Recycled Nickel Powder Cuts Carbon by 99%: Oregon State LCA Confirms

The Sustainability Problem with Nickel Powder

Nickel powder is a critical feedstock for additive manufacturing in aerospace propulsion, energy infrastructure, and defense platforms. But traditional production — mining, refining, and gas atomization of virgin material — carries a heavy environmental footprint. The US faces scarcity of primary nickel resources, while geopolitical volatility threatens supply chains.

A new independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) from Oregon State University's Industrial Sustainability Laboratory provides hard data on an alternative: recycled nickel powder.

The Numbers: 58.8% to 98.7% Reduction

The cradle-to-gate study compared conventional virgin-material gas atomization with recycled-material production routes enabled by Continuum Powders' plasma arc atomization technology. The results:

• Best case: 98.7% lower global warming potential (GWP) compared to virgin-based powder production
• Conservative case: 58.8% reduction across modeled scenarios
• Key factor: Using recycled feedstock eliminates the energy-intensive mining and primary refining stages

Global warming potential measures how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide. The study modeled three production scenarios with varying energy sources and feedstock compositions.

How Continuum's Technology Works

Continuum Powders uses plasma arc atomization to convert metal scrap — including manufacturing offcuts and end-of-life components — into production-grade powder. Their Houston facility processes nickel, titanium, and other specialty alloys.

The approach addresses multiple industry challenges simultaneously:

• Sustainability: Dramatically reduced carbon footprint
• Supply chain: Domestic production reduces import dependency
• Cost: Recycled feedstock can be cheaper than virgin material
• Quality: Powder meets aerospace-grade specifications

Why This Matters for AM

For additive manufacturing to scale into mainstream production, the industry must address Scope 3 emissions — the carbon footprint of supply chains. Continuum's LCA provides manufacturers with documented environmental credentials for regulatory compliance and corporate sustainability reporting.

The study also demonstrates that sustainable materials can match conventional alternatives on performance. For aerospace and defense contractors facing both performance requirements and emissions targets, this removes a potential tradeoff.

Continuum Powders has previously announced partnerships with Siemens Energy and recently joined the AMGTA (Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association) board to advance sustainable metal AM.