2005
Altair Chimica signs an agreement with the Italian Ministry of the Environment and the EU for the redevelopment and modernisation of the Saline di Volterra plant, which includes the total elimination of mercury from all production processes and the reduction of electricity and water consumption from the nearby river.
2008
Altair Chimica completely abandons mercury cell technology, inaugurating a new plant for the production of totally mercury-free caustic potash using membrane cell technology. The new plant, built from scratch on a “virgin” site (the so-called “green field project”), to avoid any potential risk of mercury contamination present in old infrastructures, was the first plant of this type in Europe and, from a technological point of view, is still among the most advanced in the world for the production of very high purity inorganic potassium derivatives. The new plant cuts electricity consumption by 30 per cent and water withdrawal from the nearby river by 40 per cent.
2010
Altair Chimica started an ambitious debottlenecking project, i.e. optimising the production plant to increase its overall capacity, including investing in a new hydrochloric acid (HCl) plant.
