Tomago Aluminium Smelter

Tomago Aluminium Smelter is a aluminium & non-ferrous metals facility operated by TOMAGO ALUMINIUM COMPANY PTY LTD in NSW. Like all covered facilities, aluminium smelting and refining is one of Australia's most electricity-intensive industries. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Tomago Aluminium Smelter must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Tomago Aluminium Smelter reported emissions of 1.16 Mt against a baseline obligation of 1.10 Mt — an overage of 57 kt. The facility covered the 57 kt overage by purchasing 56,671 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 Tomago Aluminium Smelter 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 Tomago Aluminium Smelter with other aluminium & non-ferrous metals facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.