Lynemouth smelter

Rio Tinto Alcan's Lynemouth primary aluminium smelter is the largest of the UK's two remaining smelters at a capacity of 178,000 tonnes per annum. It is located at Lynemouth in Northumberland and was commissioned in 1974.

Threat of closure over pollution levels

In April 2010 the European Court of Justice ordered Rio Tinto Alcan to cut emissions from its coal-fired power station which emits 7,500 tonnes of NOx and 18,000 tonnes of SO2 a year (the ninth largest SO2 emitter in the UK, producing 4% of SO2 emissions) or face the threat of closure and the loss of 650 jobs at its Lynemouth site. The European Community's Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD), which governs large plants claims it should emit only 5,300 tonnes of NOx and 4,200 tonnes of SO2.

The UK government had argued that the plant should be exempt because the combustion process was used directly for manufacturing, and that the environmental issues should be balanced against the social and economic costs of closing the plant. But the ECJ did not allow this interpretation of the law. In June 2010 Rio Tinto Alcan agreed to comply with the judgement by joining the National Emissions Reduction Plan (NERP) under which it can buy sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) credits. RTA will need to buy around 2,200 NO2 credits and 13,800 SO2 credits which will cost several million pounds. In the long term it Rio Tinto Alcan will be meeting with appropriate bodies to negotiate its difficulties with meeting targets.