(Photo: The waste treatment facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas. Credit: Alcoa Gum Springs on Facebook)
Veolia has agreed to purchase Alcoa’s hazardous waste treatment business in Gum Springs, Arkansas, in a deal valued at $250 million. The facility treated a byproduct of the aluminum production process called spent pot liner for the North American smelter industry.
Currently the facility is located on a 1,350-acre site and employs around 70 people. Environmental management processes at Gum Springs include the use of a landfill and two permitted hazardous waste incinerators. Under the new multi-year dedicated agreement with Veolia North America, the facility will remain a service provider to bauxite, alumina, and aluminum producer Alcoa.
At the same time, Veolia says it plans to expand the type of waste and volume that the site handles, and offer services to customers throughout North America. Purchasing the business is part of a global growth strategy in difficult-to-treat pollutions, the company says.
“The integration of this facility and its disposal site into Veolia’s North American network will significantly increase the company’s North American treatment capacities and contribute to Veolia’s ambition of developing state-of-the-art solutions to protect the environment,” according to Veolia.
Alcoa’s own strategy, announced last October, involves pursuing the sale of non-core assets over the next year or so in order to generate between $500 million to $1 billion.
“After the portfolio transformation, the company expects to be the lowest emitter of carbon dioxide among all global aluminum companies, per ton of emissions in both smelting and refining, and aims to move its aluminum portfolio to a first quartile cost position,” Alcoa said at the time.
Good news: The deadline for the 2020 Environment + Energy Leader Awards has been extended to January 20! Get details about submitting your entry here.