Global aluminum company Hydro broke ground on a state-of-the-art aluminum recycling plant in Cassopolis, Michigan. When completed, the plant will provide 70 new local jobs, support automotive innovation and be a key stepping-stone in Hydro’s ambition of doubling recycling of post-consumer aluminum by 2025.
The plant will produce 120,000 metric tonnes (265 million pounds) of aluminum extrusion ingot per year and create approximately 70 local jobs. Hydro will invest an estimated 150 million dollars to complete the project. Applications for the aluminum produced in Cassopolis will include critical automotive applications as well as other transportation uses, consumer and building system applications.
“Aluminum is a key enabler in the green transition. Recycling aluminum scrap reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions whilst promoting a more circular economy. Our plant in Cassopolis will be an example of sustainability and profitability going hand in hand,” said Hilde Merete Aasheim, president and chief executive officer of Hydro.
Hydro is positioning itself to become a leading producer of low-carbon, recycled aluminum in North America. Recycling scrap aluminum requires only 5 percent of the energy used to produce primary aluminum, saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Following completion of the Cassopolis plant, Hydro will have the ability to produce over one million metric tonnes of recycling-based aluminum billet each year in the U.S., further strengthening its position as the largest producer in the country.
Hydro is bringing its next-generation recycling technology, pioneered in Europe, to the plant in Cassopolis.
The Cassopolis plant will be the first large-scale producer of Hydro CIRCAL® in North America. Unique to Hydro, Hydro CIRCAL aluminum extrusion ingot contains at least 75 percent post-consumer scrap, certified by third party auditors DNV GL, and has a market leading CO2 footprint of just 2.3 kg CO2e/kg aluminum. With a growing focus on sustainably produced aluminum, several North American customers have expressed interest in Hydro CIRCAL.
Published in the June 2022 Edition