Uncertainty over Alcan smelter triggers idea for aluminium recycling business

Robert McClymont, a man in Lochaber plans to start-up an aluminium recycling business amid ongoing uncertainty over the future of a local smelter. Lochaber, an area in the west of the Scottish Highlands used to be the operating location for Rio Tinto-owned Alcan aluminium smelter for 90 years. The problem emerged when the mining giant made a plan to sell it to a preferred bidder.

The facility, which is the last surviving aluminium smelter in the UK, used to be one of the largest organizations in the Lochaber area, employing 150 people directly and 400 workers through the supply chains. In January, the mining and metals group announced its intention of doing a strategic review of the plant operations.

Mr McClymont used to be an employee at the Fort William smelter and the old Kinlochleven smelter before it shut down. The uncertainty over the plant’s future compelled him to think of a substitute.  He plans to start recycling in 2017 and has submitted his plans to Highland Council for approval.


According to him the success of his plan would depend on recycling contributions from businesses and households across the region who would also be stakeholders in his business.

He plans to remelt used aluminium foil, electric motors and alloy wheels and cast secondary ingots. The large aluminium blocks can then be rolled back into a sheet product and supplied to the automobile industry.

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“If the smelter goes it’s not just the last in the Highlands and Scotland but the whole of the UK, and the only thing left would be this. This would be the only connection to the aluminium industry in the UK,” he said commenting on the possible closure.

He also expressed his intention about providing jobs for skilled labour in the area through his facility. “That’s exactly what I would be prepared to do, yes. And who knows, in the future there may be the possibility to go into smelting using more sustainable technologies,” he said.

“Obviously it will be very important if they close the smelter. If this took off it could be more than a dozens jobs, but it would be up to the people and shareholders to decide if they wanted to go into primary production,” he added.

He sees the possibility of setting up his plant at the site of the old smelter at Kinlochleven.  His company is currently looking for a qualified lab person to grade aluminium/alloys for his future plant.