Alcoa-Rio Tinto venture sells first-ever commercial batch of carbon-free aluminium to Apple

According to Reuters report, Apple Inc has purchased the first carbon-free aluminium from a joint venture of Alcoa Corporation and Rio Tinto. The carbon-free aluminium was produced at the Alcoa Technical Center in Pittsburgh. Apple will take the delivery of the first batch of aluminium this month.

The aluminium is being made by Elysis, a Montreal-based joint venture between Alcoa Corporation and Rio Tinto. The joint venture was formed with $144 million in funding from Alcoa, Rio Tinto, Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec.

Vincent Christ, President and CEO of ELYSIS said: “This sale is an important milestone for ELYSIS and a sign of our progress over our first year of operation. It confirms the market interest in aluminium produced using our breakthrough carbon free smelting technology. We are continuing to progress further development of our technology, with our focus on bringing it to market to revolutionise the industry.”

In 2018, Alcoa Corporation and Rio Tinto, supported by technology giant Apple, announced they would develop and commercialise a new aluminium smelting process that eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process. The joint venture wants to commercialize a technology by 2024 that uses a ceramic anode to make aluminium and emits only oxygen.

Alf Barrios, Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive said: “Rio Tinto is proud to help deliver through our commercial network the sale of the industry’s first aluminium produced using carbon free smelting technology. This is another important step towards zero carbon aluminium and a more sustainable future.”