Aluminium and alumina sector: environmental performance agreement overview

This environmental performance agreement is in effect from November 13, 2017 to December 31, 2025.

Aluminium and alumina sector: environmental agreement

Objective

The objective of this agreement will be to implement the base level industrial emissions requirements (BLIERs) developed for the aluminium and alumina sector.

Signatories

This agreement has been negotiated between:

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
the Aluminium Association of Canada
Rio Tinto Alcan inc.
Alcoa-Lauralco Management co., Alcoa Canada cie, and Aluminerie de Bécancour inc.
Aluminerie Alouette inc.

Key requirements

The participating companies agree to:

Achieve and maintain the BLIERs for emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), total particulate matter (TPM), fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and polycyclic aromatics hydrocarbons (PAH), including the development of a SO₂ action plan and data reporting and the implementation of the PM_2.5 code of practice
Participate in the development of a quantitative PM_2.5 target based on the PM_2.5 sampling and monitoring program
For the purposes of continuous improvement, establish a working relationship that will facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge regarding atmospheric emissions, including emission sources, emissions reduction and methods for sampling and analysis

Deadlines

Type of reports	Deadline
Annual report	June 30 (each calendar year of this agreement, starting in 2018)
ECCC public reporting	Annually

Where to submit

All annual reports are to be submitted electronically to ec.epa-epe.ec@canada.ca.

Performance results

All companies submitted their 2018 annual report by the reporting deadline. All reports were verified by ECCC and indicated that all companies met and maintained their emissions targets for SO₂, TPM, PM_2.5 and PAH for 2018 (refer to the tables below). The PM_2.5 working group was created and is composed of industry, the Aluminium Association of Canada, provinces and ECCC representatives. To date, three annual working group meetings have occurred. The working group discussed the results and sampling methods of PM_2.5 measurement campaigns carried out so far, the criteria for setting a quantitative PM_2.5 target and the validation of the method for measuring PM_2.5 emissions from potlines roof vents. Most of the facilities submitted their action plan highlighting the implementation of the code of practice to reduce emissions of PM_2.5 from the primary aluminium sector. Due to special circumstances and with ECCC’s approval, one facility did not submit their PM_2.5 action plan; it will be submitted in 2021.

Table 1: potroom electrolysis^{Footnote 1} (TPM)
Facility	BLIERs target (2.0 kg/tonne of aluminium for existing electrolysis, 1.3 kg/tonne of aluminium for new electrolysis)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	n/a^{Footnote 2}
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	Target achieved^{Footnote 3}
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	n/a
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	Target achieved
Alcoa: Deschambault	Target achieved
Alcoa: Bécancour	Target achieved
Alouette: Sept-Îles	Target achieved

Table 2: anode baking^{Footnote 4} (PAH)
Facility	BLIERs target (50 g/tonne of baked anode)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	n/a
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	n/a
Alcoa: Deschambault	Target achieved
Alcoa: Bécancour	Target achieved
Alouette: Sept-Îles	Target achieved

Table 3: anode baking^{Footnote 4} (TPM)
Facility	BLIERs target (0.3 kg/tonne of baked anode)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	n/a
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	n/a
Alcoa: Deschambault	Target achieved
Alcoa: Bécancour	Target achieved
Alouette: Sept-Îles	Target achieved

Table 4: anode paste production^{Footnote 5} (PAH)
Facility	BLIERs target (30 g/tonne of anode paste)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	n/a
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	n/a
Alcoa: Deschambault	Target achieved
Alcoa: Bécancour	Target achieved
Alouette: Sept-Îles	Target achieved

Table 5: alumina production^{Footnote 6} (TPM)
Facility	BLIERs target (as in Quebec's Clean Air Regulation, approx. 18 kg/h for calcinators)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	n/a
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	n/a
Alcoa: Deschambault	n/a
Alcoa: Bécancour	n/a
Alouette: Sept-Îles	n/a

Table 6: alumina production^{Footnote 6} (SO₂)
Facility	BLIERs target (1% maximum sulphur concentration in fuel)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	Target achieved^{Footnote 7}
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	n/a
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	n/a
Alcoa: Deschambault	n/a
Alcoa: Bécancour	n/a
Alouette: Sept-Îles	n/a

Table 7: coke calcination^{Footnote 8} (TPM)
Facility	BLIERs target (1.5 kg/tonne of green coke)
Rio Tinto Alcan: Grande Baie	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Laterrière	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Arvida	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: AP60	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alma	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Kitimat	Target achieved
Rio Tinto Alcan: Vaudreuil	n/a
Rio Tinto Alcan: Strathcona	Target achieved
Alcoa: Baie-Comeau	n/a
Alcoa: Deschambault	n/a
Alcoa: Bécancour	n/a
Alouette: Sept-Îles	n/a

Footnote 1

Potroom electrolysis: production of aluminium by electrolysis of alumina dissolved in a cryolite bath. The anodes and cathodes allow the passage of electric currents in the electrolytic bath containing alumina, breaking the aluminium-oxygen bond.

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Footnote 2

Effective from 2021.

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Footnote 3

New electrolysis plant.

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Footnote 4

Anode baking: baking green anodes in ring furnaces to produce blocks of baked anode (solid). Fuel is used to heat the anode baking furnace.

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Footnote 5

Anode paste production: the manufacture of green anodes is a process by which calcined petroleum coke is mixed with pitch (used as a binder) and carbon from recycled anode butts to produce anode paste which is then compacted to form a green anode block.

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Footnote 6

Alumina production: it uses the Bayer process, which involves alkaline extraction of alumina from bauxite.

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Footnote 7

Use of natural gas.

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Footnote 8

Coke calcination: petroleum coke is typically calcined in rotary kilns at high temperatures. After it has been crushed and screened, the calcined coke is usually stored until it is fed into mixers to produce anodes.

Return to footnote8 Referrer

Verification

ECCC received and verified the annual reports, which included PAH, TPM, PM_2.5 and sulphur content in fuel data. This year, ECCC reached out to industry to verify the data for TPM emission from alumina production and obtained more details on their calculations. No changes to the annual reports were necessary following this verification.

Next steps

The SO₂ working group is expected to be created at the end of 2020
Conduct desktop reviews of 2019 reports

Background information

Federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers are taking action to better protect human health and the environment by endorsing and implementing the air quality management system. It includes:

Canadian ambient air quality standards for fine particulate matter, ground-level ozone and SO₂
BLIERs
local air zone management by the provincial/territorial jurisdictions

Summary of instruments to implement BLIERs

The Government of Canada led a federal, provincial and territorial consensus process with stakeholder involvement to complete the development of BLIERs. For the aluminium and alumina sector, quantitative BLIERs were developed for TPM, PAHs and SO₂ and qualitative BLIERs were developed for PM_2.5 and SO₂.

Response to comments

A draft agreement was posted for public consultation on the Government of Canada's environmental performance agreements website for 60 days. Comments were received from industrial stakeholders. These comments were taken into consideration when finalizing this agreement. In response to comments, text was added to the annex of this agreement to clarify the requirements for minimum sampling frequency in order to harmonize with the provincial jurisdiction.

Related information

Overview of the aluminium sector code of practice

Contact us

Mining and Processing Division
Environment and Climate Change Canada
351 St-Joseph Boulevard
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3

Email: ec.mmp-tmm.ec@canada.ca

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