Waste Valorisation Tecnalia

1. TECNALIA · ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE CHANGE AND LACK OF RESOURCES
Raw materials, which are essential elements in today’s industrial
production, are crucial for the sustainable functioning of our
economy. Used in microprocessors, smartphones, LCD screens,
batteries and low energy light bulbs, raw materials are an intrinsic part
of our daily lives and the industry demand is growing at impressive
rates. Strategic economic sectors in Europe, such as the
automotive, aerospace and renewable energy industries, highly
depend on them.
They are called critical when their high economic importance is
combined with a high risk associated with their supply. This is
mainly due to the fact that a great share of the worldwide production is
concentrated in a few countries. For example, China currently supplies
49% of Europe’s critical raw materials and Russia supplies 46% of the
EU’s demand for palladium, one of the most commonly used platinum
group metals that has yet to be substituted, and is both mostly and
widely used in the automotive industry.
We offer a comprehensive answer to the recycling industry by
expanding the range of waste to treat, validating the use of the
recovered products and providing a solution to new types of waste.
We develop recovery processes from the study at laboratory scale
and their verification at pilot scale until their validation in
demonstration plant.
We improve the quality of stabilized waste by minimizing the impact of
its management may cause to the environment. We propose
solutions for the minimization of the waste volumes.

2. TECNALIA · ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
WE CAN DO SO MUCH TOGETHER
Our work is not understood without yours; we want
to work together so your company can compete better.
Because together, we can develop technologies that
transform the present.
The future is technological, let's share it!
RECOVERY FROM METALLIC AND COMPLEX
WASTES
SECONDARY RAW MATERIALS OBTAINING FROM
WASTE
Non-ferrous metals and critical metals contained in
WEEE, waste of advanced manufacturing, etc.
Ferrous metals from metallurgical processes: filter
dusts, slag, refractories, waste from blasting,
deburring…
Comprehensive treatment for the reuse of valuable
elements recovering/removing the fraction
attached to complex metallic waste associated with
other materials: plastics, lacquers, ceramic, refractory,
paper, etc..
Treatment of metallic waste in contact with
hazardous waste: for example electrical transformers
with dielectric oils residues.
Fitness of the waste to the existing regulations
that makes possible its use in several
applications.
▪ Physico-chemical pretreatments waste reuse
considering technical, environmental and
economic aspects: particle size distribution,
carbonation, selective leaching, etc.
▪ Waste valorisation for high material demand
applications: building or civil works, slag from
steelworks, paper sludge, sand casting, etc.
Intervention in the productive process to generate
waste more easily reutilized in other processes:
replacement of reagents, waste management in the
factory, etc.
OBTAINING ENERGY FROM
WASTE MATERIALS
Development of alternative technologies to traditional
incineration, such as medium or high temperature
gasification or pyrolysis for the transformation of organic
waste into, for example:
Liquid fuels
Syngas

3. TECNALIA · ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
TREATMENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESS WASTE
AND BY-PRODUCTS FOR ENERGY RECOVERY
We answer the problems related to waste that can be a
question for the viability or the social acceptance of
certain processes:
Ashes and slag from waste incineration plants, in
particular municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration
plants
By-products generated in gasification plants (e.g.
tar)
By-products of the conversion of used oils ito
biofuels (e.g. glycerin).
When neither material recovery nor energy valorisation are feasible, waste has to be adapted for its removal or landfill
under appropriate environmental conditions.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR WASTE
VITRIFICATION: THERMAL PLASMA
ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR A DISPOSAL THAT
GUARANTEES THE ABSENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
Our vitrification pilot plant involves a feeding system for
different waste types, a reactor equipped with plasma torch,
and a treatment system for the produced gases. It is suitable
for waste generated in different industrial sectors:
Treatment of low and intermediate activity from
nuclear power plants, to obtain a vitreous product that
reduces the hazard, by significant volume reduction.
Treatment of waste produced from waste incineration
plants, particularly fly ash and other waste retained in gas
purification filters (APCW - Air Pollution Control Waste).
It allows the assessment of the quality / suitability of the
waste that will be managed in a landfill disposal through a
set of test forth in the regulations of reference (leaching
tests, toxicity, basic characterisation, etc.)

4. TECNALIA · ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
CONTACT:
Amal Siriwardana
amal.siriwardana@tecnalia.com
M +34 667 178 971
Some applications of ionic liquids are:
Water treatment, removal of toxic and heavy metals
Recycling, critical and high tech metals from primary
and secondary waste
Fine chemicals obtained from biomass resources
Desulphurization of fuels
Ionic Liquids can also be used as electrolytes for batteries,
electrodeposition, as lubricants, CO2 capture, corrosion,
inhibitors, lubricants…
Our capabilities cover:
The design, synthesis and physico-chemical
characterization of “Ionic Liquids” and “Deep
Eutectic Solvents” for different applications
The characterization of the Ionic Liquids properties and
the performance for electrochemical applications.
For these purposes we have facilities for lab 10L scale
synthesis of ionic liquids including characterization
techniques, pilot scale reactors and pilot scale cells for
electrodeposition.
Our platform for the treatment and waste valorization consist of
simulation programs for chemical processes and pilot plants focused
on the separation, treatment and recovery of different types of waste:
Plasma pilot plant: Recovery of metals using pyrometallurgical
techniques and waste vitrification.
Furnace of low and medium temperature and controlled
atmosphere. Recovery of the inorganic fraction after destruction
of a minority organic fraction.
Hydrometallurgical treatment plants. Recovery of valuable
metals from waste in an aqueous medium .
Removal of organic waste by gasification
These facilities allow to perform the techno-economic evaluation prior
to decide about the scaling up of the process, thus avoiding
investment of the ulterior scaling phases.
Ionic Liquids being salts of low temperature melting points,
have negligible vapor pressure, wide thermal and
electrochemical stability, environmentally benign and non-
corrosive nature
Ionic Liquids represent an innovative alternative to
traditional industrial processes such as pyro and
hydrometallurgy due to its valuable properties of eco-
friendly, non volatility, reduced energy consumption,
and cost-effective nature.
TECNALIA
T 902 760 000*
T +34 946 430 850 (International calls)
www.tecnalia.com
WE CAN DO SO MUCH TOGETHER
Our work is not understood without yours; we want
to work together so your company can compete better.
Because together, we can develop technologies that
transform the present.
The future is technological, let's share it!