Towards a more sustainable Alumina production in Europe

Alumina is essential in the aluminium production value chain. Approximately 2 tonnes of alumina are indeed needed for producing 1 tonne of primary aluminium. Alumina is a key raw material produced globally and at European level. Globally, about 134 Mt of alumina is produced (IAI, 2021), of which about 6 Mt is produced in EU-27, i.e. approximately 5% of the global production. In addition to this domestic production, approximately 2.5 Mt of alumina needs to be imported to support 4 Mt primary aluminium production in Europe.

This 2-days workshop aims to present the main outcomes from the relevant on-going EU H2020 projects addressing this upstream part of the aluminium value chain.

On one side, this workshop will present how bauxite residue can be valorised, e.g.

• via the various processing routes addressed under the EU RemovAL
• via specific valorisation concept in the cement industry as considered under the ReActiv
• via the benefits of extracting Scandium and other valuable REE and metals as addressed in the SCALE project and relevant projects (REEBAUX and RIS-RESTORE).

On the other side, potential alternative alumina production routes will be presented, as studied by the EU AlSiCal & ENSUREAL projects. Additionally, the concept of industrial symbiosis will be further investigated from a business model perspective as addressed in CORALIS or from synergies with the silicon value chain as studied in SisAL or from skills need perspective as covered in SAIS-SPIRE.

The main objectives of this workshop are to promote exchange and cross-fertilisation between those EU projects and the industry in order to foster new synergies. The ultimate goal is to identify the most promising routes to boost the industrial symbiosis and turn bauxite residue into a resource or produce alumina from alternative sources.

The workshop will be articulated between several plenary sessions where the various project outcomes will be presented. All sessions will be followed by Q&A exchange in combination with networking break-out and coffee break sessions, where participants will be invited to pursue the discussion with speakers and each other in a user-friendly virtual area.

The Workshop is freely accessible and the deadline for registration is 15 September.

Only registered participants will have access to the workshop.