third MESCEL project meeting

On 4 March 2026, we held the third MESCEL project meeting at the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The meeting brought all project partners (ZAG, Politecnico di Milano and OMCD Group) together to review ongoing activities, discuss recent results, and coordinate the next steps of the project.

Building on the progress achieved so far during the project, the meeting provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions on experimental work, process development, and sustainability assessment related to the recycling of WC hardmetals.

Key developments discussed during the meeting included progress in the selection and characterization of representative WC hardmetal compositions used as the basis for recycling studies, continued optimization of the electrochemical recycling process at laboratory scale, ongoing adjustments and testing of the laboratory-scale cell and pilot plant equipment, and further development of the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework and boundary conditions.

The meeting also enabled partners to strengthen collaboration, exchange technical insights, and align future research activities. The consortium remains committed to advancing sustainable recovery of valuable metals and demonstrating innovative recycling technologies from laboratory research towards pilot-scale implementation.