Action Type: EU Co-funded ERA-MIN Joint Transnational Call 2021
Duration: 2022-2025
CZU Project Coordinator: Hynek Roubík
CZU core team: Hynek Roubík, Yelizaveta Chernysh, Viktoriia Chubur
Partners: The projects is lead by École des Mines de Saint-Étienne (France), and consists of expertise of 8 project partners: Freiberg University of Mining and Technology (Germany), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Czech Republic), Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (Poland), Universidad de Huelva (Spain), NOVA.ID.FCT/ NOVA School of Science & Technology (Portugal), Biopolinex Sp. Z. o.; (Poland), ALFERROCK GmbH (Germany), OCP S.A. (Morocco).
Budget (CZU): 150,000 EUR
Budget (Total): 2,576,988 EUR
Phosphogypsum Processing to Critical Raw Materials (PG2CRM) is one of the 22 projects funded under the EU Co-funded ERA-MIN Joint Transnational Call 2021. The objective of the project, that addresses topic 4 - “Recycling of End-of-Life products and assets” as the main call topic, is to further develop an innovative process for REE recovery from low-radioactive phosphogypsum (PG) that has recently been patented by the coordinator (École des Mines de Saint-Étienne, France) from TRL 4-5 (lab-scale experiments) which is the current state to TRL 7-8 (continues pilot plant operation).
More than three-quarters of phosphate fertilizers produced globally are produced using phosphoric acid as an intermediate product, leaving4–6 t low-radioactive phosphogypsum (PG) per t P2O5 produced, as relevant by-product/waste. About 85% of the 5.6–7.0 billion t PG produced globally over the lifetime of the phosphate industry are disposed of in stacks in 52 countries worldwide. The largest stacks in the EU are found in Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Finland. 3-4 billion tare accessible for recovery worldwide and approximately 2 billion t are accessible for recovery in Europe. At the current rate of production, these stacks of low-radioactive material are growing by some 200 million t per year. From a regional environmental point of view, PG maybe the single most critical processing issue of fertilizer production today.
The objective of the project “Phosphogypsum Processing to Critical Raw Materials” (PG2CRM) is to further develop an innovative process for REE recovery from PG that has recently been patented by the coordinator from TRL 4-5 (lab-scale experiments) which is the current state to TRL 7-8 (continues pilot plant operation). The focus will be on the comprehensive use of PG and besides the opportunity to recover REEs from it, the remaining gypsum matrix will be used as an inexpensive material in construction/sound insulation.
- New PG2CRM Project Article Published: "Closing the Upcoming EU Gypsum Gap with Phosphogypsum" - read it HERE.
- In September 2022, PG2CRM kick-off meeting took place in France - read more HERE.
- PG2CRM meeting was held from the 2nd to the 5th of May 2023 at the UM6P in Benguerir, Morocco - read more HERE.
- Read about our Phosphogypsum Processing to Critical Raw Materials: Third Project Meeting III
- New paper published! Phosphogypsum circular economy considerations: A critical review from more than 65 storage sites worldwide. Check it out HERE.
