Secondary raw materials; Aluminium recovery; Multilayer packaging; Alumina; Recycling; Process scale-up
Topic 2 – Targeting secondary sources to enhance access to raw materials
Latent Energy is forming a consortium for a RAMP JTC 2026 Topic 2 project focused on the recovery of aluminium from currently difficult-to-recycle multilayer packaging.
Our patented thermo-chemical process treats aluminium-containing multilayer structures without requiring complete separation beforehand. Aluminium plays an active role in the process and is recovered as an aluminium oxide/alumina product, while the polymer fraction is converted into circular hydrocarbon products.
The proposed 18-24 month project aims to advance the technology from TRL 3 to TRL 5, including experimental optimization and the first scale-up to a 4-litre semi-continuous system under representative operating conditions.
We are particularly seeking two complementary partners:
1. An industrial packaging partner – preferably a producer, converter, brand owner or recycler of aluminium-containing flexible or multilayer packaging – able to provide representative waste streams, material specifications and industrial validation.
2. An aluminium/alumina, materials or process-engineering partner able to contribute to product characterization, purification/upgrading, industrial qualification and/or high-pressure process scale-up toward pilot scale.
The longer-term objective is to use the RAMP project as the basis for a larger European industrial pilot and subsequent commercial deployment.
Partners from eligible RAMP countries with relevant industrial or applied R&D capabilities are invited to contact us.
Latent Energy is a cleantech startup company developing a patented thermo-chemical technology for the profitable and low-emission recycling of difficult-to-recycle waste streams.
The company has reached TRL 3 and holds an international patent family covering its core technology. The process has been demonstrated on a variety of complex waste streams, including aluminium-containing multilayer packaging.
Latent Energy won the Stellantis Circular Economy Challenge and subsequently completed a successful proof of concept for the treatment of automotive shredder residue (ASR).
The technology uses the aluminium present in the waste as an integral part of the process, generating heat and hydrogen in situ. The aluminium is converted into an aluminium oxide/alumina product, while the polymer fraction is converted into circular hydrocarbon products. This enables the treatment of complex aluminium-polymer structures without requiring complete material separation beforehand.
Latent is now progressing from laboratory proof of concept toward demonstration scale and is seeking European industrial and applied-research partners for validation, scale-up and future pilot deployment.