Imagine a high-tech urban mine that takes old car parts like batteries and catalysts and pulls out the precious metals inside. Instead of using harsh, polluting methods, it uses a specialized microwave-heating process to dissolve and separate these materials. It's like a smart sorting center that ensures no valuable metal is wasted and the process doesn't harm the planet.
The EU lacks cost-effective, low-carbon ways to recover critical metals from old cars, leading to high import dependency and environmental waste.
A TRL 7 pilot plant for hydrometallurgical recycling and a blockchain-based material tracing system.
If you are a vehicle dismantler dealing with high waste costs and low recovery rates — this project developed a pilot-scale facility that treats 500 tonnes/year of spent components. It recovers 40 tonnes/year of high-grade metals like Cobalt and Lithium, turning waste into a revenue stream.
If you are a battery manufacturer dealing with expensive raw material imports — this project developed a recovery system that provides market-grade materials at 15% lower costs than current market prices. This reduces dependency on primary imports while meeting EU sustainability standards.
If you are a circuit board producer dealing with volatile metal prices — this project developed an automated hydrometallurgical process that recovers Copper and Platinum group metals. The system uses AI and robotics to reduce processing time by 15%.
The materials are commercialized at a price 15% lower than current market standards due to automated and cost-efficient processing.
The project demonstrates a pilot-scale facility capable of treating 500 tonnes per year of spent automotive components.
Based on available project data, the project focuses on upscaling to TRL 7 and establishing a pan-European collection network, but specific licensing terms are not detailed.
The microwave-assisted leaching methodology enables a reduction in CO2 emissions between 15% and 80% compared to commercial processing.
The system incorporates blockchain-based material tracing and smart contracts to log process events with immutable metadata.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven, with 15 industrial partners (71% of the group) and 6 SMEs. This high ratio of commercial entities across 8 countries suggests the project is designed for immediate market application rather than academic study, focusing on a pan-European collection network and industrial-scale deployment.
Contact Monolithos Katalites ke Anakiklosi Etaireia Periorismenes Evthinis in Greece
Contact us to connect with the CRUSADE consortium for pilot integration.
