10033435FilterEx – A sustainable solution for aluminium smelting filter dust wastesClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKWith global aluminium consumption forecasted to grow by 40% between now & 2030 but at the same time with increasing focus on carbon net zero and climate change, the pressure has never been greater on the aluminium production sector to ensure that its activities are sustainable and indeed where possible make a positive contribution to society's environmental goals. Ultromex exists to help the aluminium production sector achieve its sustainability goals by developing innovative solutions for the wastes produced by aluminium smelting and aluminium recycling. Our primary objective is to treat these wastes so that they can be diverted from landfill and returned to the circular economy as secondary resources. This can be either within the aluminium sector or downstream industries such as cement, ceramics, steel and refractory production. Ultromex has already developed sustainable solutions for aluminium dross, salt slag and spent pot liner. These solutions can be deployed at the smelting site to treat waste as it arises or even at a site where wastes have been landfilled, to treat them and recover the resources for beneficial use. With FilterEx, Ultromex has now turned its attention to the wastes arising from filtration systems - Filter Dusts. This waste stream exhibits many of the characteristics of other aluminium smelting wastes; it is highly water reactive and can evolve toxic and potentially explosive gasses, contains leachable contaminants and is considered to be a hazardous waste in regulated regions. It differs, however, in several key areas, notably the very fine particle size and the range of contaminants which present new treatment challenges. Already proven at proof of concept and laboratory scale, with FilterEx Ultromex now seeks to upscale to a small pilot plant to demonstrate to smelters' the effectiveness of the process at small industrial scale across a range of filter dusts. It will also provide sufficient volumes of treated materials for potential downstream users to assess and validate the suitability of the material as a secondary feedstock for their beneficial, industrial use. FilterEx has been designed so that the cost of treatment will be economically favourable to existing disposal solutions but which are generally not considered to be sustainable. A successful conclusion to the project will have many benefits for all stakeholders; the aluminium industry, downstream industries using the outputs, society as environmental challenges are addressed and UK plc which will again demonstrate global leadership for treatment of aluminium smelting wastes.