Lafarge Canada, Geocycle Canada and Rio Tinto partner for circular economy project

Lafarge Canada, Geocycle Canada and Rio Tinto, North America’s only primary aluminium producer, are working together to reuse waste from the aluminium smelting process to make cement. The circular economy project aims to reduce the need to extract new raw materials and create more value from waste.

Geocycle Canada, part of Lafarge Canada, and Rio Tinto have developed a new product, Alextra, made from spent pot liners that would otherwise be sent to landfill. Alextra is the result of years of research and development, aimed at finding new ways to deliver sustainable outcomes and value from used potlining.

Lafarge Canada will use Alextra as an alternative to raw materials such as alumina and silica, in the production of about 1Mta of cement at its plant in Bath, Ontario.

The companies are also exploring the possibility to further expand the supply of Alextra from Rio Tinto’s Potlining Treatment Palnt in Saguenay-Lac-St Jean to Lafarge Canada’s network of cement plants.

Geocycle Canada Senior Manager, Travis Smith, explains: "As a global leader in building materials, we are committed to living up to the responsibility of helping to create a zero waste future. In order to achieve this goal, we need progressive partners such as Rio Tinto, and we look forward to what the future holds as we work to reduce our demand on virgin materials and deliver sustainable products."

Rio Tinto Aluminium Manager, Valorisation and Marketing, Stéphane Poirier, said: "This partnership shows how Rio Tinto is innovating to find new ways to reuse waste, generating value from our operations and reducing their environmental footprint. We have worked closely with Lafarge Canada and Geocycle Canada over the past two years to develop a product that meets their needs and look forward to building on this partnership."