World's first Ash2Salt plant opens soon
Ragn-Sells is currently putting the finishing touches on the world's first facility for the recovery of valuable raw materials from fly ash on a large scale. When the plant is operational at the end of the year, it will be able to process up to 150,000 tonnes of fly ash each year. That corresponds to roughly half of all fly ash produced in Sweden.
09 Nov 2022– I am both proud and a little nervous right now. The installations are almost complete, the ash supply looks good, and we have come a long way in terms of selling the salts we produce. The recruitment of staff has also been successful, and we have received a good mix of experience and ages, says Mikael Hedström, CEO of Ragn-Sells Treatment & Detox.
The start of operation has been slightly delayed because the installation has taken longer than expected. The work is now in its final stages and the facility are expected to start at the end of the year.
– Of course, it is frustrating when there are delays. In a perfect world, you want everything to go according to plan, but the troubled world situation has delayed deliveries of certain types of material, says Mikael Hedström.
The first delivery of ash took place on 6 October 2022. Photo: Linnéa Bodell
Already now, Swedish district heating producers can procure Ash2Salt, which several have already done.
– The interest in the plant from customers, decision-makers, and other stakeholders has been great. The Ash2Salt technology is available at the right time when more and more people are realising that we have to change to a circular economy, says Mikael Hedström.
Ragn-Sells has also received proposals from actors in other countries who are interested in supplying ash to the new facility. Mikael Hedström is positive about the future of the technology and wants to get the facility up and running as soon as possible so that more people can come and see how the process works in practice.
– We see a global trend that more and more people want to increase the utilisation of resources in energy recovery from waste. Our main supplier Hitachi Zosen Inova has signed an agreement with us to sell the Ash2Salt technology exclusively in about ten countries around the world. Even in the Nordics, we assess that there is room for at least one more facility, says Mikael Hedström.
