Circular salt for Sweden

A new mineral reclamation process by Swedish recycling group Ragn-Sells could bring more environmentally-friendly-produced road salt to Scandinavia’s highways this coming winter.
June 22, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
Swedish road maintenance contractor Peab will be using the circular NaCI salt in Stockholm, Uppsala and the suburbs during winter 2022/23 (image courtesy Peab)

In May 2020 Ragn-Sells started construction of the first Ash2Salt process plant at the group’s recycling site at Högbytorp site just outside Stockholm – a US$55 million investment. Initially, the plant will be able to receive and process up to 135,000 tonnes of fly ash annually – just under half of the 300,000 tonnes of fly ash that Sweden produces each year. Right now, around half of this is sent to a discontinued limestone quarry on the Norwegian island of Langøya, near Oslo.

Fly ash, which is classified as hazardous waste, is what is left-over from scrubbing the flue gas from waste incineration carried out by local communities and cities. The Ash2Salt plant will wash the fly ash and recover its constituent salts: sodium chloride, calcium chloride and potassium chloride and sell these forward to manufacturers of various products and a range of commercial applications, including road salt manufacture.

Meanwhile, EasyMining has a contract to supply GC Reiber, based in Oslo, Norway, and one of northern Europe’s largest manufacturers and distributors of industrial-use salts, including road salt. In turn, Reiber has signed a contract with road maintenance company Peab to supply it with road salt starting by the end of this year for winter 2022/23.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Italian firms’ more global vision
    February 22, 2013
    At a diminished Asphaltica exhibition, many of Italy’s asphalt sector companies spoke of the importance of overseas markets. Kristina Smith spoke to some of the firms seeking export success. Italy’s 6th Asphaltica show, held in Padua in November last year, provided a snapshot of the challenging economic conditions faced by the country. 2012 was the year when Italy felt the impact of the economic crisis which many other European countries had already suffered. Reflecting this, the exhibition was half the siz
    Read More
  • Easy operating
    July 31, 2012
    Modern asphalt plants are a far cry from the early models, and are capable of producing a wide variety of mixes at the touch of a button. Patrick Smith reports Cutting-edge software-based control technology makes today's asphalt mixing plants simple and efficient to operate. The tightening of clean air regulations is reducing the emissions from the plants, and the current focus is on the goal of raising the processed portion of reclaimed asphalt (RA) towards 100%, says Ammann Group, which has been involved
    Read More
  • New uses for waste collected at CONEXPO
    February 29, 2012
    More than 400tonnes of waste was processed from the event with nearly 307tonnes able to be recycled, for a recovery rate of more than 76%.
    Read More
  • Thomas Concrete Group acquires more plants in USA
    May 14, 2015
    The Swedish Thomas Concrete Group has acquired assets of Coastal Concrete, a US company which operates ten concrete plants in Georgia and South Carolina. As a result, the group is strengthening its position in the concrete market across a large region on the US east coast between Atlanta and Raleigh. Coastal Concrete is one of the leading producers of ready-mixed concrete in several major cities along the Atlantic coast of Georgia and South Carolina, and the acquisition will reinforce the group's “already
    Read More

Highlighted Content