Capral Aluminium, Australia’s largest extruder and distributor of aluminum, successfully trialed recycled-content billet supplied by Rio Tinto at Boyne Smelters Limited. Around 50–100 tonnes of post-production aluminum scrap at Capral’s Bremer Park extrusion plant in Southeast Queensland was remelted and cast into billets at the smelter, resulting in a new product with a minimum of 20% recycled content.
“While Capral recycles the vast majority of our scrap, it must be sent offshore for processing and typically ends up in different types of products than what we would normally produce,” said Luke Hawkins, divisional general manager of Industrial Solutions and Supply, Capral. “We are excited to be working with Rio Tinto, our main domestic supplier, on this project; hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we can recycle all of our scrap locally and use it to support circularity within the Australian aluminum industry.”
This trial has successfully demonstrated the potential of a “Made in Australia” closed-loop aluminum solution, in line with the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia policy. The entire production process has been done entirely in Australia — from raw materials of bauxite and alumina to primary aluminum production, to Capral’s extrusion process, to Rio Tinto’s remelting of scrap into finished recycled billet product.
By supplying post-production scrap to Rio Tinto, Capral closes the loop, ensuring that valuable materials remain in circulation in Australia and are converted into useful products. This approach not only minimizes waste, but also reduces carbon intensity of extrusions produced from such billets. In addition, blending post-production recycled content with virgin material results in a billet that meets high-quality standards required by various industries, such as construction and transport.
For Capral, the arrangement provides a strategic avenue to manage its waste stream efficiently while enhancing its sustainability credentials. The company is now exploring options for incorporating this sustainable material into its product offerings.
“We are driven by the industry to incorporate recycled content into our supply chain,” said Hawkins. “We’ve worked hard to introduce LocAl and LocAl Super Green, our lower carbon aluminum offer, and the addition of this aluminum material with 20% recycled content is another important step in our evolving procurement strategy towards delivering more sustainable aluminum to Australian manufacturers.”