Rio Tinto starts circular aluminum recycling

Investing US$29 million (C$35 million) to build a new aluminum recycling center at its Arvida plant in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Rio Tinto hopes to expand its offering of low-carbon aluminum solutions for customers in the automotive, packaging, and construction markets.

This future facility will make Rio the first primary aluminum producer in North America to incorporate recycled post-consumer aluminum into aluminum alloys.

"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," said Rio Tinto Aluminium Managing Director of Atlantic Operations Sebastien Ross. "This will allow us to continue to meet our customers' growing demand for responsible and traceable products."

The recycling center is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2024 and will have an initial capacity of 30,000 tons per year. Construction will begin in coming months, with a remelting furnace equipped with regenerative burners and an automated scrap loading system to be installed in an existing building at the Arvida plant.

Rio Tinto aims to source clean aluminum scrap locally from used vehicles and construction materials to be remelted into recycled content that will then be made into aluminum billets at the Arvida smelter as well as other products from the company's Quebec facilities.

The project is expected to generate C$30 million of economic benefits in Quebec and will create around 10 new permanent jobs at the Arvida plant.