Centro Uno

Centro Uno is the first Swiss waste-to-value facility turning incinerator bottom ash (IBA) into valuable resources like metals and minerals. Located in Full-Reuenthal, Aargau, the plant uses innovative technology patented by SELFRAG to process up to 35'000 tons of IBA from regional incinerators yearly. With an exceptional recovery rate of 50%, Centro Uno marks the first step in the SELFRAG vision of a circular economy.

The name Centro Uno is no coincidence, the plant is to be the first of many. Built in 2022 and inaugurated in 2023, it is now running at full capacity and acts as a flagship for the new generation of SELFRAG facilities envisioned. Discover all the Centros ›

Centro Uno is the first commercial-scale High Voltage Pulse plant for incinerator bottom ash in Switzerland. It processes 35'000 tonnes of IBA per year from three regional incinerators — Renergia in Lucerne, and KVA Turgi and KVA Buchs in Aargau — and was built in close cooperation with regional authorities, the operating waste-incineration plants, and downstream customers.

How it works: Incinerator bottom ash is a waste product of incinerators, normally destined to end up in a landfill. The patented SELFRAG technology runs the slag through an energy-efficient multi-step process: sorting, High Voltage Pulse fragmentation along the material's natural grain boundaries, and downstream separation of metals and minerals. Combined with conventional sorting, this approach recovers around 50% of the processed waste as usable material. Learn more about the technology ›

The SELFRAG technology allows for approximately half of the processed slag to be recycled. Besides metals, it recovers mineral components that can be reused by the construction industry as additives in cement. Not only is this a contribution to the circular economy, it also results in a substantial reduction of waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Every new SELFRAG recycling facility saves a significant amount of CO₂ emissions. To further reduce their carbon footprint, SELFRAG plants are built in the vicinity of waste incineration plants or on-site. This creates local jobs while relieving the road network and reducing transport emissions.