Development of a circular economy for fluorine

Fluorine is an industrially important and widely used chemical element. It is derived almost solely from the mineral fluorspar, supplies of which are becoming scarce, to the extent that this mineral has been identified as one of 14 "critical" raw materials by the European Commission.
In order to reduce consumption and reliance on supplies of this valuable mineral resource, Victrex plc, C-Tech Innovation Ltd and Urenco Chemplants Ltd have come together on this project to develop an electrochemical technology which has the potential to be used to recycle 90% of the fluorine which currently ends up as aqueous effluent. In addition to recovering fluorine, the process also generates water and dilute sodium hydroxide as by-products, both of which can be recycled, thus further reducing reliance on natural resources.
As well as the obvious environmental benefits associated with developing such a process, there are also significant economic benefits envisaged, ensuring that jobs are safeguarded and that UK manufacturing remains competitive in a Global arena.