Circular economy research platform: The circular economy for the self-sufficiency of raw materials (KITA)
Main funder
Funder's project number: A74540
Funds granted by main funder (€)
- 243 655,00
Funding program
Project timetable
Project start date: 01/01/2019
Project end date: 30/04/2021
Summary
The aim of this project is to develop expertise in Central Finland for the recovery of critical raw materials listed by the EU from waste materials. According to our research, waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the most potent critical source of raw materials. In previous research projects, we have developed, in laboratory scale, innovative, even breakthrough solutions for dissolving and recovering precious metal from electronic waste. The leaching process is carried out with various acid mixtures in stepwise, whereby the metals to be recovered are already concentrated at the dissolution stage for the various acids. Subsequently, the metals can be captured by metal scavenger technology as pure fractions from acid solutions. In order to assess the performance of the technology on an industrial scale, it is of paramount importance to obtain research data on so-called bench scale. The hydrometallurgical equipment purchased in the investment part of this project enables up to 1 kg of crushed WEEE to be dissolved and the recovery process tested.
