Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
October 18, 2025
Industrial Waste Transformed into Eco-Friendly Pigments
TLDR
- Threenh Technology's breakthrough enables companies to transform industrial waste into valuable pigments, creating new revenue streams while reducing waste disposal costs.
- Using the CR8 spectrocolorimeter, researchers precisely measure how slag composition and firing temperature determine pigment color through L*a*b* values and spectral analysis.
- This technology converts industrial waste into eco-friendly pigments, reducing landfill waste and environmental impact while creating sustainable alternatives to mined colorants.
- Industrial slag transforms into vibrant pigments from reddish yellow to bluish green simply by adjusting its chemical composition and firing temperature.
Impact - Why it Matters
This development matters because it addresses two critical global challenges simultaneously: industrial waste management and sustainable resource utilization. With millions of tons of ore slag generated annually from metal refining processes worldwide, this technology offers a practical solution to reduce landfill accumulation while creating valuable products from what was previously considered waste. For consumers, this means more environmentally friendly products in markets ranging from paints and coatings to ceramics and construction materials. For industries, it represents both cost savings through waste reduction and new revenue streams from byproduct valorization. The technology also reduces reliance on traditional pigment production methods that often involve environmentally damaging mining operations and chemical-intensive processes, contributing to circular economy principles where waste becomes raw material for new products.
Summary
Threenh Technology, in collaboration with Peking University, University of Science and Technology Beijing, and Beijing University of Science and Technology, has achieved a groundbreaking environmental breakthrough by transforming industrial slag into valuable eco-friendly pigments. The research partnership, documented in a significant paper published in Ceramics International, demonstrates how metallurgical waste from steel, copper, and magnesium refining can be converted into commercially viable colorants through precise control of composition and processing conditions. The study reveals that by adjusting slag basicity and firing temperature, researchers can produce pigments spanning from reddish yellow to bluish green hues, effectively turning what was once environmental waste into valuable resources.
The research utilized Threenh Technology's advanced color measurement equipment, particularly the CR8 spectrocolorimeter and TS70 series colorimeters, to achieve unprecedented precision in analyzing slag color properties. These sophisticated instruments employ D/8 geometry with diffuse illumination and 8° directional reception, high-precision spectroscopic technology, and full-spectrum LED light sources to measure spectral reflectance across the 400-700 nm wavelength range. The CR8's specialized features—including D65 standard illuminant calibration, vertical multifunctional modules, and precise L*, a*, b* color value detection—enable researchers to correlate critical processing factors like composition, temperature, particle size, and cooling methods with pigment quality, ensuring batch consistency and commercial viability.
This innovation represents more than just technical achievement—it addresses significant environmental challenges by reducing landfill waste, minimizing the environmental footprint of traditional colorant production, and creating sustainable alternatives to resource-intensive mining operations. The breakthrough demonstrates how advanced color measurement technology can drive industrial innovation while promoting environmental protection, setting new standards for waste reuse and sustainable manufacturing practices across multiple industries including coatings, ceramics, and construction materials.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by 24-7 Press Release. Read the original source here, Industrial Waste Transformed into Eco-Friendly Pigments
