Expected to be completed in 2024, the new plant will have an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes and will reduce carbon emissions by 420,000 tonnes per year
Ulsan Recycling Center in South Korea. (Credit: Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd.)
Aluminium solutions provider Novelis has started construction on its $50m aluminium recycling facility at its Ulsan Aluminum joint venture in South Korea.
Expected to be completed in 2024, the facility will have an annual casting capacity of 100 kilo-tonnes of low-carbon sheet ingot.
The Ulsan Recycling Center is expected to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by over 420,000 tonnes each year.
The new recycling facility will the firm meet the long-term global demand for sustainable, low-carbon aluminium sheets for can, automotive, and high-end speciality products.
Novelis Asia president Sachin Satpute said: “As the world leader in sustainable, low-carbon rolled aluminium solutions, we are focused on accelerating the transition of the aluminium industry to a circular economy model through the increased use of recycled content in our products.
“Doing so will reduce our carbon footprint – as well as that of our customers and industry as a whole – and lead us closer to realising our 2050 goal for carbon neutrality.”
Novelis, a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries, also runs the largest aluminium recycling facility in Asia in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. It can process more than 18 billion of the 82 billion used beverage cans that Novelis recycles annually.
With the addition of the Ulsan Recycling Center, the aluminium solutions provider will be able to handle more types of aluminium scrap and boost its recycling capacity in Korea by more than 20% to 440kt.
This is the most recent in a series of investments the company has made recently to expand its recycling capacity globally.
Last month, the company started construction on its new $2.5bn recycling and rolling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama.