Novelis to build $365 million recycling centre to help reduce carbon emissions by one million tons per year
Novelis will invest $365 million to build a highly advanced recycling centre for automotive in North America. With an annual casting capacity of 240 kt of sheet ingot, the company expects the facility to reduce the company's carbon emissions by more than one million tons each year. The new recycling facility will be built adjacent to Novelis' existing automotive finishing plant in Guthrie, Kentucky.
The centre will enable Novelis to grow its closed-loop-recycling programs with more automotive customers in North America. Through closed-loop recycling, the company takes back the aluminum remaining after automotive parts are stamped from sheets and remakes it into the same product for new vehicle production. The centre will also have the capability to process aluminum from vehicles at the end of their lifecycle. Using recycled aluminum as input material requires only 5 percent of the energy used to make primary aluminum, thus avoiding 95 percent of the carbon emissions associated with production.
The new recycling centre will be equipped with advanced shredding and sorting technology, as well as energy-efficient innovations to support the company's sustainability goal to reduce energy intensity by 10 percent by 2026. Groundbreaking is scheduled for early 2022, with commissioning expected in 2024.
When fully operational, the expansion will add approximately 140 new jobs in Guthrie. This announcement is on the heels of Novelis' October grand opening of the automotive finishing plant in Guthrie, which currently employs 150 people and will grow to 190 over the next two years.
"We are excited about this new investment in Kentucky, which will help Novelis achieve its sustainability goals, as well as support the carbon-reduction targets of our automotive customers," said Tom Boney, Executive Vice President and President of Novelis North America. "The Commonwealth of Kentucky has been a great business partner for many years and has a strong, highly skilled workforce to meet the growing need for high-strength, low-carbon aluminum. We look forward to deepening our relationships with community leaders to ensure our facility has a lasting, beneficial impact in the region."
