The STILLMETALEVO project is nearing completion, and its main results are now available for consultation.

The research and development project entitled “Highly Sustainable Recovery Technologies for the Production of Intermetallic Composites and Reactive Minerals” (acronym STILLMETALEVO) aimed to develop innovative and sustainable technologies for recovering critical raw materials, such as metallic silicon, magnesium, aluminium and manganese, from steelmaking waste. The project is a “MULTI RIR” initiative led by GREEN TECH ITALY RDI, representing the VENETO GREEN CLUSTER, in collaboration with SINFONET – Smart & INnovative FOundry NETwork.

The project addresses the growing economic importance of critical raw materials in Europe, alongside the high risk of supply shortages. These materials are essential for numerous industrial activities and the ecological transition. In line with the European Critical Raw Materials Act, STILLMETALEVO aims to recover value from steelmaking waste — including refining and melting slags, spent foundry sands and dust collected by extraction systems — demonstrating the potential to recover materials of interest not only to the steel industry, but also to construction, bio-based construction, refractory ceramics and environmental remediation. Currently, millions of tonnes of steelmaking waste are sent to landfill in Veneto alone, representing a significant environmental and economic challenge.

The project was based on close collaboration between academia (the University of Padua) and 12 companies (5 from Sinfonet and 7 from Veneto Green Cluster), covering the entire value chain: waste producers (FONDERIA ZANARDI SPA, FONDERIA POVOLARO SRL), treatment process developers (ZEROCENTO SRL, PROSERVICE SRL, PIGOZZO SYSTEM SRL), users of regenerated materials (ITALKER SRL, JOSEPH EGLI ITALIA SRL, TEV GROUP SRL, VILLAGA STRUTTURE SRL, FERRARI BK SRL, ALUSISTEMI SRL), and an environmental services provider (APLUS SRL).

Treatment processes

STILLMETALEVO involved the development of two main treatment processes:

• Thermomechanical process (PROSERVICE): Combines the regeneration of foundry sands with the simultaneous treatment of dust from extraction systems, improving energy efficiency.

• Aluminothermic process (ZEROCENTO): An innovative technology for treating high-value melting slags. It can also use the outputs of the thermomechanical process as input materials. A waste pre-treatment process (PIGOZZO SYSTEM) is also envisaged, based on the wet compaction of hydraulically reactive powders.

Expected outputs

The treatment processes produce several outputs:

• Regenerated silica, which can be reused in foundries or as a source of silicon for the aluminothermic process.

• Hydraulically reactive minerals (based on calcined clays or calcium silicoaluminates), suitable for the production of hydraulic binders.

• Intermetallic composites, which can be reused in steel refining and the production of ductile iron.

• Calcium aluminates, which can be used as fluxes in the steel industry or as reactive minerals in refractory ceramics.

These intermediate products were used by project partners to demonstrate their potential as new raw materials for finished products in various sectors:

• Cement-composite products and blocks for sustainable construction (FERRARI BK).

• Structural concrete products (VILLAGA STRUTTURE).

• Non-structural concrete products for photovoltaic installations (ALUSISTEMI).

• Soil inertisation and stabilisation solutions (TEV Group).

• Adsorbent solutions for treating contaminated water (JOSEPH EGLI).

• Refractory ceramic products (ITALKER).

• Inorganic mixtures for road construction (ZEROCENTO).

• Cast iron products, cores and foundry moulding systems (FONDERIE ZANARDI and FONDERIE POVOLARO).

Regional innovation strategy

The project is part of the 2021–2027 Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) of the Veneto Region, under the “Smart Manufacturing” priority and its technological development pathways concerning innovative industrial waste treatment and reuse processes, new energy-saving machinery and plants, and innovative materials.

It is also relevant to “Smart Living & Energy”, particularly its pathways relating to innovative solutions and materials for living environments, technologies for building design and management, urban regeneration, and environmental monitoring technologies.

Project budget

The total planned budget for the STILLMETALEVO project amounts to €3,473,728.52. This figure represents the sum of the projected expenditure across the various categories over the project's six-month activity periods.

The main expenditure categories are:

• Personnel costs: €1,826,105.00

• Use of equipment and machinery: €62,857.24

• Use of real estate: €20,250.00

• Technical and scientific consultancy: €700,000.00

• Operating costs: €678,571.43

• Additional overheads: €185,944.85

Public funding awarded

The public support awarded comprises:

• Non-repayable grant: €1,841,917.71

• Concessional financing: €631,428.68

Results

The following reports are available for download:

Download the Results Report (PDF)
Download the End-User Results (PDF)
Download the Filtration Results (PDF)
Download the Aluminothermic Processes Results (PDF)
Download the Foundry Sand Results (PDF)

For further information, please contact: segreteria@consorziospring.org