Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, is to begin construction of a pilot plant to convert bauxite residue, a waste stream from alumina refining, into soil products.
The plant is thought to be the first of its kind in the world, and follows five years of research and development by EGA and The University of Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences.
The plant, which will be in Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi, is expected to be operational in 2023.
EGA said its game-changing process converts bauxite residue in its entirety in hours into an environmentally-benign, plant-friendly soil.
Industry experts estimate that at least 150 million tonnes of bauxite residue are produced worldwide each year and less than two percent are currently put to productive use. Untreated bauxite residue is a caustic material that cannot support plant life.
EGA said trials have shown that its manufactured soil, which the company calls Turba – the Arabic word for soil – enhances plant growth while using less water and fertiliser than local sandy alternatives.
It said in a statement that the UAE has insufficient naturally-occurring soil, due to the arid climate and the country currently imports large quantities of soil products each year for greening and agricultural purposes from as far afield as Europe.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said: “The productive use of bauxite residue has been a global challenge since the dawn of the aluminium industry more than a century ago. We believe that our Turba process is a breakthrough, and our pilot plant will enable us to learn how to apply it on a large-scale.
“This and other potential solutions we are developing hold out the prospect of an end to new bauxite residue storage this decade, whilst creating products useful in the UAE.”
EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi in 2019, inaugurating alumina refining as a new industrial activity in the UAE.
EGA said its Bauxite Residue R&D Group has created a portfolio of additional novel applications that are at an advanced stage of development, with further pilot-scale trials expected.
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