Novelis Commissions Aluminum Recycling Centre at Alunorf

NEUSS, Germany, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Novelis Inc., the world's largest producer of rolled aluminum and a global leader in aluminum recycling, today announced the commissioning of its euro 14 million recycling centre expansion at Aluminium Norf GmbH (Alunorf) in Neuss. 

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Hannelore Kraft, Prime Minister of North Rhine - Westphalia, officially opened the new facility at a ceremony attended by company representatives, customers and local officials.  The event marked the commissioning of the twin-chamber melting furnace and processing plant designed to recycle 50,000 metric tons of aluminum scrap per year to feed the rolling mills of Alunorf.  The plant, which is a joint venture of Novelis and Hydro Aluminium, is the world's largest aluminum rolling complex with 2,170 employees.

The new Novelis recycling centre will process aluminum manufacturing scrap from Novelis' customers across Europe as well as from its own facilities.  It is the second phase of a recycling expansion project at Alunorf that began in 2009 with the construction of a similar recycling facility funded by the joint venture partner, Hydro.  With today's commissioning of this most recent expansion, the combined capacity of the plant's integrated recycling operations is 100,000 metric tons per year.

"Today's event marks another important milestone in Novelis' ongoing commitment to recycling and sustainable manufacturing," said Tadeu Nardocci, senior vice president of Novelis Inc. and president of Novelis Europe.  "This new facility brings benefits for the environment, our customers, our employees and the economy of the region  It also helps ensure a steady source of metal for our rolling operations here at Norf, while reducing our carbon footprint and that of our customers.  Investments such as this one are a key component of our global commitment to increasing recycled metal input to 80% by 2020."

Using recycled aluminum as input material expends only five percent of the energy required to make aluminum from raw materials, thus avoiding 95 percent of the greenhouse gases associated with primary aluminum production.

"The energy-intensive businesses in North Rhine-Westphalia are important to us as we want to remain an 'Energy state'," noted Hannelore Kraft.  "The last world economic crisis has clearly shown how important a good industrial basis is for us as an area.  For me it is also proof of the competitiveness of North Rhine-Westphalia that global companies such as Novelis make money available for investments at Alunorf here in Neuss."

About Novelis

Novelis Inc. is the global leader in aluminum rolled products and aluminum can recycling.  The company operates in 11 countries, has nearly 11,000 employees and reported revenue of $10.6 billion in fiscal year 2011.  Novelis supplies premium aluminum sheet and foil products to automotive, transportation, packaging, construction, industrial, electronics and printing markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America.  Novelis is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited (BSE: HINDALCO), one of Asia's largest integrated producers of aluminum and a leading copper producer.  Hindalco is a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India.  For more information, visit www.novelis.com.

About Alunorf

Aluminium Norf GmbH is a joint venture of Novelis Deutschland GmbH and Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products GmbH. In the south of the city of Neuss, more than 2,100 employees produce close to 1.5 million tons of semi-finished flat rolled material. From the coils supplied by Alunorf, Novelis and Hydro as well as their customers produce beverage cans and other packaging materials, offset printing sheets, automotive parts and materials for the building industry and the transport sector.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release which describe Novelis' intentions, expectations or predictions may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include Novelis' expectations regarding anticipated capacity of the new recycling facility.  Novelis cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty. We do not intend, and we disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Important risk factors which could impact outcomes are included under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2011.

SOURCE Novelis Inc.

Released November 22, 2011