Upcycling is the process whereby materials and products are given a second life; a life in which the objects created have more value. While it’s typically used to denote household or consumer goods being transformed for reuse, a similar approach is also gaining momentum in the industrial arena.
For decades, carbon carriers such as oil, coal and natural gas played an important role as chemical feedstocks; used to supply or fuel the equipment and industrial processes at the core of our modern lives – from airplane travel and long haul transportation to construction.
However, as key industries strive to reduce their carbon footprints, the focus has shifted to alternative, carbon neutral feedstocks (CNFs) which have the potential to reduce the environmental impact of the entire supply chain.
Our ability to generate and supply these feedstocks cost competitively, and at scale, depends on an industry ecosystem that, first and foremost, is commercially viable. To enable this, progress needs to be made across three main areas:
- The supply of affordable CO2 – sustainably sourced via direct air capture from the atmosphere, or point-source capture from industrial CO2 waste emissions – through capturing and recycling CO2, or carbon capture and utilisation (CCU).
- The supply of affordable hydrogen – with renewable electricity or waste heat used to generate green hydrogen through processes such as electrolysis.
- New conversion processes and alternative business models.
Through Anglo American’s market development work, we are looking into new opportunities and technologies to drive novel, scalable ways to produce CNFs while lowering costs, improving energy efficiency and minimising environmental impact; at the same time opening up the industry to new participants.
We are also exploring the role platinum group metals (PGMs) have to play in improving processes and operations across these areas. In doing so, as well as providing the raw materials and resources that modern society needs to move towards a more sustainable future, we are also shaping potential new spaces and commercial opportunities for PGMs.