Phinix to commercialise the removal of Fe and Mn from aluminium scrap melts

Phinix LLC, a St. Louis-based company specialised in providing product and process development, research and commercialisation, and marketing and manufacturing services for primary, scrap, secondary, and fabricated products, has reportedly launched its two-year project to develop a commercial process of removing iron and manganese from molten aluminium scrap metals, in a bid to enhance the quality and sustainability of recycled aluminium.

Led by Phinix founder and CEO Subodh Das and supported by a group of secondary aluminium producers, industrial and academic research institutions, industry consultants, and component suppliers, this $1.8 million project is funded by the Remade Institute in Rochester, New York. It builds upon a 2024 Remade-funded R&D initiative, leveraging patent-pending technology designed to remove metallic impurities from molten aluminium. Traditionally, recyclers manage impurities in recycled aluminium by diluting scrap with purer primary metal.

This innovation will enable the production of high-purity recycled aluminium, offering a cost-effective, low-carbon, and environmentally friendly alternative to primary aluminium sourced from bauxite. It will also ensure that ramp up of recycled aluminium usage in the United States domestic manufacturing, reducing landfilling with a substantial portion of low-carbon, low-cost aluminium scrap or downcycling them into lower-value products

Subodh Das said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with both existing and new secondary aluminium producers across the US. Our goal is to upgrade abundant, low-carbon domestic aluminium scrap—reducing reliance on costly, high-carbon imported primary aluminium while strengthening the sustainability of the aluminium supply chain."

For commercialising and refining the project further to develop aluminium scrap as a high-value input for advanced manufacturing applications, Phinix has partnered with Audobon Metals, Real Alloys and Spectro Alloys.