Rusal will adapt the reduction area at KrAZ to use a less tarry pitch formulation developed and tested by its technology and engineering teams.

"The transition to this eco-friendly pitch at the production facility is a complex technological process," said Vitaly Badmaev, first deputy minister of ecology and environmental management of the Krasnoyarsk territory.

Badmaev added that the environmental efficiency of the material was confirmed in  laboratory tests conducted by Rusal's Engineering and Technology Centre (ETC).

Viktor Mann, Rusal's technical director, said the shift had also depended on collaboration with the company's suppliers.

"The transition to the new raw material developed by the Rusal engineering centre at the Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter is not a simple process; it is very dependent on suppliers who must modernise their own production," said Mann. 

"We also continue to invest in R&D and work with suppliers who could produce both this and other types of eco-friendly raw materials for us in the required volume, because environmental issues are an absolute priority today."

The company noted that as a result of a 16-year environmental program, which has included use of dry anodes and adoption of the EcoSoderberg process, the smelter's total emissions have been cut by 38%, while fluoride emissions are down by 76%.

One of the largest smelters in the world, Krasnoyarsk's annual production capacity is 1,024,000 tonnes.