The Department of Material and Waste Processing at the Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing, Waste Disposal and Geomechanics (IFAD) has conducted decades of research in the field of mineral processing and waste recycling. IFAD has particular expertise in the development of processing methods for complex material flows in its own laboratory and pilot plants. In the area of ​​recycling, IFAD is active not only in production-integrated processes but also in the post-consumer sector. Furthermore, IFAD plays a pivotal role in the development of complete recycling chains and interconnected systems.

Since 2012, IFAD has carried out a large number of projects in the field of recycling of electromobility components, focusing in particular on the technologies of flotation and hydrometallurgy. One of IFAD’s major areas of research is the engineered artificial minerals, particularly in the development of flotation chemistry systems for synthetically generated phases and in the separation of different target-elements from solutions by ion-selective methods.

Within the GreenBat research cluster, the Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing, Waste Disposal and Geomechanics (IFAD) is represented in the PyroLith subproject and acts as project coordinator. The partner-specific task of the Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing, Waste Disposal and Geomechanics (IFAD) is to develop a process to enrich the valuable material components by flotation. A suitable hydrometallurgical process will be used to recover the target metals. The remaining slag components should be able to be used as feedstock for the production of building materials.