Innovation in the sustainable recycling of hard metals
28 | 03 | 2025
The Ceit technology center is participating in the European RESQTOOL project which, over a period of four years, seeks to offer a sustainable and efficient solution for the recycling of critical raw materials in strategic industries.
Hard metals, also known as cemented carbides, are essential for strategic sectors such as the automotive, aerospace, defense, construction, mining and food industries due to their unique combination of high hardness and toughness. However, their production depends on critical raw materials such as tungsten (W) and cobalt (Co), whose supply faces challenges due to reduced availability and price volatility. While the recycling of W and Co from by-products and manufacturing waste is an established internship in the industry, there are technical, logistical and legislative challenges to achieve circular management of such waste.
A comprehensive solution for hard metal recovery
The Ceit technology center participates in the RESQTOOLproject , which is born as a response to these challenges, offering a comprehensive solution to optimize the recovery of hard metals. To this end, it will work on two main approaches. Firstly, the aim is to improve the efficiency of the Zinc Reclaim process, which allows the recovery of cemented carbide by diffusion of zinc in the metal matrix with a drastic reduction of the carbon footprint. The aim is to extend its use to all subject of tools by a more efficient sorting based on standard marking of the tools during their production.
Secondly, advanced chemical recycling based on agro-industrial organic acids will be developed, which will enhance the recovery of high-value metals with a significant reduction in the generation of toxic waste. These solutions offer a core topic advantage over traditional methods that use large amounts of energy, chemicals and water and generate large amounts of waste. In this way, the project seeks to preserve the original properties of hard metals for reuse in the applications described without loss of performance.
In addition, the project will implement advanced separation technologies with a zero waste approach . These innovations will not only reduce dependence on new extractions of strategic raw materials (controlled by Asian powers), but will also minimize the sector's carbon footprint, aligning with the European Union's sustainability objectives.
Ceit, core topic in the characterization of recycled materials
In the framework the project, Ceit plays a fundamental role in the development of advanced methodologies for the characterization of recycled metal powders. To this end, it will employ advanced powder metallurgical processing and sintered product characterization techniques. In addition, Ceit is leading the development of coding systems designed to facilitate the traceability and classification of hard metal waste. Another of its core topic contributions is the validation of recycled materials, evaluating their composition, microstructure and mechanical properties to ensure their quality prior to the manufacture of demonstrators that will be tested in various industrial environments (automotive, civil engineering, metal machining, friction and wear applications).
The RESQTOOL project , funded by the European Union's HORIZON program, is led by EPMA (European Powder Metallurgy Association) and involves Ceit, Fraunhofer IKTS, University of Cagliari, Sandvik, Ceratizit, F.I.L.M.S, Tikomet Oy, Stadler Metalle, HILTI, Irish Manufacturing Research, Phoenix Surowce and TEMSA (now Hyperion). Together, the consortium partners are working over the next four years to implement solutions that will ensure a more sustainable future for the hard metals industry in Europe.
