Rio Tinto renews sustainable aluminium partnership with Scepter

SAGUENAY, QC, June 21, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Rio Tinto has renewed a long term agreement with Scepter, an internationally recognized leader in aluminium dross and scrap recycling, for the treatment of by-product from the aluminium smelting process known as "skims", in the Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean region, Quebec, Canada.

Rio Tinto Aluminium managing director Atlantic Operations Gervais Jacques said: "This partnership demonstrates our commitment to responsible production and to realizing the full environmental benefits from aluminium as a recyclable material. Instead of going to landfill, the by-product from our smelting processes is being recycled and used by Scepter to deliver specialized materials, a win-win outcome. The technology that makes this possible was pioneered by Rio Tinto's Research and Development Centre here in Saguenay, Quebec."

The companies have been working together since 2002 and this new agreement extends the partnership for another ten years. Scepter will invest approximately three million dollars to further improve the efficiency of their recycling process.

Scepter president and CEO, Garney B. Scott said: "This multimillion dollar investment represents a long-term commitment for Scepter to serve Rio Tinto, while simultaneously growing and securing the jobs we provide in Saguenay. Our company will continue to strive and invest in sustainable solutions like environmentally friendly dross processing that can recycle residual sub products."

The skimming process used by Scepter is entirely free of CO₂ emissions, in line with Rio Tinto's commitment to producing some of the highest quality, lowest carbon footprint aluminium in the world.

The treatment of aluminium skims is executed by a unique electric plasma arc process and allows Scepter to recycle an average of 60% of the aluminium from the skims. The second product generated by the treatment process is upgraded into Noval, used in cement manufacturing and calcium aluminate productions for steel mill use.

About Rio Tinto Aluminium
Rio Tinto is a global leader in aluminium, one of the world's most widely used metals. Our operations have a history running back more than 110 years. Today we operate large-scale, high-quality bauxite mines and alumina refineries and some of the world's most modern and competitive aluminium smelters. Our industry leadership includes our benchmark smelting technology and renewable hydropower assets, enabling us to produce aluminium with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.

About Scepter
Scepter Inc.,® is a secondary aluminium recycling and trading company that has been serving customers for over thirty years. Scepter provides services that include recycling aluminium scrap and dross into remelt, scrap, ingot (RSI), rolling sheet ingot, sows, de-ox cones, specification ingot, rod and/or molten metal.  We also buy, sell, trade, all grades of aluminium.

We differentiate ourselves through the innovative use and application of technology; our expertise is efficiently melting and recovering aluminium.

Our state-of-the-art facilities and equipment allow us to efficiently produce superior products Scepter's employees are continually trained in the latest production techniques.

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SOURCE Rio Tinto