Novelis has recently broken ground on a new $50 million recycling centre.

With an annual casting capacity of 100 kilotons of low-carbon sheet ingot, the centre is expected to reduce Novelis’ carbon emissions by more than 420,000 tons each year. 

“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,” said Sachin Satpute, president of Novelis Asia.

“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.”  

A groundbreaking ceremony for the recycling centre for Novelis, which is being built by Ulsan Aluminium, Novelis’ joint venture with Kobe Steel, was attended by Doo-Gyeom Kim, Ulsan Metropolitan City mayor, Yeon-Chul Lee, chairman, Ulsan chamber of commerce and Nolan Barkhouse, principal officer, US consulate in Busan.

The facility is expected to come online in 2024. 

Novelis, which operates Asia’s largest aluminium recycling centre in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, is building the new recycling centre to meet the long-term global demand for sustainable, low-carbon aluminium sheet for can, automotive and high-end speciality products.

In addition, Ulsan Recycling Centre will allow Novelis to increase its recycling capacity by more than 20% to 440kt in Korea and enhance its capability to process different types of aluminium scrap.

This is the latest in a string of Novelis’ recent investments to increase its recycling capacity globally. 

Using recycled aluminium as an input material saves 95% of the energy used to produce primary aluminium from bauxite, thus reducing the carbon emissions by 95%.

Novelis recycles 82 billion used beverage cans a year, with the Yeongju Recycling Centre processing more than 18 billion of them each annually.