VemRec - metal recovery
Aim of the collaborative research project “loss minimized metal recycling from incineration bottom ash through sensor-based sorting”, in German “Verlustminimiertes Metallrecycling aus Müllverbrennugnsaschen durch sensorgestützte Sortierung” is to optimize non-ferrous metal recovery generated from the anthropogenic resource waste incineration bottom ashes while including the whole value-added chain.
Due to infrastructural development of German waste management, the material flow of bottom ash from waste incineration will arise as a final residue flow. According to our research and investigations from our partners, roughly less than a third of included non-ferrous metals are separated. Thus, locally available resources are only partially exploited. The recycling of non-ferrous metals offers significant energy and CO2 saving potential. Furthermore, metallurgical processes provide the opportunity to recover critical technological metals and ensure the supply of German industry with local resources.
An integral part of the project is developing a highly innovative process combination, including further enhancements of modern processing techniques and subsequent metallurgical steps. Therefore, the project team consists of highly qualified partners from both research and industry, hence covering all necessary process steps along the value-added chain. For further information, please visit the project homepage as well as the funding program r³.
The project described above is kindly being supported and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the project number 033R081F. All responsibility for the content of this publication is assumed by the authors.