The University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) patented Polymer Injection Technology (PIT) is one step closer to be implemented following the award of a commercialisation grant from the Australian Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC).
The technology, also known as SMaRT@UNSW Green Steel technology, provides a responsible and sustainable recycling solution for end-of-life polymer materials such as tyres, conveyors belts and other rubber products.
The $750,000 grant was announced by the Acting Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Angus Taylor and will be utilised to implement the technology at Molycop’s Waratah Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking facility and support research to further develop the technology. The technology enables the recovery and reuse of the carbon and hydrogen from end-of-life rubber products in the EAF steelmaking process.
Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, Professor Veena Sahajwalla, who invented the technology, congratulated Molycop for its commitment to both implementing and further developing SMaRT@UNSW Green Steel technology as part of its sustainability leadership.
“The AMGC grant will enable Molycop to work towards fully operationalising our existing technology in its Newcastle facility,” Veena said.
“And what’s also exciting is that we are collaborating in developing our Green Steel 2.0 technologies, which we are confident will at some point in the future allow us to be able to fully replace coking coal in EAF steel making with a range of waste materials,” Veena said.
“Being able to release carbon and hydrogen from waste as a resource improves overall efficiency, and helps us move towards decarbonisation because hydrogen is present in waste.”