For the first time in North America, the multinational Rio Tinto itself recycles aluminum scraps to integrate them into the parts it manufactures. The new recycling furnace has just been commissioned at the Laterrière plant, just over a year after the announcement of its construction.
The aluminum alloy that is brewed in the new $11 million furnace at the Laterrière casting center comes from scraps that the Rio Tinto plant accumulates each year. In the short term, up to 22,000 tonnes of scrap could be recycled in this way.
We’re going to be able to make aluminum in a closed loop, so we’re re-inserting aluminum that we’ve already produced in our process. It is not aluminum that will come out of the pot rooms, but really aluminum that will come out of the casting center, we reintegrate all of our scrap into our operations“, said Stéphanie Gignac, director of operations of the Grande-Baie and Laterrière factories.
© Catherine Paradis/Radio-Canada
These aluminum scraps will be reused at Rio Tinto’s Laterrière plant.
From now on, parts produced at Laterrière will contain 15 to 30% recycled aluminum. This is a good first step, according to Claude Villeneuve, professor in the department of basic sciences and director of the Chair in eco-advice at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC).
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This is good news from an energy efficiency point of view. We can think that we can go much further, if we had traceability, when we arrive at the dismantling of the vehicle for example, well the part has a number which is its dressing number and its producer and the person who makes the dismantling the vehicle can put it back in the circuit and bring it back to recycling, but we are still far from that“, he commented.
© Catherine Paradis/Radio-Canada
Stéphanie Gignac is the director of operations for the Grande-Baie and Laterrière factories.
This first step, however, is enough to allow Rio Tinto to show a greener face to customers.
We see it with Apple and Nespresso, it’s directly linked to the demands of customers and consumers, the children we raise today, that’s what they ask of us“, continued Stéphanie Gignac.
In addition to improving its brand image, Rio Tinto also makes more money by recycling its aluminum scraps than by selling them raw.