ALTEK EUROPE LIMITED

Their core work

ALTEK is a UK-based technology SME serving the aluminium industry, specialising in equipment and processes for secondary aluminium recovery and industrial heat management. Their core business revolves around recycling aluminium from salt slag (a hazardous byproduct of aluminium smelting) and designing heat recovery systems that capture waste energy from high-temperature industrial processes. They combine metallurgical process engineering with thermal systems design — turning industrial waste streams (both material and energy) into recoverable resources. Based in Chesterfield, they operate as a focused technology provider to aluminium smelters and recyclers across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only two projects spanning 2015–2021, the evolution story is narrow but coherent: they began with material circularity (AluSalt, 2015, recovering aluminium from salt slag) and then extended into energy circularity (Smartrec, 2016, recovering waste heat and storing it thermally). The shift is from solid-waste valorisation toward integrated thermal systems engineering. There is no post-2021 H2020 activity in the dataset, so the most recent signal is the move into modular heat recovery and molten-salt storage.

They are moving from single-process metallurgical recovery toward modular thermal systems that can plug into energy-intensive industries — relevant for anyone building decarbonisation or waste-heat projects.

How they like to work

ALTEK acts exclusively as a coordinator — both H2020 projects were led by them, not joined as a partner. They work with small-to-medium consortia (8 unique partners across 6 countries total), suggesting they prefer focused teams where they control the technical direction. This profile fits an SME that owns specific IP and builds consortia around commercialising it.

A compact European network of 8 partners across 6 countries, built around two coordinator-led projects. No single dominant geography beyond their UK home base.

What sets them apart

Most aluminium-sector H2020 participants are large smelters or research institutes; ALTEK stands out as a coordinator-capable SME with proven ability to lead EUR 2M+ innovation actions. They combine two rare skills in one shop: metallurgical process know-how (salt cake chemistry) and thermal engineering (heat pipes, molten salt storage). That combination makes them a practical partner for any project that needs waste-to-resource conversion at high temperatures.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AluSalt
  Their largest H2020 project at EUR 2.46M, tackling salt cake — one of the aluminium industry's most problematic hazardous wastes.
• Smartrec
  A five-year modular heat recovery and thermal storage project that broadened them from metal recycling into industrial energy systems.