With an investment of approximately £6 million (€13.6 million), the plant’s capacity will increase by over a third and become Europe’s largest closed-loop recycling operation for automotive aluminium rolled products.
“With the commissioning in Latchford, we are expanding our recycling capabilities and developing efficient manufacturing systems along our automotive supply chain,” said Erwin Mayr, Senior Vice President and President, Novelis Europe. “Responding to the realities of our increasingly resource constrained world and demands for a more sustainable economy, Novelis is transforming its business model to be largely based on closed-loop recycling.”
The Novelis Latchford plant currently employs approximately 135 people and processes 160,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. With the expansion to 220,000 tonnes, Novelis expects the centre to create more than 30 additional full-time jobs.
Much of the additional capacity will be directed to support the industry’s growing demand for automotive aluminium sheet, particularly from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), one of Novelis’ long-standing customers. The investment in new equipment for recycling automotive aluminium scrap includes a dedicated furnace, upgraded casting system, magnetic separation and handling equipment, as well as environmental controls.
This project is the latest in a series of recycling expansion projects launched by Novelis over the past two years totalling approximately €680 million. These projects are designed to increase Novelis’ recycling capacity to 2.1 million tonnes by 2015 and help the company achieve its aggressive goal of increasing the recycled content of its products to 80% by 2020.