Optimise the usage of resources in a circular economy (RIA) (Processes4Planet and Clean Steel partnerships)

Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:

• Material recycling and upcycling are significantly enhanced compared to the state of the art through technology development along the value chain and integrated value chain optimisation, leading to reduced GHG and air pollutant emissions;
• Through the recycling of (iron-containing or other) production waste / residuals / by-products or optimisation of the recovery of critical / strategic raw materials or ferroalloys, the EU’s dependencies on imports from single or very limited numbers of country suppliers are reduced, and the yields of recycling of production-waste / by-products are increased;
• The usage of raw materials, fresh water and energy is minimised, and ecosystem and habitat degradation avoided;
• The impact of impurities in materials produced for special applications of strategic importance for European environmental, social and governance (ESG)[1] sustainability is reduced by either minimising their amount or by modification of impurity-material-structure, morphology, and properties;
• Cost efficient use of resources is reached with minimal energy usage and optimized use of labour.

Scope

The topic aims to optimise the efficiency of materials, water and energy use by recycling and upcycling of side streams from production and end-of-use waste, to become more competitive, safe and sustainable. Material production becomes less dependent on imports and / or use of non-renewable materials by improving recovery along the value chain, developing and upscaling low-CO2 processes to recover materials, including to replace current efficient but CO2-intensive recycling.

The continuity and high resource demand for materials and energy of industrial processes need dependable availability of resources. The attainment of this target requires moving away from primary, often expensive, and rare resources, by the re-integration and valorisation of secondary resources (end-of-use waste) and industrial side-streams into the process industries as feedstock. Priority should be given to streams that contain critical and insufficiently available raw materials, and to streams with a large carbon footprint or a large required energy input for their production.

The development of technologies should encompass the entire value chain from the collection, dismantling, sorting and separation of waste to the processing of the streams and the production of new high-quality materials. The demonstration of the innovative, efficient, and economically viable technologies is required, considering a scale and conditions that can give reliable indications on the real-world economic potential. Minimizing the intake of energy and water should be considered.

Proposals under this topic are expected to address at least 3 of the following points:

• Increase the share of sustainable feed streams of the process industries from end-of-use waste and/or foster circular material flows in house and/or across sites of iron-containing and other residuals / waste / by-products, avoiding incineration or disposal, including the development / upscaling of low CO2 processes with reduced negative impact on air quality;
• Improve product designs including by-products for easier re-cycling and upcycling;
• Enhance existing technologies for a more efficient residual / waste / by-products collection, sorting, classification, characterisation, treatment, processing and re-use. This can include development / improvement of end-of-life recycling processes targeting waste, scrap, dust and sludges for possible use for high-performance high-reliability products;
• Recover relevant secondary raw materials, including critical ones, and target maximum process efficiency;
• Reduce the usage of scarce and critical raw materials in the production processes, while at the same time preserving ecosystem and reducing pressures on biodiversity that would be caused by extraction;
• Reduce the number of manufacturing stages by shortening of production processes, leading to a reduction in the energy consumption; and/or consider approaches/technologies for optimising efficiency in terms of water use.
• Understand the effect of specific contaminants on the properties of materials produced from secondary feedstock and develop technologies for their removal if needed, also in view of the need for pre-treatment and secondary manufacturing steps.
• Where relevant, include analytical techniques for micro- and/or nano-characterisation of materials to gain the necessary knowledge to influence processes and allow dedicated modelling.

Showcase improved performance, scalability and cost efficiency of the proposed solution through at least one case at laboratory level pilot scale. Digitalisation should be included when effective, but it must not be targeted independently from the development and validation of the necessary process technologies.

The re-integration of side streams in the production cycle can take place within one sector or across sectors (industrial symbiosis). Impacts of regulations must be considered and proposals for their modification and/or enhancement should be suggested where required.

Proposals should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnerships Processes4Planet and Clean Steel.

Activities are expected to start at TRL 4-5 and achieve TRL 6 by the end of the project - see General Annex B.

[1] Environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings: Council and Parliament reach agreement - Consilium