Novelis opens recycling centre in South Korea
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Novelis has broken ground on a new $50 million recycling centre. With an annual casting capacity of 100 kilotonnes of low-carbon sheet ingot, the centre is expected to reduce Novelis’ carbon emissions by more than 420,000 tonnes each year.
“As the world leader in sustainable, low-carbon rolled aluminium solutions, we are focused on accelerating the transition of the aluminium industry to a circular economy model through the increased use of recycled content in our products,” said Sachin Satpute, president of Novelis Asia. “Doing so will reduce our carbon footprint – as well as that of our customers and industry as a whole – and lead us closer to realizing our 2050 goal for carbon neutrality.”
A ground-breaking ceremony for the recycling centre for Novelis, which is being built by Ulsan Aluminum, Novelis’ joint venture with Kobe Steel, was attended by Doo-Gyeom Kim, Ulsan Metropolitan City Mayor, Yeon-Chul Lee, Chairman, Ulsan Chamber of Commerce and Nolan Barkhouse, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate in Busan. The facility is expected to come online in 2024.
Novelis, which operates Asia’s largest aluminium recycling centre in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, is building the new recycling centre to meet the long-term global demand for sustainable, low-carbon aluminium sheet for can, automotive and high-end specialty products. The addition of Ulsan Recycling Center will allow Novelis to increase its recycling capacity by more than 20 percent to 440kt in Korea and to enhance its capability to process different types of aluminium scrap. This is the latest in a string of Novelis’ recent investments to increase its recycling capacity globally.
Using recycled aluminium as an input material saves 95% of the energy used to produce primary aluminium from bauxite, thus reducing the carbon emissions by 95%. In addition, aluminium is infinitely recyclable, making it increasingly important as a sustainable material choice. For example, aluminium beverage cans are one of the most sustainable packaging as used cans are able to be recycled and made into new cans and back on store shelves in just 60 days. Novelis recycles 82 billion used beverage cans a year, with the Yeongju Recycling Center processing more than 18 billion of them each annually.
