Novelis officially opened the world’s largest aluminum recycling center.
Located adjacent to the company’s rolling mill in Nachterstedt, Germany, the $258 million recycling center will process up to 400,000 metric tons of aluminum scrap annually, turning it back into high-value aluminum ingots to feed the company’s European manufacturing network.
Since 2011, Novelis has invested approximately $500 million to expand recycling, doubling its recycling capacity to 2.1 million metric tons per year and raising its recycled content from 30 percent to 46 percent.
The Nachterstedt Recycling Center features state-of-the-art technology for aluminum 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. Approximately 200 employees will be needed.
Nachterstedt’s central location within Europe provides the plant with access to efficient transportation networks. Aluminum 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.
Published in the November 2014 Edition of American Recycler News
