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Less to the Landfill as Sludge Becomes Usable
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Each month, Alcoa's Fossanova aluminum extrusion facility in Italy produced 100 tons of aluminum hydrate sludge from its treatment of anodizing wastewater. All of this material headed to the landfill for disposal. Today, the facility uses a new process invented onsite that transforms this sludge into a commercially viable material that is used in the water treatment and paper industries.
The process is relatively simple and results in the acidity of the wastewater being neutralized. Fossanova sells a portion of the now-useable sludge to a customer for resale to companies in the water treatment and paper industries. In 2001, Fossanova had 30% less sludge heading to landfills and 20% less sulfate in its discharge water.
The next challenge for Fossanova–with the help of its customer–is finding additional buyers for this product so that no sludge needs to be sent to the landfill.
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