Every time you melt and recycle aluminium, you get a nasty leftover called salt slag — think of it like the ash after a fire, but toxic and expensive to get rid of. Right now, there are only nine facilities in all of Europe that can process this stuff, so aluminium plants have to truck thousands of tonnes across the continent just to dispose of it. AluSalt built a compact processing unit that lets each plant handle its own salt slag on-site, cutting out the middleman. It's like going from having to drive across town to the only laundromat to having your own washing machine at home.
Aluminium recyclers across Europe generate massive volumes of salt slag — a hazardous byproduct — but only nine facilities on the continent can process it. This monopoly situation forces plants to transport thousands of tonnes across thousands of kilometres at enormous cost, creating both a financial and environmental burden. Rising disposal costs threaten the viability of aluminium recycling operations, especially for those far from the few available processing sites.
ALTEK developed an in-house salt slag processing unit designed to sit inside existing aluminium recycling plants. Deliverables included a scale model, a project website, YouTube demonstration videos, technical publications, and up-to-date IPR protection.
If you are an aluminium recycler spending a fortune shipping salt slag to one of the nine available processing facilities in Europe — this project developed an in-house salt slag processing unit that can save up to €1.95m per year for a plant producing 10,000 tonnes of salt slag annually. It eliminates your dependency on external recyclers and cuts transport costs and CO2 emissions.
If you are an aluminium processing plant among the 270+ facilities in Europe dealing with rising salt slag disposal costs — this project developed a compact on-site unit tested to TRL 6 that processes salt slag locally. It removes the logistics burden of transporting waste thousands of kilometres and reduces your exposure to monopoly pricing from the few existing recyclers.
If you are a waste management company looking for new service offerings in the metals sector — this project developed a proven salt slag recycling technology that complies with EU legislation and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 19,550 tonnes per year at 6.23% EU market penetration. It opens a new business line serving aluminium plants that currently lack affordable local recycling options.
According to the project data, a plant producing 10,000 tonnes of salt slag per year can achieve cost savings of €1.95m annually. These savings come from eliminating transport costs, avoiding external processing fees, and reducing energy requirements.
AluSalt entered this project at TRL 6 (system demonstrated in a relevant environment), developed under prior EU FP7 funding. The SME-2 funding was specifically aimed at bringing the technology closer to market with scale-up activities. Demo deliverables included a scale model and technical publications.
AluSalt is owned by ALTEK EUROPE LIMITED, a UK-based SME specializing in aluminium technology. The project deliverables explicitly mention up-to-date IPR protection. Any licensing or purchase arrangement would need to go through ALTEK directly.
The project objective explicitly states that AluSalt complies with EU legislation on waste processing. Salt slag is classified as hazardous waste under EU regulations, so having a compliant in-house solution removes significant regulatory risk for aluminium plants.
Europe has over 270 aluminium processing plants but only nine salt slag recycling facilities. The project estimates that even at 6.23% EU market penetration, the technology would save the industry €33.15m and prevent 19,550 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
AluSalt was designed as an in-house processing unit that sits within existing aluminium recycling plants. Based on available project data, the unit is meant to be a self-contained addition to a plant's operations, reducing the need for external waste logistics entirely.
AluSalt is a single-company project led by ALTEK EUROPE LIMITED, a UK-based SME with specialist expertise in aluminium technology. The 100% industry composition with no university or research partners signals that the technology was already past the fundamental research stage — this was purely about commercialization. ALTEK used prior FP7 funding to develop the core technology to TRL 6 and then secured €2.46M in SME-2 funding to push toward market. The single-partner structure means all IP sits with one company, simplifying any licensing or partnership discussions for potential buyers.
ALTEK EUROPE LIMITED is a UK-based aluminium technology SME. Contact their business development team through the company website or industry channels.
Want to explore how AluSalt's on-site salt slag recycling could work for your plant? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction to the technology team and provide a detailed feasibility brief.
