News

Full programme for ICHS 2024 is out (First International Symposium on Circular Hydrometallurgy, Mechelen, Belgium, 9-11 September 2024).

Within the context of EU NEMO, SIM² KU Leuven/SOLVOMET researchers developed a non-aqueous solvent extraction process for the separation of heavy rare earths (HREEs). The work was published in Separation & Purification Technology.

SIM² KU Leuven – SOLVOMET researchers developed a new closed-loop metal recovery process for NdFeB-based permanent magnets. The work was published in the journal Separation and Purification technology.

SIM² researchers have succeeded in electrodepositing the rare earths neodymium & dysprosium at ambient temperatures from organic electrolytes. The paper was offered the front cover of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

SIM2 KU Leuven's Koen Binnemans and Peter Tom Jones published a Comment article “Rare-earth recycling needs market intervention” in Nature Reviews Materials (IF = 75). The paper was co-authored by magnet expert Paul McGuiness.

SIM² KU Leuven, University of Leiden & University of Birmingham researchers carried out the first Life Cycle Inventory on the production of SmCo5 and compared it with NdFeB. The latter represents the more sustainable option.

In three webinars, expert panelists will explore ways “Towards a responsible Supply Chain for Electronics - From Mining to Manufacturing” and analyse the different links in the ICT supply chain, from e.g. copper production, to artisanal and small-scale mining, and worker rights in manufacturing.

In March 2015 the Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy (JSM) launched its first issue. Now, just more than 5 years, JSM obtained its first Impact Factor. With a score of 2,109, the journal ranks second among TMS journals for 2019.

“The Missing Link of the Circular Economy 2.0” video shows why the waste of the past cannot be consigned to oblivion. A comprehensive Circular Economy vision should, therefore, find answers for Europe’s 500,000+ landfills.

How feasible is the transition to a climate-neutral economy (European Green Deal) in terms of the availability of the required (critical) metals? During the March 12 Seminar in Brussels an expert panel tried to provide answers.