SAES GETTERS S.P.A.

Their core work

SAES Getters is an Italian advanced materials and specialty chemicals company headquartered near Milan, known for getter technology (gas purification and sorption materials) and functional materials including shape memory alloys. In H2020, they contributed materials science expertise to projects spanning hydrogen separation membranes, energy-efficient building components, and circular bioeconomy value chains. Their role across these projects points to a company that supplies specialized material solutions — thin films, coatings, sorption systems, and advanced packaging materials — to consortia tackling energy and sustainability challenges.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

SAES entered H2020 in 2016 with a clear energy-technology focus: hydrogen grid recovery (HyGrid) and energy-efficient insulation (EENSULATE), both aligned with their core competence in gas-sorption materials and thin-film technologies. By 2021, their most recent project (EcoeFISHent) marked a significant pivot toward circular bioeconomy — applying materials expertise to sustainable packaging, nutraceuticals, and food-industry side-streams. This shift suggests the company is broadening from pure energy applications into sustainability-driven material solutions across multiple value chains.

SAES is migrating from traditional energy-sector materials toward circular economy applications, positioning themselves as a materials provider for sustainable packaging and bio-based product value chains.

How they like to work

SAES consistently participates as a specialist partner rather than leading consortia — all three projects have them in a participant role, which is typical of industrial material suppliers contributing specific technical components. With 60 unique partners across just 3 projects, they operate in large consortia (averaging 20 partners each), suggesting comfort in complex multi-partner innovation actions. This pattern indicates a company that brings defined material solutions to the table rather than driving overall project direction.

Despite only three H2020 projects, SAES has built a broad network of 60 unique partners across 14 countries, reflecting participation in large-scale Innovation Actions and research initiatives with pan-European reach.

What sets them apart

SAES brings decades of industrial-grade materials science — particularly in getter technology, gas sorption, and functional thin films — that few companies in Europe can match at their scale. Unlike university labs or research institutes, they offer a direct path from R&D collaboration to industrial manufacturing of advanced materials. For consortium builders, SAES fills the critical gap between laboratory material development and market-ready component supply, especially in energy and sustainability applications.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EcoeFISHent
  Largest EC contribution (EUR 649,688) and represents a strategic pivot from energy into circular bioeconomy — fish side-streams for food, cosmetics, and packaging.
• EENSULATE
  Second-largest funding (EUR 643,300) targeting energy-efficient building components, directly aligned with EU Green Deal priorities.
• HyGrid
  Hydrogen recovery from natural gas grids — a Fuel Cell and Hydrogen JU project connecting to the emerging European hydrogen economy.