GlobEco is a highly experienced company in the collection and treatment of WEEE, end-of-life vehicles and special waste. It is company with 20 years’ experience in environmental services and specializes in the collection and treatment of special waste. GlobEco makes a concrete contribution to solving the problem of environmental impact, enabling the reuse and recovery of collected material by more than 90 percent, greatly benefiting the environment.
GlobEco supplies PMs extracted from electric motors after demagnetization to be sent to the hydrometallurgical pilot for neodymium recovery.
Treee is a leading industrial group in the collection, transportation, and treatment of WEEE. The Group covers the entire WEEE supply chain (e.g. collection, treatment, recycling and reuse up to the recovery of critical and valuable raw materials) thanks also to a logistics service. Treee consists of 5 advanced Plants dedicated to WEEE treatment located throughout the country, specifically in Rho (former RELIGHT), Fossò, Livorno, Montalto di Castro and Anagni.
Treee supplies PM extracted from Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) for neodymium recovery and fluorescent powders obtained from EOL fluorescent lamps treatment for REEs recovery. These secondary raw materials are sent to Itelyum to be pretreated (e.g., magnet demagnetization, grinding, etc.) before entering the hydrometallurgical process.
KU Leuven (KUL) is a top 100 university with extensive experience in international collaboration in scientific research. KU Leuven’s LCE research group of about 15 researchers can offer more than two decades of experience in industrial process impact assessment according to ISO 14040 specifications. With significant design work on de-manufacturing and remanufacturing systems, the research group has extensive experience in state-of-the-art EOL treatment methods for WEEE and particularly its electronic fraction.
KUL will oversee de-manufacturing activities (disassembling components to obtain magnets, PWBs from products, and components from PWBs), studying vision systems for automated component detection and product identification, and designing robotics and grippers for automated product handling. The KUL will also assess the environmental impacts associated with the innovations proposed in the project and evaluate their economic dimensions through life cycle costing techniques.
Itelyum company manages waste oil regeneration, chemical and oil streams purification, and a wide range of other industrial waste. Through advanced technologies and continuous investments, Itelyum helps safeguard natural resources and improve quality of life, with sustainable processes, products and solutions for waste management and the optimization of served markets. More than 50 years of industrial history founded on the principles of the circular economy starting before it was considered the economy of the future, involving customers, suppliers, institutions, local and global communities in creating economic, environmental, and social value. Environment Solutions integrates controls and coordinates 18 companies located in Italy, and responsibly manages over 900,000 tons per year of industrial waste. With an owned fleet of over 80 specialised vehicles and network of partners on a national scale, together they offer a comprehensive range of environmental services and a specific know-how in the sector of hazardous waste. The strong territorial presence allows an active presence in all phases of waste management, from collection, to storage, transport, and pre-treatment, is complemented by service and trading activities, environmental and safety consultancy. The facility also includes a certified laboratory for chemical and environmental analyses and two treatment plants for industrial wastewater.
The NEW-RE pilot plant (consisting of a hydrometallurgical and a dismantling solution) will be installed in the Itelyum facility in Ceccano (Italy). In the Itelyum facility, also the final pre-treatment activities on the materials that will feed the NEW-RE plant will be performed. Moreover, Itelyum will lead the final industrialization activities of the project.
UNIVAQ was founded in 1952 and is based in L’Aquila, the administrative center of the Abruzzo Region. The University of L’Aquila. The Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics (DIIIE) at the University of L’Aquila was established in 2012 as an aggregation of faculty and administrative staff from four departments. The main purpose of the Department is to organize and develop research in the fields of interest of Industrial, Information and Economic Engineering. In 2013, DIIIE obtained ISO 9001/UNI EN ISO 9001: 2008 quality certification. The Laboratory of Integrated Waste and Industrial Wastewater Treatment (RIFIND) at the University of L’Aquila, with Professor Francesco Veglio’ as coordinator, is embedded in a high-level research environment, both Italian and international. The RIF-IND group is fully equipped to handle the entire hydrometallurgical process from spent catalysts and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
UNIVAQ will test the technical feasibility of a PM dismantling process and the effectiveness of Hydro-Nd technology in recovering REE (mainly neodymium, but also Y, Eu, and Tb) from end-of-life PM through a hydrometallurgical process. UNIVAQ will contribute to the economic and environmental evaluation of the processes.
SWE is a UNIVAQ spin-off with expertise in the development and design of sustainable processes and technologies. It is based in L’Aquila, Italy, and is part of the scientific research and development services industry. SWE already has a good patent commercialization capability (5 industrial clients).
SWE, together with UNIVAQ, oversees the development, design, and testing of the New-RE technology at laboratory scale and through the pilot plant (which will be installed at the Itelyum facility). SWE will contribute to the upgrade of the pilot plant by handling the following activities: process design, software design, M&E budgets, and initiation of pilot testing. SWE will adapt the technical parameters of the recovery solution to the economic constraints identified by the other project partners. SWE will also be responsible for the commercialization of the plant to other operators (defining a Go-to-market strategy for the project innovations) and will contribute to the market analysis and business plan development for REE oxide production (in collaboration with Itelyum). SWE will support the development of communication strategies related to commercialization activities.
OSAI A.S. is an Italian SME operating in the field of automation and system integration for industrial processes. OSAI’s experience focuses mainly on special processes and cutting-edge solutions in niche applications, from medical to semiconductors, automotive, high-tech, and in recent years the circular economy. Each system is created for specific customer applications and uses the latest technologies, such as LASER and ULTRA-FAST laser technology. OSAI’s Circular Economy solution is to develop a system that can remove components from PCBs (from WEEE) and prepare them, through sorting and grading techniques, for precious metal recovery. OSAI’s special dedication to developing innovative solutions for OSAI’s customers and meeting their high-quality standards enables the company’s continued growth.
OSAI is realising a prototype for the dismantling of HD with a fully automatic or semi-automatic approach. This specific activity is performed in strict collaboration with KUL, thus integrating the academic expertise into industry applications. OSAI already developed a recycling technology for PCBs, that will be upscaled and adapted to the needs of the New-RE project and to a new target product, as PMs.
ERION is the leading Italian Producer Responsibility no-profit Organization (PRO) for the management of waste associated with electronic products and the exploitation of the secondary raw materials within it. ERION is created by Producers for the environment and the community for the purpose of ensuring i) full compliance with environmental regulations, ii) constant dialogue with all stakeholders involved, iii) the creation of efficient eco-innovation services, iv) the optimised and safe management of the collection, transport, and treatment processes of WEEE (household and professional), but also of Waste Batteries, Packaging Waste and prevention on the littering of tobacco products waste.
ERION as the project leader coordinates the consortium and assuring a smooth running of the project activities. Also, oversees the communication and dissemination initiatives and contributes to the quantity and quality of end-of-life permanent magnets (PMs) currently availability assessment. Also, develops a strategy to increase proper PMs collection building upon its unique knowledge of the complex WEEEs value chain at EU level.