Circular Material is committed to prevent the release of valuable resources into the environment by providing innovative and sustainable processes and technologies for the recovery of metals and critical raw materials dissolved in industrial wastewater.

Following this aim they make a fundamental contribution to the European Green Deal and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The participants of the Summer School 2023 in Padova will have the opportunity to visit the company and familiarise themselves with its processes.

The schedule is as follows:

09.00 Arrival

09.15-10.30 Presentation of the company

10.30-12.30 Demonstration of wastewater processing (laboratory analysis IN, DEMO of plant operation, laboratory analysis OUT)

12.30-13.00 Questions and answers and end of the event

The main objective of the activity is to provide an overview of the company establishment and its operations, including its transition from asbestos production to non-asbestos production in 1996 and its current focus on the research, development, and production of fibre cement as a sustainable material for designers. Additionally, the activity will feature a presentation of the company’s water treatment plant and its role in protecting the Soča River and the Soča Valley, which is a leading outdoor destination in Slovenia.

We will meet at the company at 12:30. After the introductory presentation of the company in the meeting room, we will visit the production facility and learn about their responsible water treatment, that is, their purification systems set up to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.

The students will have the opportunity to visit the Thermal Waste Treatment Plant in Krakow, also known as the Eco-incinerator, which was constructed as part of the Waste Management Program in Krakow. The Eco-incinerator is a state-of-the-art installation that meets the highest standards of environmental protection and uses the Best Available Techniques (BAT) to guarantee environmental safety.
The Eco-incinerator in Krakow offers educational activities as part of an educational pathway that aims to increase the ecological awareness of residents. It covers key elements of the system, including the delivery and processing of waste, thermal conversion, flue gas scrubbing, electricity and heat production, and residue management.
During the in-field activity following content is going to be discussed: quality, safety, environmental and circular economy policies, eco-innovation and industrial symbiosis agendas. To conclude, the practical approach to circularity and industrial symbiosis will be disclosed.

A tour of the Umicore industrial site is planned for the morning of the visit (from 9am till 1 pm), while a visit to the Fraunhofer IWKS research institute in Hanau is planned for the afternoon (from 1 pm ), as the institutes are located nearby.

At the Umicore industrial site, students will have the opportunity to observe battery recycling processes: the conversion convertion of the end-of-life battery or scrap from battery production into a metal alloy using high-temperature smelting technology and a lithium concentrate, which is further upgraded through lean hydro-metallurgic processes into high-quality battery-grade materials. These serve as raw materials for the production of new cathode active materials, closing the material loop in the battery value chain.

At Fraunhofer IWKS Research Institute students have the opportunity to learn about current research and innovation in this field.