REMADE Announces New Technology License for Aluminum Industry

Innovation will improve the quality of recycled aluminum and allow for more diverse uses, including electric vehicle manufacturing

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — August 17, 2023 — The REMADE Institute, a 170-member public-private partnership established and funded in part by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), today announced a new technology license involving technology developed with REMADE support. The license involves a technological innovation capable of removing metallic impurities from recycled aluminum melts, thereby improving the quality of the aluminum and allowing it to be used for more diverse applications, including electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.

The innovation is part of a research and development project first funded by REMADE in 2020. The R&D project, "Selective Recovery of Elements from Molten Aluminum Alloys," is still in progress and is led by Subodh Das, Ph.D., CEO of Phinix, LLC. REMADE's tech team oversees the project, ensuring it meets the Institute's and DOE's technological milestones.

“A new technology license is a tremendous accomplishment. We believe this technology will be incredibly valuable to U.S.-based aluminum companies, including those that supply the automotive industry. Ultimately, it’s yet another key technology that accelerates the U.S.’s transition to a Circular Economy and assists the nation in meeting its net zero by 2050 goal.”

— Nabil Nasr - REMADE CEO

Five Takeaways From The "How-To" Conference That's Accelerating The Circular Economy

Our first REMADE Circular Economy Tech Summit & Conference recently brought together the brightest minds in research, industry, and policy to make the Circular Economy a reality in the United States. Here are five key takeaways from our two-day event held March 20-21 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C.:

• Nice ideas aren’t enough

• Carrots and (measuring) sticks are needed

• Decision-makers need the right tools for the job

• Remember: Trash is cash

• The robots are here—to improve recycling and remanufacturing

Click below for a deeper dive into each takeaway.

REMADE Announces New Technology License

Innovation will make it easier and more cost-effective to recover precious metals from used electronics

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — August 24, 2022 — The REMADE Institute, a 154-member public-private partnership established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) with an initial investment of $140 million, today announced a new technology license involving a technological innovation capable of recovering precious metals from used electronics more easily and cost-effectively.

The innovation, developed with REMADE support, is part of a research and development project first funded by the Institute in 2020. The R&D project, “Low-Concentration Metal Recovery from Complex Streams Using Gas-Assisted Microflow Solvent Extraction (GAME),” is still in progress and is led by Wencai Zhang, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, and Aaron Noble, Ph.D., an associate professor in the same department. Phinix, LLC, is the industry partner on the project. REMADE’s tech team oversees the project, ensuring it meets the Institute's and DOE's technological milestones.

“A new technology license is a great accomplishment, and we believe it will be incredibly valuable to U.S.-based electronics recycling companies.”

— Nabil Nasr - REMADE CEO

R&D Project Spotlight: Vehicle Design for High-Value Recycling of Aluminum

The embodied energy of vehicles is increasing as energy‐intensive materials such as aluminum auto body sheet (ABS) are used to deliver improved performance. Unfortunately, the current system cannot effectively recycle automotive aluminum at end-of life (EOL) because the shredded aluminum is frequently contaminated with steel rivets, steel alloys, and copper wiring. As a result, 90% of auto shred aluminum is exported and downcycled.

In addition, the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) will increase the demand for high‐quality aluminum ABS and advanced high strength steels (AHSS) for light weighting, double the amount of copper wire (thereby increasing end-of-life contamination), and potentially reduce demand for vehicle castings that could utilize the lower quality scrap.

To address these end-of-life issues upfront, the R&D project team is developing a new design for recycling tool that considers how vehicle design, recycling system infrastructure, and sheet manufacturing process decisions impact factors such as EOL recycled content, closed and open‐loop recycling rates, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and primary feedstock consumption and energy demand under different scenarios from 2020‐2050 (e.g. rapid deployment of EVs).

The tool will be integrated into the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) GREET model, which is already widely used by the car industry to quantify environmental impacts. Once developed and implemented, this tool has the potential to reduce the consumption of primary steel and aluminum by 2.35 million metric tons (MMT) and 0.19 MMT, respectively.

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