Circular Materials - 3 Questions for Rudolf von Stokar, Reco Ventures AG

With our small series "Three questions to..." we interview selected personalities on various topics. The questions pick up, among other things, topics that are discussed by the interviewees in the form of keynote speeches or other activities in the context of Bayern Innovativ events.

Today we direct our short interview to Rudolf von Stokar, CEO of Reco Ventures AG. Mr. von Stokar will speak at our Congress "Circular Materials - Innovations for the Future" on October 6, 2022 in Nuremberg under the heading "Industrial Approaches to Materials Recycling". The presentation title is "Why do we need mines? - Cradle2Cradle using the example of metal powder from electronic scrap".

Metal recycling in an endless loop

Dear Dr. von Stokar, what opportunities and challenges do you see in the recycling of materials?

Dr. von Stokar: The earth is round and the resources on it are limited. Currently, metals are mined over and over again. After one-time use, however, these metals are often only 'thermally recycled' or disposed of in a landfill. This can be significantly improved. Therefore, Reco uses an innovative process and recycles metals in an endless loop over and over again.

61 chemical elements from e-waste

Electronic waste contains a variety of valuable raw materials. Which materials can you recover with your recycling process?

Dr. von Stokar: We recover 61 chemical elements from e-waste such as laptops, computers and smartphones and metallic industrial waste through our innovative process. These are, for example, copper, aluminum, gold, palladium, platinum, silver, lithium, cobalt, nickel, tin, zinc, but also the 17 metals of the 3rd subgroup of the periodic table, often just called 'rare earths'. We do not use any chemicals for this, nor do we burn the electronic waste to get at the precious metals via the slags.

Metal powders for 3D printers

For which applications are the recycling materials suitable?

Dr. von Stokar: We produce high-purity metal powders that can be used in all common 3D printers suitable for metal printing. The proper composition of these powders is ensured through close coordination with well-known printer manufacturers. The powders are constantly optimized to achieve the best results. We cooperate with several research institutes and also supply our metal powders with different color or higher or lower wattage for evaluation of a new laser.