Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery

Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery is a aluminium & non-ferrous metals facility operated by QUEENSLAND ALUMINA LIMITED in QLD. Like all covered facilities, aluminium smelting and refining is one of Australia's most electricity-intensive industries. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery reported emissions of 3.09 Mt against a baseline obligation of 2.77 Mt — an overage of 324 kt. The facility covered the 324 kt overage by purchasing 323,929 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery specifically.

Across the aluminium & non-ferrous metals sector, 7 of 8 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery with other aluminium & non-ferrous metals facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.