Emirates Global Aluminium has signed a deal with Abu-Dhabi based construction and building materials company Arkan to supply them with spent pot lining from its smelting operations. Arkan will use these waste materials to manufacture cement. However, it is not clear yet that how much or how often EGA will deliver the wasted product to Arkan.
Spent pot lining is the used inner lining of aluminium smelting pots, which is worn out and replaced every four to five years. This wasted product contains carbon, an alternative fuel, and refractory materials that can survive the firing process and become part of finished cement.
According to EGA, more than one million tonnes of spent pot lining is produced globally every year, but much of it is stored indefinitely without any purpose.
This agreement between EGA and Arkan is mainly seen as an initiative to recycle smelting waste, as the cement company will reuse it as raw material for manufacturing cement. Last year, EGA delivered more of the waste material to cement firms that it produced. To carry on this initiative, EGA is even building new facilities at its Al Taweelah site, where spent pot lining will be processed.
Arkan has been exploring how to use EGA's spent pot lining in its own operations since 2017.
HE Eng Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, chairman of Arkan, said that by using more of EGA’s wasted spent pot lining it can reduce its dependence on fuel as raw material for producing cement.
“We have conducted rigorous testing on EGA’s spent pot lining to ensure that it works effectively in our industrial process,” he said in a statement. “Spent pot lining will reduce our need for both fuel and quarried rock in line with Arkan’s vision of waste to fuel plan.”
EGA's managing director and chief executive officer, Abdulla Kalban, said it was a challenge to find economically viable ways to get rid of spent pot lining while ensuring that they were not detrimental to the environment. He added that he was pleased with this agreement with Arkan as the latter would be able to use the company's waste now.
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