TReFCo Project Starts to Recover Materials from Coated Products

In April 2022 Swansea University and the University of Birmingham began TReFCo, a three-year, £1.2 million project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The project uses near-infrared heating to remove the binder from functional coatings, so that valuable materials can be recovered from end-of-life products.

Partners include Keeling and Walker, Precision Varionic, Deregallera, Tata Steel, adphos Group, Elemental Inks and Chemicals, WRAP and Plug Life Consulting. Gavin, then a Faraday Institution Research Fellow, leads the techno-economic comparison of the new route against conventional processing. A Welsh-language press release followed on 12 April 2022.