Tomago Aluminium carries a responsibility to the environment at every stage of its operations, which is why we regard the safe handling of all materials as vital.

Tomago Aluminium is committed to supporting employees in living full, safe and happy lives. As part of this, we always pursue excellence in the provision of the best possible systems and practices to ensure safety at work.

Alumina

One of the two main raw materials used in the production of aluminium, alumina is a fine white powder imported by sea into the Port of Newcastle. To eliminate dust emissions, Alumina is unloaded from the vessels using modern vacuum unloaders and transported along fully-enclosed conveyors to silos adjacent to the berth. Enclosed trucks transport the alumina to the smelter where covered conveyors (called air slides), as well as specially fitted de-dusting units, minimise emissions once on site.

Dross

During the aluminium-making process, the liquid metal is moved frequently in and out of transport ladles, which causes aluminium oxide or dross to form on the surface of the liquid aluminium. While steps are taken to minimise the amount of dross produced, a certain amount still needs to be removed from the metal.

Dross is skimmed from the metal surface and then processed in an on-site treatment plant, where it’s cooled and separated into different categories according to size.

Larger fractions of dross are returned to Tomago Aluminium’s Casthouse for immediate recycling, while small fractions are sent off site to be further processed by recycling companies. At these plants, aluminium is extracted from the dross for recycling or sale.

Solid Waste

Like most industries, an aluminium smelter generates waste. At Tomago Aluminium, there are basically two types of industrial solid waste, and we are committed to recycling them responsibly.

Most fluoridated wastes resulting from operations and general plant housekeeping is recycled on-site. Some fluoridated waste is reused as raw materials for other industries whilst small amounts of fluoridated waste disposed to landfill is treated to ensure the fluoride is immobilised.

Spent Pot Linings, consisting mainly of carbon, are produced when the pots are rebuilt every five to seven years. Spent pot linings are stored in secure buildings on site. The company is actively developing treatment and reuse options for this material based on reuse in other industries, and has periodically exported the material for reuse in the Italian steel industry.