Abstract
Today’s products are made of complex, high-performance, interlinked materials that are treated in multi-actor systems. The actual up/recycling efficiency of complex products is low, while their quantity is growing. Ambitious EU product regulations for the circular economy push upcycling of the complex fractions that remain after recovery of the bulk materials. For effective up/recycling, maintaining and enhancing material quality and reducing losses is essential while handling a continuously varying input materials. Understanding liberation, sorting and refining process performance is key. Product design choices result in materials remaining closely connected after shredding. Consequently, sorting processes are imperfect, and fractions contaminated, lowering quality. In refining processes, each pollutant requires its own removal technology, each with its fundamental limitations, while the desired final material quality determines the allowed impurity levels. Lastly, material quality needs to be accurately measured and controlled to meet product specifications. Using aluminium-focused case studies, these challenges are illustrated.