Aluminium producing company Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has signed an agreement with Gulf Cement Company to supply a by-product from aluminium smelting for the next three years
The agreement is the first which held directly between EGA and a cement company rather than through specialist third party pre-processors.
According to the new agreement, EGA will deliver 2,000 MT of spent pot lining to Gulf Cement Company in 2018. It is expected to increase to 10,000 MT in 2019 and 15,000 MT in 2020. EGA is building facilities at its Al Taweelah site to process spent pot lining so that it can be delivered by cement companies as an alternative fuel and raw material.
Abdulla Kalban, managing director and CEO of EGA, said, ?This direct agreement with Gulf Cement Company is a milestone in our drive to turn our by-products into value by using them as feedstock for other industries. Finding economic uses for waste contributes to the achievement of ?UAE Vision 2021? environmental and economic goals and will benefit both our companies. We are glad to be working with Gulf Cement Company on this important project for the industrial sector in the UAE.?
Spent pot lining is the used inner lining of aluminium smelting pots, which is worn out and replaced every four to five years. It contains both carbon, which is an alternative fuel, and refractory materials that survive the firing process and become part of the finished cement. In 2017, EGA supplied more spent pot lining to the UAE?s cement industry than it produced.
Globally, the aluminium industry produces more than one million tonnes of spent pot lining each year according to industry experts, and much is stored indefinitely. EGA has stockpiles of spent pot lining from previous years which will be gradually supplied to the cement industry.
