Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China, has announced the successful commissioning of its Spent Pot Lining (SPL) treatment plant built at an investment of $37.5 million.
A first-of-its-kind for the region, the zero-waste plant was inaugurated by Alba Chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa at the company premises in the presence of senior officials including its CEO Ali Al Baqali, Chief Operations Officer Dr Abdulla Habib and the executive management team, said the statement from Alba.
Built over a 26,000-sq-m area, the SPL has an annual capacity of 35,000 tonnes. A zero-waste process, it will enable Alba to transform the treated SPL into valuable product, which can be used in other industries such as cement, it added.
According to Alba, work on the project started in December 2019 and has till date achieved more than 750,000 safe-working hours without lost time incident (LTI). The SPL plant was completed as per timeline despite the Covid-19 challenges.
Commenting on this occasion, Shaikh Daij said: "Bahrain, and Alba, have set many firsts in the region - with the commissioning of the SPL treatment plant, we are proud to have once again set the benchmark in sustainability by transforming the Spent Pot Lining into value-added products."
"As ESG is our only way forward, we have proudly established this one-of-a-kind project, and gone above and beyond to achieve the right balance between our economic gains and social returns," he stated.
"We are also pleased to have achieved savings of $6.5 million, despite Covid challenges, corresponding to 15% benefits, versus SPL Treatment Plant allotted Capex of $44 million," he added.
Al Baqali said: "To change the way we do things, we need to challenge the existing reality. Without environmental sustainability, we cannot face the challenges the world is facing today."
"The SPL treatment plant translates our mission to keep ESG as our top priority all the while doing more good to our community," stated the company CEO.
"I thank the Supreme Council of Environment, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism for their continuous guidance and support, regain – our technology provider and all our partners for transforming our vision into reality," he added.
