PROJECT TITLE
Collection, processing, and metallurgical recovery of critical raw materials (Au, Pt, Ir, Ta)
from discarded medical material (RECAT).
1. PARTICIPANTS
NORTH AEGEAN SLOPS S.A. SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY, AUTH “IPPOKRATEIO” GENERAL HOSPITAL OF THESSALONIKI KOUKOUSELIS ANASTASIOS MONOPROSOPI IKE
2. CONTENT
The Project RECAT (project code: ΚΜΡ6-0084436) was implemented under the framework of the Action “Investment Plans of Innovation” of the Operational Program “Central Macedonia 2014 2020”, which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund in a partnership agreement with Greece.
RECAT aims at the development of an integrated methodology for the recovery of rare and high-value metals such as gold, platinum, tantalum and iridium, from rejected medical material/equipment and specifically from diagnostic catheters, diagnostic guide wires, and self-expanding stents.
Within the framework of the project, a protocol for sorting, collecting and safely transporting the waste material from the respective clinics of the Ippokrateio General Hospital of Thessaloniki will be designed and tested in order to minimize the biological load and process the waste with industrial enrichment-pyrolysis and hydrometallurgy processes for the efficient recovery of the metallic part in a marketable form. This investment project combines innovation and particularly high added value that is not limited to the great importance of the final product but extends to limiting the cost of medical waste treatment and its utilization.
3. RESULTS
The completion of the investment is expected to contribute simultaneously to the inactivation of hazardous waste and its utilization towards directly marketable products from very high-value critical raw materials while at the same time leading to the acquisition of know-how on a background of basic scientific knowledge and the adoption of circular economy methods by the collaborating entities.
The final products of the project will include: (i) the recovered valuable components in the form of metal or salts, (ii) the sorting and management protocol with the minimum biological load of discarded catheters from the hospital unit and (iii) the benefit from the reduction of the volume of medical waste for sterilization.
In addition, the companies-beneficiaries of the aid will be recipients at the end of the project of all the know-how that will be extracted from the pilot operation of the management processes and the laboratory recovery devices, having at their disposal the necessary information and experience for the expansion of the investments. This investment will be promoted under conditions of minimizing the environmental footprint and adopting a circular economy model in the processes that will be used and in the waste that are produced.
In addition to the technological plan of the investment, a side objective of the project is the optimization of the disposal and sorting processes of the specific consumables after medical use and, more generally, the instillation of a corresponding mentality in the management of all medical waste from hospital units.
4. PUBLICATIONS
A) Journals
Lampou, A., Kokkinos, E., Prochaska, Ch., Tsiogkas, T., Peleka, E., Xenidis, A., Zouboulis, A. A hydrometallurgical process for the recovery of noble metals (Au, Pt, Ir, and Ta) from pyrolyzed and acid-digested solutions of single-use medical devices. Recycling 2024, 9, 118. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling9060118
Kokkinos, E., Prochaska, Ch., Lampou, A., Peleka, E., Simeonidis, K., Vourlias, G., Zouboulis, A. recovery of noble metals (Au, Pt, Ir, and Ta) from spent single-use medical-technological products. Minerals 2024, 14, 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/min14010090
B) Conferences
Zouboulis, A., Kokkinos, E., Tsiogkas, T., Lampou, A., Peleka, E. Noble metals recovery from medical waste devices. 23rd Panhellenic Chemistry Conference, Athens, Greece, 25-28 September 2024
Lampou, A., Kokkinos, E., Merachtsaki, D., Prochaska, Ch., Peleka, E., Zouboulis, A. Recovery of platinum and iridium from medical waste (catheters) by solvent extraction. Aristotle Conference on Chemistry - ACC, Thessaloniki, Greece, 12-15 September 2023
Kokkinos, E., Merachtsaki, D., Lampou, A., Prochaska, Ch., Peleka, ., Simeonidis, K., Vourlias, G., Zouboulis., A. Investigating the recovery of noble metals from single-use medical technology specific waste streams. 2nd International Conference on Raw Materials and Circular Economy – RawMat2023, Athens, Greece, 28 August – 2 September 2023
Prochaska, Ch., Kokkinos, E., Merachtsaki, D., Lampou, A., Peleka, E., Simeonidis, K., Vourlias, G., Zouboulis, A. Recovery of metallic fractions from medical products labelled for single use. 54th International October Conference on Mining and Metallurgy, 18-21 October 2023, Bor Lake, Serbia.
The corporation is co-funded by the European Union and Greece under the framework of the Action «Investment Plans of Innovation» of the Program «Central Macedonia 2021-2027». The total budget of the program is €399,625.00 and the public expenditure €336,287.50.
5. SOCIAL MEDIA
Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/company/recat-espa/?viewAsMember=true)
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571370977261).
