Rio Tinto, BMW announce new responsibly sourced aluminum partnership

Rio Tinto (RIO) and the BMW (BMWYY) announced a new partnership under which Rio Tinto plans to provide responsibly sourced aluminum to the BMW Group’s vehicle production plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for use in body components from 2024. Low-carbon primary aluminium from Rio Tinto’s hydro-powered operations in Canada, combined with recycled content, could generate a reduction of up to 70% in CO2 emissions compared to the BMW Group’s benchmark for aluminum. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding, or MoU, which will see technical experts working together on how to embed these low-carbon solutions into the BMW Group’s supply chain while ensuring the highest standards of vehicle quality are maintained. The partnership provides for the use of aluminum produced using Elysis on BMW production vehicles. Elysis is the world’s first carbon free smelting technology for aluminum as it enables the production of aluminum metal without direct carbon dioxide emissions during the smelting process, instead emitting pure oxygen. Rio Tinto and the BMW Group will also work to deploy START from Rio Tinto. START provides supply chain traceability to customers and consumers with information about provenance and ESG standards.