Arconic has taken steps to better understand the global waste streams of their operations following the separation of Alcoa Inc. From that analysis, they refined their historical landfilled waste data and made 2016 their new baseline. Dross from their casthouses remains their largest volume waste, and they recycle 100 percent of this material. In 2017, they began sending salt cake, which is slag generated during the recovery of aluminum from rotary furnaces, for recycling rather than landfilling. Some locations are also diverting their specific waste from the landfill, such as grit blast and nickel sludge.
Arconic continues to evaluate other large-volume waste streams for reuse and recycling opportunities. These wastes include garnet, aluminum hydroxide sludge, caustic, limestone, and polishing dust and sludge. In 2017, they landfilled 51,429 metric tons of waste. This 27 percent reduction from 2016 is due largely to the recycling of salt cake.