ABU DHABI - Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside of oil and gas, has been awarded an honourary "Green Industries" label by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) for environmental performance at the company’s Al Taweelah site.

Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary-General of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), conferred the label in a ceremony at the agency’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, attended by Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment.

The Green Industries labelling programme is a new initiative by EAD to recognise organisations with outstanding environmental performance, encouraging environmental best practice across Abu Dhabi industry.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said, "Aluminium plays an essential role in the development of a more sustainable society and, at EGA, we fully recognise that it also matters how sustainably aluminium is made. We are committed to embedding sustainability in everything we do and aim to be a sustainability leader not just in the UAE but for our global industry. We thank Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi for this recognition for our performance so far on this ongoing journey."

EGA was the first company in the Middle East to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, which brings together aluminium producers and end users with civil society and the public through consultation to determine what constitutes good sustainability performance in the aluminium industry. EGA was the first regional company to achieve a certification to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s Performance Standard, for the company’s Al Taweelah site in 2019. EGA’s Jebel Ali site was certified in 2021.

In 2021, EGA became the first company in the world to produce aluminium commercially using solar power. Electricity generation accounts for around 60 percent of the global aluminium industry’s emissions. EGA’s solar aluminium is marketed under the product name CelestiAL.

EGA is planning to build the largest aluminium recycling facility in the UAE, with 150,000 tonnes of billet capacity. Feasibility studies for the project are underway. Production ramp-up could begin as early as 2024. Aluminium scrap for the recycling facility will mainly be sourced from the UAE and the wider region. More than half the aluminium scrap generated in the GCC is currently either disposed of or exported.

EGA is also planning to build a pilot plant in Al Taweelah to convert bauxite residue, which is a by-product of aluminium production, into manufactured soil products. After six years of intensive R&D, the pilot plant is thought to be the first of its kind in the world.

EGA has developed re-uses for other waste streams from its industrial activities. These include spent pot lining, a by-product of aluminium smelting, which is re-used as an alternative feedstock and fuel by the UAE cement industry; carbon dust, which is also used as a fuel in cement manufacturing; and dross which is processed to recover aluminium. EGA’s long-term aspiration is to send zero process waste to landfill.