* A catalyst is a substance that speeds up chemical reactions. Examples of catalysts are; Molybdenum, Nickel, Cobalt, Platinum, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n 1. They collect the waste materials from users. <\/strong>E.g. mainly used catalysts from oil refineries or chemical plants;<\/p>\n 2. They process these spent materials. <\/strong>E.g. via thermal treatment or melting. This process mostly results in the metals Molybdenum & Nickel- the main ingredients for stainless steel<\/em>;<\/p>\n 3. They produce new secondary materials.<\/strong> The processed metals are used in the production of secondary materials. These materials are often a mix of metals- also called \u2018alloy\u2019 materials.<\/p>\n 4. They offer secondary materials to manufacturers<\/strong> that mix metals.<\/strong> Their main customers are in the stainless steel industry.<\/p>\n Now- generally these used materials are seen as waste<\/strong>. But, as many metals are completely recyclable, these \u2018waste streams\u2019 are actually incredibly valuable material sources.<\/p>\n Still, Moxba-Metrex noticed a barrier among<\/strong> their customers in the use of secondary materials: How much more sustainable is it? Does it deliver the same quality? And is it cost-effective?<\/em><\/p>\n To answer these questions- they wanted to calculate the environmental impact difference between secondary & primary materials.\u00a0And proof secondary<\/strong> is the best choice.<\/p>\n So, they reached out to Ecochain.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sense a barrier from our customers to use recycled materials. We want to calculate the environmental footprint of secondary materials compared to primary ones. And use these results as one of the main arguments to convince the industry to go \u2018secondary\u2019 instead of \u2018primary\u2019. We highly believe it has such a smaller impact on our environment<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Lex van der Sommen, Controller at Moxba-Metrex<\/em><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Moxba-Metrex\u2019s bestselling secondary material is FeMoNi. <\/span>FeMoNi is a blend of 3 metals (Iron, Molybdenum & Nickel) and is what makes stainless steel <\/span>durable and strong<\/b>. The waste materials Moxba-Metrex recycles for producing FeMoNi, come from the (petro)chemical industry.<\/span><\/p>\n To prove secondary FeMoNi is the real deal.<\/strong> Moxba-Metrex wanted to calculate two environmental footprints and compare their impact. <\/span><\/p>\n The two footprints were calculated via the method <\/span>Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)<\/span><\/a>. All the product\u2019s stages (recycling process, production of new materials, transport to manufacturers) were included in the calculation. The LCA\u2019s were conducted in Ecochain LCA automation solution (also known as Helix)<\/a>, revealing 15+<\/span> impact outcomes<\/span><\/a>. For simplicity, we focus on the outcome \u2018Global Warming Potential\u2019, also known as the carbon footprint. <\/span><\/p>\n Moxba-Metrex recycles waste products and turns them into new ones. This means they are not responsible for the environmental impact from the production- until the waste phase of the used products they take in. <\/span>Only<\/b> for their own processes.<\/span><\/p>\n Moxba-Metrex\u2019s environmental footprint calculation starts from the moment the waste materials come into their recycling plants. <\/b>Everything before that belongs to the producer of the waste<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to specify the environmental impact of our products compared to the primary equivalents. Additionally, we want to see where we can improve our own processes.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Lex van der Sommen, Controller at Moxba-Metrex<\/cite><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Secondary FeMoNi beats primary FeMoNi without a doubt.<\/strong><\/p>\n With a carbon footprint of 6,72 kg CO\u2082-eq compared to primary FeMoNi\u2019s 44,9 kgCO\u2082-eq, the difference is a staggering 85%.<\/strong><\/p>\n The main impact difference between the two materials lies in retrieving (mining) the primary materials for producing primary FeMoNi. This phase accounts for almost the entire environmental footprint of primary FeMoNi (image 2) and only for 41% of secondary FeMoNi.<\/p>\n The main takeaway:<\/strong> Recycling metals into secondary materials- simply avoids the production of primary ones.<\/em><\/p>\n The results also show the biggest impact hotspots (image 3) of secondary FeMoNi<\/span>:<\/p>\n 1. Production phase: <\/strong>With 45%, the main environmental impact hotspot for the secondary FeMoNi comes from its production processes. Big contributors here are the use of ovens. (You need a lot of heat to melt and mix metals)<\/p>\n 2. Material collection phase: <\/strong>With 41%- the second-largest impact hotspot comes from collecting the primary materials necessary for the production of the secondary FeMoNi<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3. Transportation phase:<\/strong> With 14%- the third-largest impact hotspot comes from transporting the processed materials to the production site of the secondary FeMoNi<\/span>\u2013 in Brazil. Think of transport via shipping and trucks.<\/p>\n The LCA highlights the benefits of Moxba-Metrex\u2019s recycling process compared to the traditional mining of metals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Secondary FeMoNi allows customers to lower their <\/span>own footprint<\/b>. But it\u2019s also <\/span>cost-effective:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n The impact hotspots from the LCA also show Moxba-Metrex <\/span>where to improve:<\/span><\/p>\n A large part of their impact comes from the primary supporting resources (41%) they need to produce the secondary FeMoNi. Therefore, Moxba-Metrext will recycle these materials and buy secondary resources as much as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n Comparing these two materials shows the value of recycling:<\/span><\/p>\nHow does Moxba-Metrex\u2019s recycling work?<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Schermafbeelding-2022-01-28-om-10.02.45.jpg\")
Recycle-hesitation in the metal market<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/proces-4.jpg\")
Methodology: What, why & how<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\u201cThe polluter pays principle\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Case](\"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2022-01-28-at-10.57.37.jpg\")
Secondary FeMoNi has 85% less impact than its primary counterpart<\/h2>\n
What are the impact hotspots for secondary FeMoNi<\/span>?<\/h2>\n
![\"Warmin](\"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2022-01-28-at-11.01.01.jpg\")
Secondary materials are also<\/em> more cost-effective<\/h2>\n
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Even recycling processes can improve<\/span><\/h3>\n
Secondary materials: a KEY step to creating a circular economy<\/span><\/h2>\n