The development of an economical de-galvanising (zinc recovery) or de-tinning process is potentially very beneficial to steel recycling. With more cars on the road having anti-corrosion galvanised steel bodies, the amount of material entering the waste stream which requires de-galvanising is increasing dramatically. Derek Fray from the University of Cambridge developed a patented process using the hydrochloric acid recovered from PVC waste to this end. The acid reacts with zinc to produce zinc chloride which is collected. The PVC present i.e. in car underseals contributes to the process and allows the final recovery of the de-galvanised steel. This patented process can also be applied to remove tin coatings from steel cans or to separate nickel and cadmium from used batteries, facilitating their recycling. The process has been licensed to one of the largest automotive shredded scrap handlers in the U.S. and several other partners discuss further commercial development of this technology in Europe.