Rio Tinto will remelt clean aluminium scrap, sourced locally from used vehicles and construction materials to produce recycled content, for use in its aluminium billets at the Arvida smelter
Aluminium scrap (Credit: Business Wire)
UK-based mining company Rio Tinto is set to invest $29m in a new aluminium recycling facility at its Arvida plant in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, Quebec, Canada.
The new plant will remelt clean aluminium scrap sourced locally from used vehicles and construction materials to produce recycled content.
The recycled content will be used in its aluminium billets at the Arvida smelter, along with other products from its Quebec facilities, said Rio Tinto.
The company intends to start construction at the new recycling facility in a few months.
It will install a remelting furnace equipped with regenerative burners and an automated scrap loading system, in an existing building at the Arvida plant.
The project is expected to create around 10 new permanent jobs at the Arvida Plant, and generate C$30m ($23m) in economic benefits for Quebec.
Rio Tinto Atlantic Operations aluminium managing director Sebastien Ross said: “Investing in new recycling facilities in Arvida is another step in our strategy to expand our offering of low carbon aluminium products and integrate the circular economy into our value chain.
“This will allow us to continue to meet our customers’ growing demand for responsible, traceable and responsible products.”
With an initial capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum, the new recycling centre is anticipated to start operations in the second quarter of 2024.
Once completed, the new facility is said to expand the company’s low-carbon aluminium solutions offering for customers in the automotive, packaging and construction markets.
In addition, Rio Tinto said that it will be the first primary aluminium producer in North America to incorporate recycled post-consumer aluminium into aluminium alloys.
Last year, the company commissioned a new remelting furnace at its Laterrière Plant to recycle aluminium scrap from its internal operations.
Furthermore, Rio Tinto’s partnership with Alcoa, dubbed ELYSIS, is working on developing a new smelting technology for aluminium without direct greenhouse gas emissions.