Green steel from toxic red mud

An economical process with green hydrogen can be used to extract CO₂-free iron from the red mud generated in aluminium production. The aggressive red mud also attacks concrete. In October 2010, for example, the dam of a red mud landfill site near the Hungarian town of Ajka burst. More than one million cubic metres flowed into the environment and three nearby villages. Environmental disasters like this could be avoided in future if the red mud were used for steel production. Balazs Mohai / dpa / picture alliance The production of aluminium generates around 180 million tonnes of toxic red mud every year. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, a centre for iron research, have now shown how green steel can be produced from aluminium production waste in a relatively simple way.