Capral, Sims Metal, and Rio Tinto have teamed up to create a low-carbon aluminium recycling loop that boosts domestic manufacturing and cuts emissions.
Post-production aluminium scrap will be taken from Capral’s Bremer Park facility, processed and sorted by Sims Metal, and delivered to Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelter in Gladstone for remelting.
This scrap will be used to produce 1,000 tonnes of aluminium with a minimum 20 per cent recycled content, which will be supplied back to Capral’s Bremer Park manufacturing site in Southeast Queensland for extrusion operations, creating a domestic, local recycling solution.
This latest undertaking builds on an initial collaboration in 2024 under which Capral successfully trialed billet containing 20 per cent recycled content, produced by Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL). This trial demonstrated the feasibility of producing high-quality aluminium products with recycled content within a local supply chain.
Expanding the initial collaboration, Capral and Rio Tinto will leverage Sims Metal’s expertise in processing and sorting aluminium, this will deliver improved production efficiencies allowing larger volumes of scrap to be remelted at BSL, increasing scalability while maintaining agreed recycled content percentages.
The aluminium in this process is part of an entirely local Queensland supply chain. Rio Tinto mines the bauxite in Weipa, then refines it into alumina and smelts it to become aluminium in Gladstone, before being extruded by Capral at Bremer Park. After processing and sorting by Sims Metal, Rio Tinto remelts Capral’s post-production scrap to make the recycled billets at Boyne Smelter. This strengthens domestic manufacturing capability and supports more sustainable aluminium resource use.
The initiative supports ongoing efforts to establish commercially viable onshore recycling of aluminium in Australia and contributes to reducing emissions associated with aluminium production. It will also assist Capral in reducing its Scope 3 emissions and provide Capral’s customers across a diverse range of Australian manufacturing industries, including construction, marine, transport, renewable energy, and general fabrication, with products aligned with their sustainability goals.
“This project represents a practical step forward for Capral in reducing our operational emissions and increasing the recycled content of the aluminium we use,” said Capral Managing Director and CEO, Tony Dragicevich.
“Building on our successful 2024 trial with Rio Tinto, working together enables us to offer our customers extruded aluminium options that support circularity, strengthen local supply chains and reinforce the role of Australian manufacturing in a low-carbon future.”
Rio Tinto Pacific Operations Aluminium Managing Director, Armando Torres, said the business is pleased to collaborate with Sims Metal and Capral to pioneer and scale an onshore closed-loop aluminium recycling solution.
“The advancements achieved through successful trials are testament to the partnering technical teams’ innovation, and demonstrate the feasibility of locally sourced and recycled aluminium supply chains in Australia,” he said.
Sims Metal Chief Commercial Officer, David Burrows, said that using more recycled aluminium in the manufacturing process is an immediate way the industry can continue to decarbonise and at the same time strengthen local aluminium supply chains.
In other news, earlier this year, Capral joined the Australian Made Campaign.
