CHIPART

From Chips to Parts: Titanium Scrap Circularity for Additive Manufacturing

Introduction

The CHIPART project pioneers a disruptive approach to material circularity for high-value industrial sectors by turning titanium machining scrap into usable input for additive manufacturing. Co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme and the European Defence Agency (EDA) under the Incubation Forum for Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED), CHIPART demonstrates how secondary titanium resources can be transformed into valuable products with low-energy inputs and simplified processing steps.

This proof of concept helps address material scarcity in defence and high-performance applications, strengthening Europe’s supply resilience while reducing environmental footprint.

Objectives

CHIPART aims to develop and validate a closed-loop recycling pathway for titanium scrap from machining processes (Ti-6Al-4V), converting it into parts suitable for additive manufacturing applications. The core objectives of the project are to:

Optimise the titanium recycling process from chips to powder using efficient and low-energy steps.
Produce additive manufacturing parts from non-spherical recycled powder using both Directed Energy Deposition (DED) and Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technologies.
Identify an economically viable and scalable recycling solution, considering energy consumption, part quality, and feasibility for industrial uptake.

Project Overview

Circular Titanium Recycling for High-Value Uses

Titanium alloys, particularly Ti-6Al-4V, are widely used in sectors demanding exceptional strength-to-weight ratios and durability, including aerospace, defence, and specialised industrial applications. However, traditional titanium processing is energy-intensive and highly dependent on primary resource imports.

CHIPART focuses on valorising machining chips, a secondary material often treated as waste, by converting them directly into powder suitable for additive manufacturing. By bypassing remelting and atomisation, this method can significantly reduce energy use and streamline the recycling workflow.

Additive Manufacturing Integration

One of CHIPART’s key innovations is demonstrating how non-spherical recycled titanium powder can be used in leading additive manufacturing technologies:

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF): Optimisation of parameters for parts with controlled microstructure and geometry.
Directed Energy Deposition (DED): Evaluation of process adaptability, part integrity, and performance across technologies.

This work will generate comparative data, process guidelines, and validated parts that showcase the potential of recycled material in real-world applications.

Conclusion

CHIPART supports broader European circular economy goals by demonstrating that high-value titanium products can be manufactured from secondary materials, reducing reliance on imported primary resources and lowering lifecycle environmental impacts.

For CRM Group, participation in this consortium emphasises its expertise in resource efficiency, material sustainability, and industrial implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies. The project’s outputs, including recycling methodology, process adaptations, and performance validation, will contribute to future industrial-scale adoption and reinforce CRM Group’s leadership in material innovations.

Partners

Idional (Coordinator)

Danish Technological Institute (DTI)