ALUMINIUM PECHINEY

Their core work

Aluminium Pechiney is a major French aluminium producer based in Voreppe (Isère), historically part of the Pechiney group and now within the Rio Tinto aluminium division. In H2020, they contributed industrial-scale expertise in aluminium smelting, inert anode technology, and the valorization of aluminium production waste streams such as bauxite residue (red mud) and spent pot lining. Their participation bridges primary aluminium manufacturing with environmental remediation, bringing real smelter operations and material science know-how to European research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Aluminium Pechiney's early H2020 involvement (2015-2016) centered on improving core aluminium production technology — specifically inert anode development (AGRAL) and industrial process control (MONSOON). Their later participation (2018, RemovAL) shifted toward circular economy concerns: extracting value from production waste like bauxite residue and spent pot lining, and recovering critical raw materials. This reflects a broader industry trend from process efficiency toward waste valorization and resource circularity.

Moving from core smelting process improvement toward circular economy and critical raw materials recovery — aligned with EU priorities on resource independence and zero-waste industry.

How they like to work

Aluminium Pechiney acts both as a project leader and an industrial end-user partner. They coordinated AGRAL (their largest project at EUR 2.25M) while joining two other consortia as a participant, suggesting they can both drive R&D agendas and contribute industrial validation capacity. With 47 unique partners across 17 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia — typical of a major industrial player providing real-world test environments and domain expertise.

Despite only three projects, Aluminium Pechiney has built connections with 47 distinct partners across 17 European countries, reflecting their participation in large-scale Innovation Actions and Research & Innovation Actions with broad consortia.

What sets them apart

Aluminium Pechiney brings something rare to consortia: actual large-scale aluminium smelting operations and decades of metallurgical expertise from one of Europe's historic aluminium producers. They can validate lab-scale innovations at industrial scale, provide real waste streams (red mud, spent pot lining) for circular economy research, and offer deep knowledge of cermet and anode materials. For any project needing an industrial aluminium partner in Europe, they are among the very few who combine R&D capacity with production-scale facilities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AGRAL
  Their only coordinated project and largest by funding (EUR 2.25M), targeting inert anode technology that could fundamentally change aluminium smelting by eliminating carbon anode consumption.
• RemovAL
  A large-scale circular economy project addressing the aluminium industry's biggest environmental liabilities — bauxite residue and spent pot lining — with critical raw materials recovery.