMs and lamps ensuring high quality materials recycling. NEW-RE recycling solution is based on hydrometallurgical processes, through which REE from PMs and other waste are leached by organic acid solutions. The project will provide to treatment operators dealing with waste business opportunities to extract and to recover REEs and to consolidate their profit margin by playing the role of European REEs, boron and iron-based pigments suppliers. The project is planned in different stages: i) optimization of collection and pre-treatment; ii) realisation of a plant pilot unit that integrates an already existing pilot system iii) production test to optimise the process and to verify the quality of the obtained materials; iv) industrialization of the solutions. In parallel, a system to automate the dismantling of PMs contained in electronic products will be developed and tested. The project outputs will be TRL7 technologies validated through a pilot demonstration for the hydrometallurgical process and a TRL7 dismantling pilot. NEW-RE will improve the circularity of REEs European value, reducing costs, increasing profit, and lowering environmental impacts.
09:55 am - 10:35 am
Panel Discussion: Digitalisation and automation in CRM recovery
MODERATOR
PANELLISTS
This panel will delve into the technological advancements in digitalisation and automation that are revolutionizing the process of recovering critical raw materials (CRMs). Our expert panelists will discuss the latest developments in areas such as data analytics, machine learning, robotics, and sensors, and how these technologies are being applied to the recovery of CRMs. Join us for a thought-provoking conversation that will offer valuable insights into the future of CRM recovery and the impact of digitalisation and automation on this important industry.
10:35 am – 11:05 am
Coffee Break
11:05 am – 11:30 am
The circularity of platinum group metals (PGMs) enabling the energy transition
As the world moves towards more sustainable fuels, the platinum group metal (PGM) markets are shifting away from their use in internal combustion engines, and into cleaner technologies such as electrolytic hydrogen and fuel cells. PGMs will play a key role in this energy transition and are enablers, not barriers, to these technologies. PGMs are unique in their catalytic ability, and in the circularity of the metals. Once a PGM has been used in an application it can be recycled and reused over and over in any application; it does not lose any of its catalytic activity. So while supply is relatively small compared to other metals, PGM availability still enables important industrial applications. Driven by their value, the circular economy for these critical raw materials is already well established. And it is this recycling, along with expected reduction in PGM loadings, that will enable the growth projections for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers and fuel cells as part of the energy transition.
11:30 am – 11:55 am
Advanced Methods For Recycling The Platinum Group Metals Used As Mixed Metal Oxides Anodes’ Catalysts-Coating Materials
Mixed metal oxide (MMO) anodes consist of catalysts coating on titanium or nickel substrates and exhibit several operational and handling superiorities over lead-based anodes. They have several industrial electrochemical applications, including chrome electroplating, electrowinning, Chlor alkali, and water treatment. However, MMO anode manufacturing is associated with high initial costs mainly due to the platinum group metals (PGMs), such as iridium and ruthenium, used as MMO catalyst coating materials. Iridium, along with other PGMs, is one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust, mined as trace elements. Iridium global demand is rapidly exceeding the supply of mined iridium due to their increasing application in several products. Thus, the cost benefits and sustainability of the MMO anodes lie in the ability to regularly refurbish them by removing spent coating materials from the base substrate and recoat them after their service life. Abrasive sandblasting, a standard method in the surface cleaning process, which may damage the anode substrate material, cannot provide a clean removal of coating materials nor a cost-effective way of recovering the PGMs used as catalyst coating materials. Thus, we present an advanced thermochemical stripping method for the gentle removal of entire spent iridium-catalyst coating materials on the anodes, leaving their substrate reconditioned to its original form and a novel recovery method to produce recycled iridium of a market-grade level with a recovery rate of over 95%. Our processes only contribute a carbon footprint of 24.5 kg CO2 emission per troy ounce of recycled iridium compared to 78,559 kg per troy ounce of mined iridium. Molten salt stripping provides environmental, economic, and sustainability benefits to the electrochemical industries and contributes to a truly circular economy.
11:55 am – 13:05 pm
Lunch Break
13:05 pm – 14:20 pm
Metal Sorting and Separation
13:05 pm – 13:30 pm
High throughput metal liberation and separation: everyone deserves a second chance!
13:30 pm – 13:55 pm
NEW XRF sorting solution for metal recycling to increase recovery rates
REDWAVE, the pioneer in XRF sorting technology developed a new generation of sorting machines to maximise the profitability of metal recycling for fine materials. How this technology and system works, which features are new and how to upgrade a mix of nonferrous metals into high value products such as pure copper, brass, zinc as well as precious metals concentrates will be demonstrated. Additionally, an advanced sorting process for metal recycling will be explained and an overview/comparison of available technologies with pro’s and con’s will be given. Trends and latest developments on sensor-based sorters using X-ray fluorescence technology complete the presentation.
13:55 pm – 14:20 pm
Coffee Break
14:20 pm – 15:40 pm
Enabling Circular Steel
14:20 pm – 14:45 pm
Real Green Steel - The Importance of Recycled Steel and Free Global Markets
14:45 pm – 15:10 pm
TSR40 - a high-quality recycling raw material
The steel producing industry is confronted with the task to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions significantly within a very short period of time. TSR developed the TSR40-process, which allows to produce a high quality ferrous recycling material from end of life resources. TSR40 is characterized by very low content of tramp elements and other residuals. It can therefore be used in all steelmaking routes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately.
15:10 pm – 15:30 pm
TSR40 - a high-quality recycling raw material
Swiss Steel Group (SSG) is Europe’s largest electrical steel producer and the leading producer of specialty steel long products worldwide. Thanks to scrap-based steel production, SSG is also one of Europe’s largest recyclers and a leading provider of Green Steel solutions with a re-utilization rate of up to 100%. By closing the recoverable material cycle and the intelligent use of scrap, SSG and their products can considerably reduce the emissions of all supply chains at the starting point – compared to the blast furnace production route, e.g., for CO2, by more than 80%. To continue to reduce the footprint of their products, SSG has extended their competence in recycling continuously to include additional secondary raw materials. The ongoing project to reclaim alloying elements from industrial waste is the only one of its kind worldwide! It provides a way to continue to reduce the use of primary ore-containing alloys in future and thus dramatically improve the footprint of stainless steels. Another component is the setting up of recoverable material cycles together with our partners. This rapidly and efficiently keeps raw materials within the cycle and avoids unnecessary transport.
