SATURN - A new era for non ferrous metals recovery and recycling
19 April 2012 - 19 April 2012
Austria
The drivers behind SATURN lie in the challenges that Europe now faces. Waste legislation requires a pre-treatment (incineration or mechanical/mechanical-biological) step on MSW before final disposal. Whilst the extraction of NF-metals at this stage is technically and economically feasible, the separation techniques applied produce concentrates of different NF-metals and alloys (e.g. aluminium, copper, brass) as well as substantial shares of impurities. Before qualifying as secondary raw materials for use in the metallurgical industry, a separation into the different metals and an extraction of impurities has to take place.
Current separation methods rely mostly on manual sorting taking place outside Europe resulting in the loss of valuable resources. By establishing and demonstrating a cost effective process through SATURN, advanced sorting can now take place in the EU, increasing added value and energy efficiency through improved recycling rates as well as helping the sector to achieve waste recovery targets.
Full scale demonstration has produced high-purity products (aluminium products with >95% purity) and very high yields can be achieved. Further results taken from the demonstration plant in Germany present considerable benefits and opportunities for the wider supply chain including:
• Aluminium product from Saturn plant achieved over 95% purity
• Significant carbon savings of up to 4 times when compared with mining the virgin equivalent
• Modular plant design demonstrated from 8000 t/a to 25,000 t/a
The project, coordinated by RWTH Aachen University in Germany is supported by a consortium of 4 European partners; Envirolink (UK), Mekon, Titech and pbo (Germany). The final results of the project will be presented at the Saturn Final workshop in the International Sensor Sorting Conference in Germany (19th April 2012) in Aachen, Germany. Participation is free and the event is open to the public.
For more information on SATURN and for details of the SATURN Workshop, please visit
www.saturn.rwth-aachen.de or contact the Project Manager, Kate Hornsby at hornsby@ifa.rwth-aachen.de
This workshop is open to the public with no charge and will be the main public event publishing the results of this demo project.
Contact person: Kate Hornsby, SATURN Manager, RWTH Technical University of Aachen
Current separation methods rely mostly on manual sorting taking place outside Europe resulting in the loss of valuable resources. By establishing and demonstrating a cost effective process through SATURN, advanced sorting can now take place in the EU, increasing added value and energy efficiency through improved recycling rates as well as helping the sector to achieve waste recovery targets.
Full scale demonstration has produced high-purity products (aluminium products with >95% purity) and very high yields can be achieved. Further results taken from the demonstration plant in Germany present considerable benefits and opportunities for the wider supply chain including:
• Aluminium product from Saturn plant achieved over 95% purity
• Significant carbon savings of up to 4 times when compared with mining the virgin equivalent
• Modular plant design demonstrated from 8000 t/a to 25,000 t/a
The project, coordinated by RWTH Aachen University in Germany is supported by a consortium of 4 European partners; Envirolink (UK), Mekon, Titech and pbo (Germany). The final results of the project will be presented at the Saturn Final workshop in the International Sensor Sorting Conference in Germany (19th April 2012) in Aachen, Germany. Participation is free and the event is open to the public.
For more information on SATURN and for details of the SATURN Workshop, please visit
www.saturn.rwth-aachen.de or contact the Project Manager, Kate Hornsby at hornsby@ifa.rwth-aachen.de
This workshop is open to the public with no charge and will be the main public event publishing the results of this demo project.
Contact person: Kate Hornsby, SATURN Manager, RWTH Technical University of Aachen
Keywords
Advanced waste management and recycling