Arvida recycling facility to expand Rio Tinto's low-carbon aluminium products

The global mining and metal giant Rio Tinto announced the construction of a new aluminium recycling facility at its Arvida plant in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Quebec. This new investment will cost around C$35 million (US$29 million), with an initial capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year.

This investment will make the Anglo-Australian multinational company the first producer of primary aluminium in North America that use recycled post-consumer aluminium into alloys. Rio Tinto's goal to increase low-carbon aluminium production, notably through recycling, and to integrate the circular economy into its value chain will be furthered by this.

The aluminium recycling facility at Arvida is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2024. It will help Rio Tinto increase the range of low-carbon aluminium products it offers clients in the construction, packaging, and automotive industries.

“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,” said Sebastien Ross, Rio Tinto Aluminium Managing Director of Atlantic Operations.

To provide recycled content for use in aluminium billets at the Arvida smelter and other products from Rio Tinto's Quebec operations, clean aluminium scrap collected locally from old cars and building materials will be re-melted.

A re-melting furnace with regenerative burners and an automated scrap loading system will be placed in an existing structure at the Arvida factory when construction gets underway soon. Around 10 new permanent jobs will be created at the Arvida Plant, as well as $30 million in economic benefits for Quebec due to the project.