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Reference Number	EP/Y53058X/1
Title	RECREATE (REcycling CRitical Elements in Advanced Technologies for the Environment)
Status	Started
Energy Categories	Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research 20%; Not Energy Related 80%;
Research Types	Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields	PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials) 50%; ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 50%;
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%; Not Cross-cutting 100%;
Principal Investigator	Dr A Walton No email address given Metallurgy and Materials University of Birmingham
Award Type	Standard
Funding Source	EPSRC
Start Date	01 April 2024
End Date	31 March 2029
Duration	60 months
Total Grant Value	£6,430,850
Industrial Sectors
Region	West Midlands
Programme	Manufacturing and the Circular Economy
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Dr A Walton , Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham (99.986%)
	Other Investigator	Professor A Abbott , Chemistry, University of Leicester (0.001%) Dr PA Anderson , School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Professor D Brown , Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Professor A Cavoski , Law School, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Dr G D J Harper , Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Professor L Horsfall , Sch of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh (0.001%) Professor E Kendrick , Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Professor R Lee , Law School, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Dr GA Leeke , Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Prof.OBE S Nefti-Meziani , School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Professor KS Ryder , Chemistry, University of Leicester (0.001%) Dr R S Sheridan , Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Dr P Slater , School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham (0.001%) Dr R Stolkin , School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham (0.001%)
	Industrial Collaborator	Project Contact , Johnson Matthey plc (0.000%) Project Contact , University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (0.000%) Project Contact , Centre for Process Innovation - CPI (0.000%) Project Contact , The Manufacturing Technology Centre: MTC (0.000%) Project Contact , Dyson Appliances Ltd (0.000%) Project Contact , Siemens plc (0.000%) Project Contact , Rolls-Royce PLC (0.000%) Project Contact , Tyseley Energy Park Limited (0.000%) Project Contact , Beta Technology Ltd (0.000%) Project Contact , Critical Minerals Association (0.000%) Project Contact , Minviro (0.000%) Project Contact , Mkango Resources Limited (0.000%) Project Contact , Echion Technologies (0.000%) Project Contact , Advanced Alloy Services (0.000%) Project Contact , British Standards Institution BSI (0.000%) Project Contact , Calpac Resources Limited (0.000%) Project Contact , EMR (0.000%) Project Contact , Intelligent Lifecycle Solutions Limited (0.000%) Project Contact , P-Block (0.000%) Project Contact , SF Xray (0.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract	Technology critical metals (TCMs) are pivotal to achieving Net Zero goals. These metals include for example lithium, cobalt, rare earths and platinum group metals. TCMs are deemed to be "critical" because they are economically important but at risk of short supply. The UK Government's Net Zero Strategy: "Build Back Greener" (2021) highlights the supply of these materials as a key challenge for the UK's energy transition and the need for a circular economy in these materials. They are used in wind-power, EV motors and batteries, LEDs, solar-cells and the hydrogen economy.The Government's (2022) Critical Minerals Strategy, "Resilience for the Future", emphasises the importance of these materials and the global supply-chain pressures. The UK's first critical mineral list identified 18 elements as TCMs (British Geological Survey, 2022).Currently, recycling rates for TCMs are very low, for example < 5% for neodymium , used in rare earth magnets ("Critical Raw Materials Resilience" EU report). There are a number of reasons for this, including a lack of specific incentives or legislation, current product designs often impede separation, in some applications there is a very low concentration of the critical material, often the value chains are fragmented, and current recycling processes, designed for bulk metals, are rather crude resulting in the finely distributed TCMs being lost in a linear economy.The overarching aim of RECREATE is to develop a circular economy for TCMs, keeping the materials or components in the highest value form with the lowest environmental footprint. The project brings together three of the leading research institutes in the UK (Universities of Birmingham, Leicester and Edinburgh) who each specialise in different technologies for the extraction and re-use or recycling of TCMs. The project includes leading industrial and public-sector players and policy makers, all involved in the drive to create a circular economy for critical materials in the UK. The research is informed by a system-wide perspective derived from a deep understanding of the industrial challenges for recycling of these materials, and of the governance structures that drive a circular economy. This project will undertake low TRL transformative research to generate radical improvements in automated sorting, "short loop" recycling, pyrometallurgical and chemical processes with reduced environmental impact, biological processes for dilute effluents, and new materials and product-designs which make re-use or recycling easier. Ultimately the project is developing a toolbox of technologies which can sense, sort, separate and re-use or recycle a broad range of TCMs from a wide range of products. These new technologies will be benchmarked using life cycle and techno economic assessment and the legislative drivers for a circular economy will be explored.
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	29/05/24