Residue storage methods have changed substantially since the original plants were built. The practice in early years was to pump the slurry, at a concentration of about 20% solids, into lagoons or ponds sometimes created in former bauxite mines or depleted quarries. In other cases, impoundments were constructed with dams or levees, while for some operations valleys were dammed and the residue deposited in these holding areas.
It was once common practice for the red mud to be discharged into rivers, estuaries, or the sea via pipelines or barges; in other instances the residue was shipped out to sea and disposed of in deep ocean trenches many kilometres offshore. From 2016, all disposal into the sea, estuaries and rivers was stopped.
As residue storage space ran out and concern increased over wet storage, since the mid-1980s dry stacking has been increasingly adopted. In this method, residues are thickened to a high density slurry (48–55% solids or higher), and then deposited in a way that it consolidates and dries.
An increasingly popular treatment process is filtration whereby a filter cake (typically resulting in 23–27% moisture) is produced. This cake can be washed with either water or steam to reduce alkalinity before being transported and stored as a semi-dried material. Residue produced in this form is ideal for reuse as it has lower alkalinity, is cheaper to transport, and is easier to handle and process. Another option for ensuring safe storage is to use amphirols to dewater the material once deposited and then conditioned using farming equipment such as harrows to accelerate carbonation and thereby reduce the alkalinity. Bauxite residue produced after press filtration and 'conditioning as described above are classified as non-hazardous under the EU Waste Framework Directive.
In 2013 Vedanta Aluminium, Ltd. commissioned a red mud powder-producing unit at its Lanjigarh refinery in Odisha, India, describing it as the first of its kind in the alumina industry, tackling major environmental hazards.