ULiège takes part in the EIT RawMaterials CEBRA project

Researchers from the GeMMe Laboratory (Research Unit UEE/Faculty of Applied Sciences of ULiège) join the consortium of the EIT RawMaterials Upscaling CEBRA project "Integrated Circular Economy Business model for decoupling Europe from PGM supply", involving five leading European partners in the Platinum Group Metals ("PGM") value chain. The 3-year project is developed with a €2m budget, with EITRawMaterials providing funding for €1.57m. This participation marks another important step in the long-term development plan of GeMMe and ULiège in the field of recycling and Critical Raw Materials (“CRM”).

P

latinum Group Metals are classified as CRM by the European Union (“EU”). As production is virtually non-existent in Europe, the EU depends on exports from South Africa and Russia, the major producing countries which are responsible for 75-80% of the world's primary mining supply of PGMs. On the demand side, the main applications are Automotive Catalytic Converters ("ACC"), which are by far the largest consumer with a market share of 52.5% in Europe. The CEBRA project has the dual objective of manufacturing ACC incorporating 100% recycled PGM, while simultaneously reducing the quantity of PGM through partial substitution by a cheaper and less politically sensitive transition metal such as copper.

ULiège will participate to CEBRA through its GeMMe Laboratory specialized in georesources, mineral engineering and extractive metallurgy. The GeMMe contributes to the development of innovative processes for the efficient management of mineral and metallic resources while providing unparalleled upscaling experience in urban ore characterization and processing (with a focus on innovative sorting techniques and hydrometallurgy) derived from a long research tradition in primary ores mining and processing.

ULiège will be in charge of the work package on the pre-treatment of end-of-life ACC and will also participate in extractive metallurgy activities and in the piloting of the production of catalytic nanopowders. ULiège will also lead the work package on dissemination and communication, with a particular emphasis on educational activities.

Participation in the CEBRA project marks a new important step in the long-term development plan of GeMMe and ULiège in the field of recycling and CRM.

The CEBRA project

Involving a consortium of five European countries, the project aims to develop an integrated circular economy activity in the field of Platinum Group Metals.

ULiège and metal recycling

In 2013, ULiège and GeMMe were first instrumental in developing "Reverse Metallurgy", a major 60 million euro Belgian circular economy project focused on metals and linking industrial, academic and research partners in a Regional Technological Innovation Partnership to improve the recovery of metals from end-of-life products and complex raw materials. At the European level, ULiège been a Core Partner of EITRawMaterials and has been actively involved in several education and upscaling projects since 2015. In 2018, ULiège joined the consortium of the European H2020 TARANTULA project for the recovery of tungsten, niobium and tantalum as by-products from mining and processing waste streams. In addition, in 2019, ULiège received confirmation of its participation in the LIFE PlasPLUS project for the recycling of high quality secondary thermoplastics and critical raw materials from mixed WEEE and end-of-life vehicles, two materials in high demand, notably for emerging electric mobility.

CEBRA in detail

The original idea for CEBRA was initiated through the PROMETHEUS H2020 project aimed at developing a disruptive innovation, enabling the first ever substitution by copper of up to 60% PGM used in ACC. PGM criticality is the subject of further research through the PLATIRUS H2020 project aimed at reducing EU dependence on PGM by upscaling a novel cost- and energy-efficient, miniaturized PGM recovery and raw material production process. In CEBRA, ULiège will participate, at the EU level, to the upscaling at TRL 7 of two innovative technologies currently at TRL 5 with the intended delivery of a circular economy model based on a disruptive value chain for PGM.

Thanks to CEBRA, ULiège will also benefit from its central role in three of the six European Master programmes bearing the EIT label, within a unique European ecosystem in the field of raw materials, recycling and sustainability :

- EMerald Resources Engineering

- AMIR Advanced Materials for Innovative Recycling

- AMIS Advanced Materials for Innovation and Sustainability

The activities of the CEBRA project will be carried out over a period of 3 years. Following systematic research and innovation activities at the laboratory scale, the technologies will be brought to the TRL7 stage and validated by a prototype in an operational environment by experienced industrial partners.

Partners

• Monolithos Catalysts (Greece)
• Comet Traitements (Belgium)
• Centro Ricerche Fiat (Italy)
• Tecnalia Research & Innovations (Spain)
• University of Liège (Belgium)

 CEBRA has received funding form the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, under the Horizon H2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Project Agreement Number: 19148.

Contact

Philippe GIARO, Senior Research Officer, GeMMe research unit, ULiège