Capral Aluminium has successfully trialled recycled-content billet supplied by Rio Tinto at Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL).
The trial saw Capral use 50 to 100 tonnes of post-production aluminium scrap from its Bremer Park extrusion plant in South East Queensland which was remelted and cast into billets, resulting in a new product with a minimum of 20 per cent recycled content.
Capral claims that this is creating a new era of environmentally conscious local aluminium production.
The closed-loop approach not only minimises waste but also reduces carbon intensity of extrusions produced from such billets.
According to Capral, the trial has successfully demonstrated the potential of a Made in Australia closed loop aluminium solution, in line with the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia policy.
The entire production process has been done entirely in Australia – from raw materials of bauxite and alumina and primary aluminium production to Capral’s extrusion process and Rio Tinto’s remelting of scrap into finished recycled billet product.
Capral is now exploring options for incorporating this sustainable material into its product offering.
“Whilst Capral recycles the vast majority of our scrap, it must be sent offshore for processing and typically ends up in different types of products than what we would normally produce,” said Capral Divisional General Manager of Industrial Solutions and Supply, Luke Hawkins.
“We are excited to be working with Rio Tinto, our main domestic supplier, on this project; hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we can recycle all of our scrap locally and use it to support circularity within the Australian aluminium industry.”
By supplying post-production scrap to Rio Tinto, Capral ensures that valuable materials remain in circulation in Australia and are converted into useful products.
For Capral, the arrangement provides a strategic avenue to manage its waste stream efficiently while enhancing its sustainability credentials.
“We are driven by the industry to incorporate recycled content into our supply chain,” Hawkins said.
“We’ve worked hard to introduce LocAl and LocAl Super Green, our lower carbon aluminium offer, and the addition of this aluminium material with 20 per cent recycled content is another important step in our evolving procurement strategy towards delivering more sustainable aluminium to Australian manufacturers.”
In other news, Blue Water Shipping has opened a new shipping facility at the Port of Brisbane.
