News

During the last quarter of 2024, after participating at the RMIS workshop hosted in Brussels by the Joint Research Centre [JRC], the PEACOC project provided content that is currently feeding into the European Raw Materials Information System [RMIS], a wealthy source of information for a variety of stakeholders, from policy makers, industry professionals, to researchers, investors and environmental organisations.  An entire section is dedicated to the project’s presentation, which can be found under the topic “Resource efficiency and circular economy”.

PEACOC advancing precious metal recovery. Innovative metallurgical processes

The PEACOC project is introducing a groundbreaking pre-commercial metallurgical processes designed to recover precious metals (PMs) such as platinum group metals (PGMs), gold (Au), and silver (Ag) from end-of-life (EoL) products in Europe. This process addresses one of the ‘burning’ challenges the EU has been facing recently: its dependency on imported PMs. The beauty of the PEACOC concept lies in its capacity to tap into the vast potential of EoL products available locally. Most of these EoL, but also mid- and low-grade products are typically exported outside of Europe due to low interest from smelters and recyclers.

Challenges with conventional recycling technologies

Traditional recycling technologies, including smelting and hydrometallurgical processes, are capital and operational expenditure (CAPEX-OPEX) intensive, with high energy consumption and significant environmental impacts. These methods are not only costly but also inefficient in dealing with complex material mixtures, limiting the recovery of PMs on a large scale.

PEACOC proposes an innovative recycling approach

PEACOC aims to overcome these challenges by demonstrating cost-effective and eco-friendly technologies capable of recovering PMs from complex EoL products like spent autocatalysts, low- and mid-grade PCBAs, and PV scrap. The project is structured into eleven work packages (WPs), focusing on technical activities, management, dissemination, communication, and exploitation.

Key activities and technologies developed by PEACOC consortium

• Collection and characterisation: identifying and characterising unexplored EoL products containing PMs across Europe.
• Concentration and refining: Optimising and scaling up concentration routes using innovative processes like the NOVA process and the Magnetic Density Separation [MDS] technology. Refining PMs with Microwave Assisted Leaching (MWAL) and Gas-Diffusion Electrocrystallisation (GDEx).
• Benchmarking and validation: Benchmarking PEACOC’s refining processes against state-of-the-art [SoA] hydrometallurgical processes and validating the pre-commercial pilot.
• Valorisation: Assessing and testing recovered PMs to produce marketable products.

Moving forward with optimisation and upscaling phases

Project partners are moving forward with several key steps to ensure the successful implementation and optimisation of its innovative technologies to TRL 7. More recently, project partners have been finalising the optimisation and upscaling of the MWAL and GDEx processes into modular units capable of treating significant volumes of materials. The pre-commercial pilot units – the filtration, the MWAL and the GDEx – are already built and soon will be installed in Athens, on the premises of Monolithos, for the final demonstration operations.

PEACOC ‘drawing’ impact for the EU’s economy

By reducing the supply risk of PMs, enabling new business opportunities for SMEs and consolidating the position of large industries, PEACOC is set to make a significant contribution to the EU’s raw materials strategy. The project’s findings will feed into the Raw Materials Information System (RMIS), amplifying its impact beyond the consortium.

Discover the project on RMIS


© visual: RMIS platform