Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. announced yesterday its plans to establish the region’s first Spent Pot Lining (SPL) Treatment Plant.
The project, which is the result of collaboration between Alba and Bahrain’s Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), is part of a bigger initiative driven by Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa to more properly manage the country’s waste products.
Though no word as to the plant’s location was immediately offered, Alba said it would offer the firm a value-creating and sustainable solution for the problem of its spent pot lining.
The plant is slated to have a nameplate capacity of between 30 thousand and 35 thousand metric tons per annum of spent pot lining, which Alba plans to market to other industries.
Alba’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali expressed his gratitude for cooperation from the government.
“We are thankful to the Supreme Council of Environment for their continuous support on all fronts and for Alba’s Board of Directors led by our Chairman, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, whom without their endorsement, this project would not have been made possible. Being a responsible corporate citizen, our commitment to Safety and environmental sustainability will always sit at the top of our objectives. Through establishing SPL Treatment Plant, we get closer to meet our company-wide goals in key corporate responsibility areas – in line with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. We also look forward to progress this project and have it operational by first quarter of 2021.”
“As one of the pillars of the economy, Alba has been at the forefront of environmental changes in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” opined Dr. Mohamed Bin Daina, Chief Executive of the Supreme Council for Environment, Bahrain. “We are pleased that Alba will lead this transformation in the region with the establishment of the SPL Treatment plant, which will have environmental as well as economic benefits for Bahrain.”
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is one of the top 10 largest aluminium producers in the world. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2018 Alba’s smelter produced 1,011,101 metric tons of primary aluminium.