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Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3)

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the Center author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Center Overview

The Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3) focuses on the sustainable stewardship of resources. Its mission is to help industry address a pivotal societal need — the need to create a sustainable future. CR3 advances technologies that recover, recycle, and reuse materials throughout the manufacturing process, from initial product design through manufacture to end-of-life disposal. These advancements help businesses reduce energy costs and increase profitability, while protecting our natural resources.

CR3 does this by collaborating with industry to:

  • Explore and develop basic recovery and recycling science, engineering, and education.
  • Develop technologies to identify and separate valuable materials from waste streams.
  • Build strategies and technologies to enable greater use of process effluents within materials process systems.
  • Establish materials recovery and recycling curricula along with university research experience that will create an engineering workforce equipped to address the challenge of achieving cost-effective and profitable materials sustainability.

Universities

  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute
View Center Website

Center Personnel

Dr. Brajendra Mishra
Center Director
508-831-5711
bmishra@wpi.edu

Carol Garofoli
Director of Operations
508-831-5592
garofoli@wpi.edu

Dr. Corby Anderson
Site Director - Colorado School of Mines
406-491-4002
cganders@mines.edu

Dr. Bart Blanpain
Site Director - KU Leuven
-44
bart.blanpain@kuleuven.be

Dr. Gjergi Dodbiba
Site Director - University of Tokyo
-12843
dodbiba@sys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Research Focus

CR3 research is making breakthroughs for a sustainable future — recycling plasma display panel materials, recycling and recovering lithium-ion batteries, dezincing galvanized steel, recycling magnet separation technologies, recovering metal using automated sorting, recovering zinc and ion, and more.

CR3’s research focus areas include:

  • Alloy recycling.
  • Automated sortation.
  • Inorganic polymer performance.
  • Metal fines recovery.
  • Permanent magnets.
  • Phosphors.
  • Photovoltaics.
  • Resource efficiency.
  • Secondary raw materials.

Current research projects

  • Alternative fluxes for lead bullion refining.
  • Copper separation from steel.
  • Electro-oxidation of metals and inorganics in metallurgical operations.
  • Moisture analysis of heterogeneous solid material flows.
  • Near real-time detection of elements in pure metals and alloys at concentrations below parts per million.
  • Optimization of concrete mixtures for 3D printing.
  • Optimized sorting and separation technologies for remanufacturing with product-centric recycled and reclaimed scrap.
  • Recycling of waterborne paint sludge.

Awards

1747752

1747765