Recycling of contaminated tin scrap and tin containing waste materials

It is used for example as tinplate, as alloying element in solders, in bronzes, in bearing metals as well as in amalgams or as pewter. As a consequence of the various applications tin secondary metallurgy is confronted with a broad range of different scrap qualities and waste materials (e.g. dusts, sludges, dross, etc.). That’s why tin recycling is a troublesome issue. Nevertheless an effective recycling is necessary for economical, ecological as well as strategical reasons. The increasing tin prices on the one hand, an environmental legislation for the disposing of waste materials which is always becoming stricter on the other hand and finally the dependency of the industrialized nations on the few tin supplying countries are the main arguments for increased European recycling efforts.