SMA Mineral - A world full of lime
The largest, most important, and perhaps also the most challenging part of SMA Mineral’s sustainability responsibility is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. With our concept ZEQL, Zero Emission Quicklime, developed in collaboration with SaltX Technology, we make it possible to achieve this goal.
ZEQL (Zero Emission QuickLime) is SMA Mineral’s largest and most transformative initiative to reduce the climate impact of the lime industry. Lime is a critical raw material for industries including steel, construction, water treatment, agriculture, and pulp and paper.
At the same time, traditional lime and cement production accounts for approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning this process, and our lime production, is therefore crucial to meeting global climate targets and helping our customers reduce their climate footprint across the value chain.
With ZEQL, SMA Mineral takes a clear leadership role in moving away from fossil fuels. Through electrified process technology and integrated carbon separation, the production of calcined lime can be achieved without direct CO2 emissions. The project marks the transition from research and development to industrial-scale implementation.
The ZEQL concept has been developed in close collaboration with the Swedish innovation company SaltX Technology. At its core is an electrified calcination process where fossil fuels are replaced with renewable electricity, including the use of advanced plasma technology. The CO2 released from the limestone can simultaneously be separated and stored (CCS) or upgraded (CCU) into a product such as e-fuel.
The technology has been tested since 2023 at SaltX Technology’s ECRC facility in Hofors. The results show that ZEQL lime meets at least the same quality standards as traditionally produced lime (quicklime) and dolomite, while the CO2 footprint can be reduced by up to 80%, with the potential to achieve zero emissions within the process itself.
In 2025, SMA Mineral decided to build the world’s first lime plant in Mo i Rana, Norway, where electrification enables carbon-free lime production.
The pilot plant is scheduled for completion in 2027 and is expected to produce approximately 40,000 tonnes of ZEQL lime per year. A full-scale facility is planned by the end of 2030. The project is supported by NOK 287 million from Enova, granted under the Industri 2050 programme, emphasising the strategic significance of the initiative for both industrial competitiveness and the climate transition.
SMA Mineral AB
Box 329
682 27 Filipstad
SWEDEN
