Retrofeed - for circular and resource efficient process industry

In the EU project Retrofeed, six heavy industries in the steel and cement industry, among others, will be made more energy efficient and switch to renewable raw materials and energy sources. This will be done with the help of both improved equipment and the development of control systems. "Digital twins" will also be developed for decision support.

The industries participating in the project produce cement, steel, aluminum, ceramic materials and fertilizers, respectively. They are located in Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Italy and Spain. The aim is to streamline resource utilization and increase the proportion of renewable and circular raw materials. The changeover will mean increased flexibility for the industries, which in turn will make them less sensitive to fluctuations in raw material and energy prices.

The industries will make improvements in their main processes, in parallel with the development of digital tools for improved governance. For example, the steel industries will start using biochar to replace natural gas in their arc furnaces and recycled phosphorus will be used for fertilizer production.

IVL's role is to coordinate the industries' development work throughout the project. In the initial phase, IVL will also develop indicators for environmental performance, resource utilization, quality and safety and later in the project make assessments of the sustainability of each industry's change measures. IVL will also develop a training program to facilitate the dissemination of the results of the project.