Industry News

The metals recycling industry is under increasing pressure to improve efficiency, maximize recovery, and maintain product quality while processing a wider variety of recycled feedstocks. Yet many melting operations continue to rely on delayed sampling and laboratory analysis to understand what is happening inside their furnaces. This creates periods of uncertainty where critical operational decisions must be made without complete visibility into melt chemistry and composition. DTE refers to this challenge as the Cost of Blindness — the hidden operational costs associated with making decisions without real-time process intelligence.

Blindness within the melting process can contribute to:

• Excessive alloy additions  

• Increased energy consumption

• Inconsistent metal quality  

• Reduced recovery rates

 • Higher scrap generation  

• Production delays and rework

As recycling rates continue to increase globally and feedstock variability becomes more pronounced, access to faster and more accurate process information is becoming a competitive advantage. To help spark industry discussion around this challenge, DTE has launched its Cost of Blindness awareness campaign, encouraging producers to consider the operational impact of limited process visibility, as well as explore how real-time metals intelligence can improve decision-making and improve process control, reduce variability, optimize alloy usage, and support more sustainable operations.

Visit DTE at Booth C134 to learn more about the Cost of Blindness and how real-time melt intelligence is helping operators gain greater visibility inside the furnace, or learn more on our website: https://www.dte.ai/cost-of-blindness.

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Join us on 17–18 June 2026 at Messe Frankfurt, Germany, for the industry’s most influential gathering of recycling companies, critical raw material suppliers, electronics and battery manufacturers, and ITAD specialists. This free-to-attend exhibition and conference grants you the unique opportunity to gain access to 4 co-located shows: E-Waste World Expo, Battery Recycling Expo, Metal Recycling Expo, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Expo. 

The information within the copy was supplied by DTE.