Anferra has developed a novel process to recycle a difficult waste fraction, oil-covered grinding swarf, into valuable products such as ferric chloride, a water treatment chemical. The environmental performance of the process is assessed through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with a focus on climate change and primary energy use. The results indicate that Anferra’s process performs better than conventional methods for treating grinding swarf today (incineration and recycling as steel in Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs). When comparing the carbon footprint of the recycled ferric chloride to a conventional ferric chloride based on magnetite, the recycled product performs similar or better depending on the choice of allocation method. The study identified environmental hot spots in the life cycle of the process as well as several recommendations to further improve the environmental performance of the process in the future.
Commissioned By: Anferra AB.