PORT Stephens is home to Australia’s largest aluminium smelter, Tomago Aluminium.

Tomago Aluminium has recently signed an agreement with Australia’s largest extruder and distributor of aluminium products, Capral Aluminium, to supply approximately 550 tonnes of production scrap to Tomago Aluminium annually for remelting.

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This industry leading arrangement is the first of its kind within Australia, paving the way toward access to low carbon aluminium for Australian manufacturers.

Luke Hawkins, General Manager Supply and Industrial Solutions at Capral Aluminium said, “As far as we are aware this is the first commercial scrap arrangement for post-production scrap aluminium to be remelted in Australia and we are very excited to be working on this with the team at Tomago Aluminium.”

More than 95 percent of Australia’s scrap aluminium is exported for recycling.

In 2020 Australian exporters reported 119,075 tonnes of aluminium were sent overseas, an increase of 25.13 percent on the previous year.

“The scrap we provide will be scrap that is generated during the extrusion process, the aluminium billet used by our Penrith plant is supplied by Tomago which means they are able to ensure the alloy of the scrap is known which is critical for the remelt process.

“Generally, aluminium smelters have limited capacity for remelt.

“This is because of the safety and process risks of contamination.

“We’ve worked closely with Tomago to define this arrangement to ensure we provide scrap content which is of value to Tomago and able to be successfully and safely remelted,” Luke said.

Within Australia, aluminium production largely relies on coal-fired electricity to power the process.

For aluminium smelters like Tomago Aluminium the production chain never stops.

Tomago Aluminium uses around ten percent of the New South Wales power supply to produce 590,000 tonnes of aluminium per year.

Commenting on the new arrangements, Tomago Aluminium CEO Matt Howell said, “We are delighted to be able to close the loop for Capral and Tomago in a true ‘cradle to grave’ aluminium alloy supply and recycle arrangement.
“Best of all, the product that is made in NSW is now recycled in NSW.

“With global supply chains experiencing significant disruption and carbon footprint an increasing consideration, these new arrangements do not require international shipping through already congested ports.”

Recycling of aluminium alloys at Tomago requires very little electricity and uses a tiny fraction of the energy required to produce primary aluminium.

“Often the raw aluminium from our potlines must be cooled from ~950 degrees to ~720 degrees to be processed through the cast products department and having clean, dry extrusion scrap is a perfect way to do this.”

“Recycling aluminium requires up to 95 percent less energy than production from ore, avoiding emissions, including greenhouse gases.

“This is a critical and important step for Capral and Tomago Aluminium; let’s call it the first significant step towards developing local circularity for Capral.

“We are excited to embark on this journey with such a progressive and committed supplier and look forward to developing opportunities to build a local market for low carbon aluminium in Australia,” Luke said.

Climate Action Port Stephens (CAPS) President Alisha Onslow told News Of The Area, “Any industrial initiative that reduces greenhouse gas emissions is to be applauded.

“The process of recycling scrap aluminium uses far less energy than that of primary production from ore.

“However, the major benefit of local processing for the planet is in eliminating the emissions that are part and parcel of international shipping.

“The aluminium industry is to be commended for attempting to reduce its carbon footprint.

“We hope that Tomago Aluminium – the biggest energy user in the nation – can deliver on its expressed intention to shift towards 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

“We would be concerned about the use of gas as back-up, unless of course the choice of gas is green hydrogen,” she said.

By Marian SAMPSON