Turning Waste Kiln Shelves from “Solid Waste” to Resource Recovery: Exploring Recycling Technologies and Industrial Closed-Loop Systems
Release time:
2026-09-16
Source:
Industry Insights
In its corporate business structure, Zhongwan New Materials has strategically positioned itself in the comprehensive recycling and utilization of spent fireclay refractory bricks and crucibles, creating a seamless upstream–downstream synergy with its core business of manufacturing these products. This strategic move signifies that the role of refractory‑brick suppliers is no longer confined to “production and delivery”; instead, it extends to the end of the product’s service life, enabling participation in the resource‑recovery and environmentally sound disposal of refractory‑brick waste at the customer site.
As the production of lithium‑ion battery cathode materials continues to expand, the volume of scrapped kiln shelves generated during the sintering process is also increasing. During repeated use, these shelves undergo side reactions with the cathode materials, leading to the accumulation of valuable metals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium, while the refractory material itself still retains potential for reuse. Turning discarded kiln shelves from solid waste requiring disposal into reusable resources has become a concrete and practical challenge in advancing the green transformation of the lithium‑battery materials supply chain.
According to the technology roadmap for the resource recovery of spent lithium‑ion battery crucibles disclosed by a research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a combined physical–chemical separation process coupled with staged hydrometallurgical recovery can achieve leaching rates exceeding 90% for nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium—key energy metals—while enabling nearly 100% reuse of the purified crucible material and its conversion into refractory products. The entire process generates no wastewater and has already been implemented in a demonstration plant with an annual processing capacity of 2 million units. At the industrial scale, integrating the extraction of valuable metals from spent crucibles with the regeneration of the refractory matrix to form a closed-loop pathway—“crucible–sintering–recovery–refractory/raw material”—represents a critical strategy for enhancing the resource value of spent crucibles.
In its corporate business structure, Zhongwan New Materials has strategically positioned itself in the comprehensive recycling and utilization of spent kiln furniture and crucibles, creating a seamless upstream–downstream synergy with its core kiln‑furniture manufacturing business. This strategic move signifies that kiln‑furniture suppliers are no longer confined to “production and delivery”; instead, they extend their role to the end of the product lifecycle, actively participating in the resource‑recovery management of kiln‑furniture waste at the customer site. From an industry‑wide perspective, lithium‑ion battery material companies face both stringent environmental‑compliance requirements and mounting cost‑reduction pressures. Suppliers equipped with robust recycling capabilities can differentiate themselves from pure manufacturers by fostering stronger customer loyalty and offering more holistic, value‑added services. While the actual pace of advancing the recycling business and the extent of its scaling remain to be disclosed as Zhongwan New Materials further details its capacity‑building plans and technological roadmaps, the company’s decision to integrate circular‑economy practices into its core business framework already signals an early shift in the kiln‑furniture sector—from a “linear consumable” model toward a closed‑loop “consumable–resource” paradigm.
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