Business

Aughinish plant gets €2m IDA grant to treat ‘red mud’ dump

The Co Limerick Alumina refinery, currently up for sale, received planning permission to increase size of dump in face of local opposition

The Aughinish Alumina plant, near Askeaton, Co Limerick, will be under pressure to reduce its 1.25 million tons of carbon emissions per year. Picture: Liam Burke/Press 22

The Aughinish Alumina refinery has secured a €2 million government grant to carry out environmental protection work on its “red mud” waste dump.

The Limerick-based company recently escaped the impact of EU sanctions imposed on oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who owns the plant’s parent company Rusal.

It imports around 4.6 million tons of bauxite ore per year and uses it to create two million tons of alumina, which is shipped to smelting plants in Europe to ...