Hindalco in pact with UltraTech to supply bauxite residue for cement manufacture

Mumbai, Aug 20 (IANS) Two flagship Aditya Birla Group companies – Hindalco Industries and UltraTech Ltd – have entered into a memorandum of understanding to deliver 1.2 million tonnes (MT) of red mud (also known as bauxite residue) annually to UltraTech’s 14 cement plants located across 7 states.

With this, Hindalco will become the world’s first company to achieve 100 per cent red mud utilisation across three of its refineries.

Red mud generated in the alumina manufacturing process is rich in iron oxides, along with alumina, silica and alkali. The cement industry has developed the capability to process red mud as a replacement for mined minerals such as laterite and lithomarge in its process.

So the waste of one industry will be used as an input material in another to strengthen a circular economy.

Hindalco is supplying red mud to UltraTech’s cement plants where it has been proved to be an effective substitute for mined materials, successfully replacing up to 3 per cent of clinker raw mix volume.

Use of red mud reduces the cement industry’s dependence on natural resources and promotes a circular economy, a statement from Hindalco said.

Hindalco’s alumina refineries are currently supplying 250,000 metric tonnes of bauxite residue to cement companies every month, making Hindalco the world’s first company to have enabled such large-scale commercial application of bauxite residue, the statement added.

In the current year, Hindalco aims to achieve 2.5 million metric tonnes of bauxite residue utilisation.

Satish Pai, Managing Director, Hindalco, said, “Hindalco has been working with cement companies to develop high-grade inputs for the construction industry. Hindalco has built a strong customer base and supplies red mud to over 40 cement plants every month. We have achieved 100 per cent red mud utilisation at three of our refineries and our vision is to achieve zero-waste alumina production across our operations. Hindalco’s actions underscore our commitment to embracing solutions that have the potential to deliver long-term sustainability impact and transform the future.”

Globally, 160 million metric tonnes of red mud is produced annually and stored in large tracts of land which is a serious industry challenge. To find a sustainable solution, Hindalco invested in infrastructure and collaborated with cement companies, with UltraTech Cement being a key partner.

K.C. Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement, said, “UltraTech has been among the early adopters in India on the use of alternative raw materials and fuels in manufacturing and invested to build storage, handling and processing facilities. Use of waste like red mud as an alternative raw material for manufacturing cement requires infrastructure and process modification to ensure a win-win for both business and the environment.”

Last year, UltraTech consumed about 15.73 million metric tonnes of industrial waste as alternate raw material and about 300,000 metric tonnes as alternative fuel in its kilns.

Jhanwar added, “With an annual supply of 1.2 million metric tonnes of red mud from Hindalco, we expect to conserve more than 1 million metric tonnes of mined natural resources like laterite in our manufacturing process. Enhancing our contribution to the circular economy by strategically increasing the use of waste as raw material and fuel in the cement manufacturing process, is in line with our aim to achieve our long-term sustainability goals.”

–IANS

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