Aluminium

Our commitment to responsible aluminium

Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) is a global non-profit standards setting and certification organisation whose vision is to maximise the contribution of aluminium to a sustainable society. With over 380 members spanning the aluminium value chain and civil societies, Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) collaboratively fosters responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium.

The ASI Performance Standard defines environmental, social and governance principles and criteria, which address a broad range of sustainability issues in the aluminium supply chain. We were the first to achieve certification against the original standard in 2018, and we now have 23 of our aluminium operations certified against version 3 of the standard, demonstrating our continued commitment to responsible aluminium. Our performance standard certifications span our mines, refineries, smelters, casthouses and supplementary support sites within Australia, Canada, Iceland, and New Zealand.

The ASI Chain of Custody standard creates a link from company practices to responsible sourcing of products by connecting certified suppliers and customers and tracking material flow. Our ASI Chain of Custody certification means we can also provide our customers ASI certified material across our bauxite, alumina and aluminium products.   

These certifications give our customers independent assurance that the material they use to make aeroplane parts, cars, smartphones and other products has been externally assessed against standards that promote the protection of biodiversity, respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, water management and reduction of carbon emissions.

You can read more about the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative on the ASI website, and view our certifications on our ASI Member page.

Emissions-free aluminium through ELYSIS

In 2018, we launched ELYSIS, a partnership with Alcoa, supported by Apple and the governments of Canada and Québec. ELYSIS is further developing breakthrough technology that eliminates direct greenhouse gas emissions from the aluminium smelting process, replacing them with pure, clean oxygen. In Canada alone, if this technology were to be used at every smelter in the country, it could eliminate the equivalent of 6.5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – roughly equivalent to taking nearly 1.8 million cars off the road.

ELYSIS will work towards bringing this technology to the market at its Research and Development Centre, located within Rio Tinto’s Complexe Jonquière. ELYSIS has selected our Alma smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, for the first installation and demonstration of its inert anode technology at a commercial size of 450 kiloamperes (kA).

In November 2021, ELYSIS successfully produced aluminium without any direct greenhouse gas emissions at its Research and Development Centre using a full industrial design at a size comparable to small smelting cells operating in the industry today.

In March 2022, Apple announced that they would purchase a first batch of commercial-purity aluminium produced at the Research and Development Centre to manufacture their new iPhone SE. 

And in a step towards putting a fully traceable beverage can in the hands of consumers, in June 2022 we partnered with Corona Canada to launch of Canada’s first specially-marked, low carbon beverage can, manufactured by Ball Corporation. The cans, now available through a pilot in Ontario, use Rio Tinto aluminium and leverage ELYSIS™ technology. As part of this limited release, the 1.2 million cans produced have a QR code printed on them to inspire consumers to learn more about the cans’ low carbon footprint.

Work is now focused on scaling up ELYSIS™ technology for even larger commercial-size cells, which should become operational in 2023. Construction of these prototype cells is now well underway at the end of an existing potline at Rio Tinto’s Alma smelter.