Emirates Global Aluminium extends contract to process industrial waste

An Emirates Global Aluminium employee at the company's Taweelah refinery. In 2019, EGA, invested Dh15m to develop a pre-treatment and spent pot lining facility at its Al Taweelah plant. Image courtesyShow more

Emirates Global Aluminium extended its 10-year partnership with Swiss firm LafargeHolcim's local subsidiary to process and recycle spent pot lining, a significant hazardous waste for smelters.

The agreement, signed with Geocycle UAE, will help pre-process the toxic waste, which is formed as a result of ageing lining of pots in an aluminium smelter.

Globally, one million tonnes of spent pot lining is produced annually as a result of aluminium smelting. Previously, the waste was largely refilled, but companies such as EGA have invested in finding ways to remove the toxicity of the material and use it for other purposes. Proper pre-processing can remove harmful chemicals from the waste, which can then be utilised as feedstock in cement, mineral wool and steel production processes.

Geocycle UAE has received over 160,000 tonnes of spent pot lining since 2010, which has been processed and supplied to the domestic cement industry.

Following the renewal of their agreement, EGA is expected to supply another 40,000 tonnes of waste to Geocycle UAE and directly as pre-processed material to LafargeHolcim’s cement plant in Fujairah.

In 2019, EGA, the largest industrial firm in the UAE outside of oil and gas, invested Dh15 million to develop a pre-treatment and spent pot lining facility at its Al Taweelah plant.