Strong Partnerships: Carbon Materials Innovation with Fusão Ligas

Through a collaboration between Alcoa and its partner Fusão Ligas, development teams have been working across various Alcoa departments and leveraging new technologies to create innovative applications for a wide range of materials generated at Alumar in São Luís, Brazil. A notable achievement is the transformation of burn-off (failed anodes, also known as fish butts) and SPL into a carbon product for recovery in Fusão Ligas foundries. These materials are often disposed to landfills in other parts of the world.

In partnership with Brazilian research centers and Alcoa, Fusão Ligas has been pioneering treatment and processing procedures to enable the use of these materials in foundries.

Furthermore, Fusão Ligas is establishing a foundry at its João Monlevade, Brazil, facility, specifically designed to optimize the application of these carbonaceous materials.

In 2024, Alcoa sold thousands of tons of burn-off to Fusão Ligas, which have already been effectively utilized. By 2025, following a year of advancements working closely with Alcoa’s technical and environmental departments, we anticipate having the capacity to transform even more of these materials for recovery.