Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC (EGA) announced this week an agreement with Al Ghurair Group subsidiary Gulf Extrusions to ship its industrial waste to EGA for re-use in place of fresh raw materials.
Per the agreement, Gulf Extrusions will ship about 450 metric tons per month of spent caustic soda from its extrusion plants in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. EGA will use the waste material in its own alumina refining process, reducing the amount of new caustic soda it needs for alumina refining operations at Al Taweelah.
Chief Executive Officer of EGA Abdulnasser Bin Kalban said in a press release that the agreement is part of a larger commitment to sustainability.
“Finding ways to re-use waste takes innovative thinking and close cooperation between companies and industries. But solutions like this agreement with Gulf Extrusions reduce the need for fresh raw material and are part of how we can address our global waste management challenge. The first priority must be eliminating waste generation, but we must think of waste we cannot avoid creating as a potential resource today rather than as our children’s problem.”
Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Extrusions Christian Witsch noted that the agreement was a benefit to both firms.
“EGA’s re-use of spent caustic soda to make full use of the aluminium content of this by-product will reduce the environmental impact of both our companies. I believe this is the first time in the world that an extrusion company is supplying this by-product to an alumina refinery for re-use, and I am proud that Gulf Extrusions is part of this innovative sustainability initiative.”
Based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Emirates Global Aluminium is an aluminium conglomerate created by the merger between Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) in 2013. EGA had an estimated enterprise value of US$15 billion at the time the merger took place. The firm is owned equally by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai. Emirates Global Aluminium holds interests in bauxite/alumina and primary aluminium smelting.