Located adjacent to the company’s rolling mill in Nachterstedt, Germany, the $258 million (€200 million) recycling centre will process up to 400,000 metric tons of aluminium scrap annually, turning it back into high-value aluminium ingots to feed the company’s European manufacturing network.
“The Nachterstedt Recycling Centre is a significant step toward our goal to be the world’s low-carbon aluminium sheet producer, shifting our business model from a traditional linear approach to an increasingly closed-loop model,” said Phil Martens, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novelis. “This new facility further strengthens Novelis’ leadership in Europe, and together with our major recycling operations in Asia, North America and South America, solidifies Novelis’ position as the global aluminium recycling leader.”
Since 2011, Novelis has invested approximately $500 million to expand its recycling network, doubling its recycling capacity to 2.1 million metric tons per year and raising its recycled content from 30 percent to 46 percent. The company’s goal is to achieve 80 percent recycled content by 2020. Recycling aluminium saves 95 percent of the energy and emissions associated with the production of primary metal.
“This strategy will enable us to accelerate and capitalise on the sustainability potential of aluminium as a lightweight, infinitely recyclable metal and to dramatically reduce the embedded carbon in our products,” said Martens. “In an increasingly energy- and carbon-constrained environment, we are convinced it will be a key source of competitive advantage for our company – and for our customers.”
The Nachterstedt Recycling Centre features state-of-the-art technology for aluminium scrap sorting, de-coating, melting and casting. The facility gives Novelis the flexibility to process a wide range of scrap types, creating a more efficient closed-loop recycling system and increasing Europe’s domestic scrap consumption. Approximately 200 employees will work at the new facility.
“In developing the recycling and casting facility, we implemented best-in-class technologies to ensure that it meets the highest standards of operational efficiency and environmental excellence,” said Erwin Mayr, Senior Vice President, Novelis, and President, Novelis Europe. “To feed the facility, we are expanding and diversifying our scrap purchasing network to ensure the highest quality scrap is recycled back into the same product whenever possible, conserving more metal, reducing waste and using less energy than ever before.”
“The opening of the new recycling center marks another milestone in the Novelis success story in Nachterstedt,” said Dr. Reiner Haseloff, First Minister of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. “I am particularly pleased that some 200 new jobs have been created as a result of these investments. Novelis joins the group of industrial companies which employ more than 1,000 people in Saxony-Anhalt. This is also a signal to young people and families in the region that opportunities in their home country have never been as promising as they are today. Take advantage of them, and help us shape the future of our country.”
Nachterstedt’s central location within Europe provides the plant with access to efficient transportation networks. Aluminium ingots produced at Nachterstedt will be hot-rolled at Novelis’ facilities in Norf, Germany, and Sierre, Switzerland, and then supplied to company operations across Europe for further processing. Finished coils of aluminium sheet will be delivered to customers primarily in the automotive and beverage can markets.