Environmental prize awarded to Kemira's waste effluent technology in Germany
An environmental prize has been awarded to the aluminum producer NordAlu for its waste effluent treatment plant in Germany. The plant was built and developed by Kemira and uses Kemira's patented waste effluent technology. The prize was awarded by the Association for Studies and the Promotion of the Economy of Schleswig-Holstein. This was the 25th time that the prize was awarded for a contribution to sustainable development. The other winners of this year's environmental prize were Hamburg Airport in the transportation category and Familia retail store in the energy saving category.
According to the jury, NordAlu GmbH makes a significant contribution to the conservation of natural resources by using processes and technologies that convert waste into usable raw materials. Besides the recycling of materials, this technology has helped NordAlu to minimize the amount of waste it produces. Before Kemira's installation NordAlu was producing 3,500 tons of liquid and solid aluminum waste per year. With the new plant the amount of waste was reduced to less than 500 tons annually, which also reduced costs considerably.
The award-winning plant recovers aluminum hydroxide, sodium aluminate and phosphoric acid from the production and surface treatment of aluminum profiles. It also recovers valuable raw material for Kemira's water chemical production.
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