Novelis Commissions Expanded Latchford Recycling Plant
Facility enables closed loop manufacturing for growing automotive aluminium sheet market in Europe
Latchford, UK, November 4, 2013 -- Novelis, the world leader in aluminium rolling and recycling, announced today the commissioning of its expanded recycling plant in Latchford, Warrington in the UK. With an investment of approximately € 13.6 million (£6 million), the plant’s capacity will increase by over a third and becomes Europe’s largest closed-loop recycling operation for automotive aluminium rolled products.
“With the commissioning in Latchford, we are expanding our recycling capabilities and developing efficient manufacturing systems along our automotive supply chain,” said Erwin Mayr, Senior Vice President and President, Novelis Europe. “Responding to the realities of our increasingly resource constrained world and demands for a more sustainable economy, Novelis is transforming its business model to be largely based on closed-loop recycling.”
The Novelis Latchford plant currently employs approximately 135 people and processes 160,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. With the expansion to 220,000 tonnes, Novelis expects the centre to create more than 30 additional full-time jobs.
Much of the additional capacity will be directed to support the industry’s growing demand for automotive aluminium sheet, particularly from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), one of Novelis’ long-standing customers. The investment in new equipment for recycling automotive aluminium scrap includes a dedicated furnace, upgraded casting system, magnetic separation and handling equipment, as well as world class environmental controls.
During the recycling process, the scrap is re-melted and cast into 10-12 tonne ingots, each saving approximately 100 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions when compared to ingots produced from primary aluminium. The ingots are then subsequently rolled back into automotive sheet at Novelis’ specialized facilities in Europe.
This emerging closed-loop model reduces the environmental footprint of Novelis’ operations and that of its customers, such as JLR. This expansion will result in nearly 530,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas savings over the total aluminium value chain compared to using primary aluminium. Furthermore, the closed-loop model strengthens cooperative, long-term relationships with major global customers, driving the development of innovative, sustainable products and processes.
This project is the latest in a series of recycling expansion projects launched by Novelis over the past two years totaling approximately € 680 million. These projects are designed to increase Novelis’ recycling capacity to 2.1 million tonnes by 2015 and help the company achieve its aggressive goal of increasing the recycled content of its products to 80 percent by 2020.
About Novelis
Novelis Inc. is the global leader in aluminum rolled products and the world's largest recycler of aluminum. The company operates in nine countries, has approximately 11,000 employees and reported revenue of $9.8 billion for its 2013 fiscal year. Novelis supplies premium aluminum sheet and foil products to automotive, transportation, packaging, construction, industrial and consumer electronics markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America. The company is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. For more information, visit www.novelis.com and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/Novelis.
Released November 4, 2013