Rio Tinto upgrades aluminium recycling production capacity at Laterrière facility

The global industry leader in responsible aluminium production, Rio Tinto has commissioned a new remelt furnace at its Laterrière facility, by appending 22,000 metric tonnes of recycling capacity to its aluminium operations in the Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada.

The production expansion project worth with investment of $8.4-million has been accomplished over two years to offer rolled product customers in the North American automotive and packaging industries a new sustainable supply solution combining low-carbon and recycled aluminium.

The remelting furnace at the Rio Tinto’s Laterrière plant is provisioned with highly efficient burners to shrink its carbon footprint. However, it has been notified that the expansion project has created seven new jobs.

Sébastien Ross, the Managing Director for Atlantic Operations at Rio Tinto: “Aluminium is 100% recyclable and the demand for the recycled metal is continually growing. With the commissioning of our new remelt furnace, we are now offering our customers an additional solution to recycle scrap from their manufacturing processes and turn it into high quality, low carbon aluminium alloys. Rio Tinto will continue working closely with our customers and partners to support the transition to a circular economy.”

The rolled product recycling utility complements the closed-looped solution Rio Tinto initiated for billet customers in 2021. The mining and metal giant, Rio Tinto’s technical marketing experts are available to assist customers in selecting the right recycled content together with the optimal alloy for their specific needs.