Italian specialty chemicals company Italmatch Chemicals has acquired Israel Chemicals’ (ICL) phosphorus recovery process, known as RecoPhos Project Technology. The deal includes all licenses, intellectual property, know-how and related assets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Italmatch intends to develop and complete a “sustainable, highly efficient and economically viable” process to recover phosphorus from waste streams, including ash from sewage sludge, effectively opening a new route to producing elemental phosphorus from secondary “waste” raw materials.

The technology, the company said, will replace the need to use natural phosphate ore, which the EU has declared as a critical and strategic raw material because of its limited availability in the long-term.

“This acquisition not only introduces a new way to treat waste streams containing phosphorus, but also transforms the way the industry will treat phosphorus-containing ashes in the future,” said Carlos Galeano, Italmatch’s Beyond Innovation project director. “With Recophos, Italmatch Chemicals aims to both offer a P4 (elemental phosphorus) with a considerably higher quality to the market and consolidate its global leadership in the high-tech industry.”

Phosphorus is a key raw material for different industrial applications in fields such as flame retardants, oil additives, crop protection, pharmaceuticals and electronics, among others.