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Case study 1: Reducing the waste

The problem:

Our client, a Yorkshire-based company, had an established manufacturing route towards photovoltaic cell components, which they had operated on kilogram scale. There were a number of issues with the process including poor efficiency (50-60% input materials were not converted to product), large amounts of mixed metal waste, leading to high disposal coasts and formation of a malodorous by-product. They required a new process with improved efficiency, cost and environmental performance.

The solution:

iPRD carried out a detailed review of the literature to generate three possible alternative routes, guided by our clients priorities. We then undertook the process development and scale-up to manufacture 3.5 kg of high spec. product. The final process saw >99% input material converted to product with a 10-fold reduction in metal waste and completely eliminated the toxic by-product.