Sustainable material recycling with focus on product characteristic and producibility – iron-based alloys for the vehicle industry

Since the 1950s the vast amount of materials in used in castings are recycled. However, the number and proportion of impurities has increased in castings and are expected to increase in the future. This is due to the fact that the recycling is not sufficiently accurate. Today dilution through new material is used to achieve the specified purity requirements.

Previous studies have shown that the lack of accuracy has major consequences for productivity of castings, but also jeopardizes a viable circular economy.

In this research project the presence, origin, and environmental and economical impact of impurities in iron-based alloys will be investigated.

The project intends to specify limit values for critical contaminants, update material specifications and produce a recommendation about which products/materials should not be recycled to the selected applications. The project will carry out material analyses, machining analyses, life cycle assessments and perform industrial tests.

The ambition is to obtain right recycling for a sustainable product.