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First publication coming soon
A circular chip industry,
made in Europe.001
InGaGe recovers and refines five strategic semiconductor metals — Indium, Gallium, Germanium, Antimony and Arsenic — directly from European industrial and end-of-life waste streams. From bauxite residue to wafer, the loop closes inside Europe.
Five elements · One value chain
3169.72
Ga
Gallium
3272.63
Ge
Germanium
3374.92
As
Arsenic
49114.82
In
Indium
51121.76
Sb
Antimony
01 · About the project
Europe makes chips. Not the metals inside them.
Semiconductors power the green and digital transition — but Europe depends almost entirely on imports of the strategic metals that make them possible. InGaGe closes that gap.
The project develops and demonstrates integrated processes for the recovery of Gallium from bauxite residue and crude-Ga production waste, Indium from zinc-smelting alloys, Germanium from optical cables and LEDs, Antimony from copper processing residues, and Arsenic from GaAs wafer waste and legacy metallurgical dust.
Beyond extraction, InGaGe innovates the downstream value chain itself: a novel plasma refining method delivers ultra-pure gallium, while a scaled HTVPE reactor produces 2-inch GaN wafers from recovered metal. Recovered indium and gallium are validated in industrial InP and GaAs wafer production at Freiberger Compound Materials — closing the loop from waste back to wafer.
The result is a sovereign, sustainable, cost-competitive European semiconductor value chain — aligned with the Critical Raw Materials Act and the European Green Deal.
02 · The technology
From industrial waste
From industrial waste
to semiconductor-grade metal.
InGaGe builds a complete European value chain in four interconnected stages — each demonstrated in a real industrial environment by the partner best equipped to scale it.
01 · Sourcing
European secondary resources
Industrial by-products, metallurgical residues and end-of-life electronics already on European soil — never landfilled again.
02 · Recovery
Green hydrometallurgy
Selective leaching, ion-exchange, solvent extraction and electrowinning, tuned for each element's chemistry.
03 · Refining
Novel plasma purification
A hydrogen-plasma reactor refines crude Ga to 5N – 7N purity — faster, cleaner and more energy-efficient than zone refining.
04 · Validation
Wafers, closed-loop
Recovered metals are validated in industrial GaAs, InP and GaN wafer production. Loop closed.
Five elements, five recovery routes.
All routes targeting TRL 6 – 7Ga
Gallium
From bauxite residue · crude-Ga production waste
Recovered through a holistic valorisation flowsheet that also yields pig iron, alumina hydrate and recycled soda — turning Europe's most-landfilled industrial by-product into a strategic raw material.
Recycling efficiency≥ 85%
Refined purity5N – 7N
EU imports cut−75%
Ge
Germanium
From optical cables · LED assemblies (WEEE / ELV)
Mechanical separation of Ge-rich glass fibres, followed by pressure leaching and ion-exchange recovery — unlocking germanium from a waste stream that today is irrecoverably lost in shredding.
Fibre separation≥ 85%
Overall yield≥ 90%
EU imports cut−45%
In
Indium
From zinc-smelting by-products · InP wafer waste
A three-stage route — drossing concentration, hydrometallurgical extraction, electro-refining — produces 4N indium ready for InP wafer manufacturing. A parallel patent-pending process recycles InP production waste safely.
Concentration factor≥ 10×
Final purity4N
EU imports cut−41%
Sb
Antimony
From copper-processing residues
Acidic leaching, selective Sb₂O₃·2SbOCl precipitation and chloride removal yield semiconductor-grade Sb₂O₃, with parallel bismuth recovery as a co-product — making the route economically robust.
Sb yield≥ 90%
Co-productBismuth
Pilot throughput10+ kg
As
Arsenic
From GaAs wafer recycling · legacy metallurgical flue dust
A novel deep-eutectic-solvent electrowinning route safely converts arsenic-bearing hazardous waste into 99% pure As₂O₃, fed back into GaAs wafer production — transforming a chronic liability into a strategic feedstock.
As recovery≥ 90%
Product purity99% As₂O₃
Demo capacity500+ kg
03 · Impact
A sovereign European chip industry.
InGaGe's first technology rollout — using only the volumes already available within the consortium — would dramatically reduce Europe's dependence on imported semiconductor raw materials.
Ga · Gallium
−75%
Gallium imports
From bauxite residue and crude-Ga waste at METLEN's Greek alumina refinery.
Ge · Germanium
−45%
Germanium imports
From optical cables and LEDs collected through EMR's European recycling network.
In · Indium
−41%
Indium imports
From multi-metal alloys already produced at HYDROMETAL's Belgian recycling plant.
Sb · Antimony
−9%
Antimony imports
From copper-processing by-products co-recovered with bismuth as a value-added side stream.
As · Arsenic
−3%
Arsenic imports
From GaAs wafer recycling waste — closing a hazardous-waste loop within the EU.
Scientific
New knowledge in hydrometallurgy, plasma refining and green wafer manufacturing — published open-access.
Economic
20 – 30% lower production costs, three industrial business cases with strong ROI, and at least five exploitable results ready for scaling.
Societal
Reduced emissions, fewer mining liabilities, secured European supply, and stronger public trust through transparency and circularity.
04 · Consortium
A European value chain
A European value chain
in a single project.
Fourteen partners across six countries — bringing together raw-material producers, recyclers, metallurgical research centres, plasma physicists and the world's largest monocrystalline GaAs wafer manufacturer.
Click on a marker to see partner details
6 countries · 14 partners
05 · News & updates
Latest from the project.
Publications, milestones, events and announcements from the InGaGe consortium. Updated as the project progresses.
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Kick-off meeting · TBA
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Stay tuned
06 · Resources
Deliverables, publications, posters.
Public materials produced by the consortium. As the project develops, this section will host open-access deliverables, scientific publications, project posters and policy briefs.
07 · Contact
Let's close the loop together.
For collaboration opportunities, press enquiries, or to follow the project's progress — reach out to our coordinator or to the dissemination team. We're always happy to hear from industry, academia, policy makers and the public.
Project Coordinator
METLEN Energy & Metals
info@metlen.com
info@metlen.com
Communication & Dissemination
SE&C IKE
info@senc.gr
info@senc.gr
Grant Agreement
Horizon Europe · GA 101292399