• Crusher will pre-treat spent pot lining, a by-product of aluminium smelting, for re-use by UAE cement industry
• Facility to be the largest in the Gulf region, capable of crushing 60,000 tonnes of SPL annually

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced the start-up of a new AED 15 million pre-treatment and crusher facility for spent pot lining in a step forward for the recycling of industrial waste.

Spent pot lining, the used inner lining of reduction cells in which aluminium is smelted, is one of the most significant waste streams in the aluminium industry.

The new facility is an important part of EGA’s ongoing commitment to reducing and re-using industrial waste. It will be used to pre-treat spent pot lining so it is ready to be used by cement companies in the UAE as an alternative feedstock.

EGA has worked with UAE cement companies since 2010 to develop the potential of spent pot lining to replace some fuel and refractory materials required in cement manufacturing. Last year, EGA supplied over 41,000 tonnes of spent pot lining to UAE cement companies, reducing stockpiles from previous years and making EGA a global leader in the re-use of this industrial waste.

Worldwide, the aluminium industry produces over 1 million tonnes of spent pot lining every year according to industry experts, with much kept in indefinite storage without economic use.

The new pre-treatment and crusher facility is located at EGA’s Al Taweelah site, and is the largest in the Gulf region.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “SPL is a global challenge for our industry, but over the past decade at EGA we have been able to turn this waste into value in the UAE. I am pleased that EGA now has its own infrastructure to transform SPL into a useful industrial feedstock, securing this solution and our partnerships with UAE cement companies for the long term.”

EGA previously worked with specialist third parties to process SPL before delivery to cement companies, increasing transportation distances and processing costs.

EGA is also supplying most of its carbon dust, another important by-product stream, to UAE cement companies for use as a fuel.

In addition, EGA sends some dross waste for processing to recover aluminium. A new dross processing facility to enable all this waste to be re-used is currently under construction by a third party near EGA’s Al Taweelah site.

EGA’s waste generation excluding spent pot lining reduced by 15 per cent last year compared with 2017.