Wise Metals expands recycling facility

A used beverage can melting facility that can process 14.6 billion aluminium cans every year has been opened by US-based Wise Metals Group.

It cost US$25 million and is the largest single used beverage can melting facility in the world, according to the firm. Wise Metals Group is based in the Shoals area of Alabama.

The 74-acre recycling complex, which is named Element 13, features a furnance that will process 250,000 pounds of aluminium, a delaquering kiln and a can shredding system that will shred 80,000 pounds an hour.

It increases the firm’s overall melting capacity by 27% and used beverage can melting capacity by 55%.

“To build this facility, we issued contracts to more than 92 separate contractors, 95% of whom were Alabama companies,” says David D’Addario, Wise’s chairman of the board. “It took 250,000 man-hours to complete and employed 228 local construction workers, all of it done with no lost time accidents or recordable injuries.”

The opening ceremony was attended by Alabama Governor Robert Bentley as well as a host of other dignitaries.

According to D’Addario, the new facility has already created 43 new jobs.

“We are delighted to announce that construction of this facility was completed four months ahead of schedule and was brought in within budget, and that our ability to process 14.6 billion aluminum cans every year will help this project pay for itself quickly,” he adds.

Alabama Reclamation Operations, a division of Wise Metals Group, has been renamed

Element 13. This is because aluminium is the 13th element in the periodic chart of the elements. As part of one of the largest recycling companies in the world, this division reclaims used beverage containers and remelts them for use by Wise Alloys in the production of new aluminium sheet stock. That sheet stock is sold to beverage and food companies for use in the production of new aluminium cans and containers.

Wise Metals Group is the holding company whose divisions include Wise Alloys, the nation’s third largest producer of aluminium can stock for the beverage and food industries; Wise Recycling, one of the largest direct-from-the-public collectors of aluminium beverage containers in the US; Total Maintenance Centre and Alabama Electric Motor Service.