Twenty fourteen saw the official opening of the world’s largest aluminium recycling plant in Nachterstedt, Germany. The state of the art facility is owned and managed by Novelis – a global aluminium rolling and recycling company. The plant costs two hundred million Euros (two hundred and fifty eight million USD) but management says it was money well spent as the expected profits and benefits will outweigh construction and operation costs by far.
The plant’s processing capacity is staggering – at full speed, the facility is able to recycle four hundred thousand tons of aluminium scrap per year. The high-value aluminium ingots produced in result will be used to feed the company’s European based manufacturing networks.
Novelis – the plant operator, says (without revealing too many details) that the highly advanced, state of the art technology and equipment used at the site are able to sort, de-coat, melt and cast high quality aluminium from all types of aluminium scrap. Novelis go on to say that the company aims to create a closed-loop recycling process or system intended to increase Europe’s domestic scrap consumption.
The company has been quite a shaker and mover on the European recycling scene during the last few years. Through advancements in technology and optimising, Novelis have been able to double their recycling capacity – reaching two point one million tonnes of scrap per year. The company has invested in excess of five hundred million dollars in technology and facilities, increasing recycled content from thirty to forty six percent. By two thousand twenty, Novelis want to achieve eighty percent recycled contents.
The Nachterstedt facility is well worth it investment in the sense that smelting of new aluminium from raw materials (ore) is highly expensive as it required vast amounts of (electrical) energy. On the other hand the German plant saves up to ninety five percent of material production costs and emissions. Nachterstedt was the chosen site because the city is strategically located and provides vital and efficient access to many of Europe’s transport networks through which scrap is delivered and aluminium raw material distributed back to the rolling plants which Novelis operate. The two main facilities where new-from-scrap aluminium will be rolled are in Germany and Switzerland. Novelis says that basically they can’t go wrong with the Nachterstedt plant as they are forced to operate in an increasingly energy and carbon constrained environment and recycling is the only way to keep things sustainable and efficient.
If large scale aluminium recycling sounds light years away from your household or business, think again – to a large extent it is homes and businesses that feed such monstrous recycling plants so do your little bit and separate rubbish before removal and disposal. Local junk removal companies can provide you with invaluable advice and guidance how to separate recyclable waste easily and more efficiently. Rubbish removal and disposal companies are an important link in the recycling chain, but so are individuals. It will take combined efforts and awareness to preserve precious natural resources and the environment as a whole. Optimising production methods is one of the ways to ensure a more sustainable future.