World’s first solar furnaces for steel recycling in La Chaux-de-Fonds
Keystone-SDA
The Jura-based company Panatere has inaugurated the world’s first two solar furnaces in La Chaux-de-Fonds, canton Neuchâtel, that will produce fully recycled steel. The company calls it a project of “true circular sustainability”.
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“There is a real interest in recycling our valuable resources. We want to keep the metal waste from the factories and recycle it locally,” Panatere CEO Raphaël Broye told the Keystone-SDA news agency. There are currently 54 solar ovens worldwide, but the oven inaugurated on Friday is the first to recycle metal waste.
This innovation offers an answer to the challenges of sovereignty and sustainability, the company explained. Every year, Switzerland imports 140,000 tonnes of stainless steel, including 15,800 tonnes for the watchmaking industry and 6,500 tonnes for the medical sector.
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The sorting process by alloy and the solar furnace are protected by two patents. The furnace uses 500 concave mirrors and a heliostat to focus the sun’s rays and reach temperatures of up to 2,000°C. With this technology, metals can be melted down in 1.5 hours, completely without CO2 emissions
1,000 tonnes of solar steel per year
“Our goal is to recover 5% of the metals produced in Switzerland instead of exporting them. By 2028, the centre should be producing 1,000 tonnes of solar steel per year,” added Broye. This should also create local jobs.
The project also paves the way for the future development of a solar centre for processing strategic metals.
“We have received the support of various institutional partners to realise this project, including the Federal Office for the Environment, the cantons of Neuchâtel, Jura and Bern, SIG (Services Industriels de Genève), the Swiss Climate Foundation and Energy Lab,” explained the CEO.
The first solar steel bar will be exhibited at the International Watch Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Panatere, based in Saignelégier, canton Jura, is an SME specialising in the processing and recycling of metallic raw materials. The name Panatere comes from the Patois and refers to a wicker basket in which valuable harvests are collected.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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