Reduce foreign dependence, cut environmental impact and make better use of increasingly scarce resources. This is the origin of CHemPGM, a European project in which ENEA participating, designed to rethink the use of platinum group metals. These metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium) are indispensable for many industrial and technological processes, but their availability is limited and the supply chain is exposed to high risks. It is no coincidence that Brussels has placed them on the list of critical raw materials, signalling a growing gap between supply and demand.
From waste to value: recovery from spent catalysts
The focus of the project lies in developing safer and more sustainable methods of recovering these metals from secondary sources. Basically, instead of digging new mines,
Recovered materials do not simply return to the marketplace: they are used in high value-added applications. New catalysts developed within CHemPGM find their way into key processes such as
ENEA’s role and the bridge between research and industry
ENEA is directly involved in the design and manufacture of catalysts made from recycled materials, helping to transform laboratory research into concrete solutions. But CHemPGM is also a human laboratory, as well as a scientific one: the project fosters the professional growth of researchers through interdisciplinary work that brings together chemistry, materials science, engineering, metallurgy and mineral processing. Ongoing dialogue with industry strengthens the transfer of skills and accelerates the transition from idea to market.
At a time when Europe seeks to strengthen its strategic autonomy on raw materials, CHemPGM shows that innovation and sustainability can go hand in hand. Recovering critical metals, reducing environmental impacts, and creating new industrial opportunities is a viable way forwards through public research and collaboration between different worlds.
