The Materials Processing Institute is leading a £250,000 project designed to unlock a practical method of removing zinc from by-products produced as part of the iron and steelmaking processes.
The Institute, which is a not-for-profit and part of PRISM, the Innovate UK-funded programme which supports research and innovation in the steel and metals sector, says it will collaborate with British Steel, Tata Steel, CELSA Group and Marcegaglia Stainless on the project.
The 17-month project aims to identify a sustainable and cost-effective method that will allow more iron to be recovered and reused in the iron and steelmaking process and more zinc to be recovered for reuse within separate UK supply chains.
This is very much a collaborative effort involving the UK’s leading iron and steel makers and innovators.
The Institute says the project will also investigate and evaluate several potential solutions, including pyrometallurgy, a conventional process that recovers non-ferrous and precious metals from electronic waste, ultra-sonic separation, a technology that uses high-frequency ultrasound to separate materials, and a hydrometallurgical process that oxidises metallic zinc in ionic liquids.
Chris McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of the Teesside-based Materials Processing Institute, a not-for-profit organisation, commented: “This is very much a collaborative effort involving the UK’s leading iron and steel makers and innovators in order to deliver the most effective technological, economic and environmental method of recovering and re-using this high valued material.”