Novelis celebrates ten years at Nachterstedt recycling centre
In 2011, the decision by Novelis to focus the company’s business model on recycling, has led to large investments in increasing recycling capacity and capabilities, including the construction one of the world’s largest aluminium recycling centres that has transformed the aluminium industry. The Nachterstedt Aluminium Recycling Center (NARC) celebrates its 10th anniversary, marking a decade of innovation and sustainability with Novelis taking the position as a recycling leader in the aluminium market.
A transformative investment
With a total investment of more than €300 million, NARC was constructed as a state-of-the-art facility capable of recycling up to 400,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. With its geographical central location within Europe, NARC provides high-recycled-content ingots to Novelis Europe’s rolling plants for further processing into low-carbon, innovative aluminium solutions for many key players within the automotive, beverage packaging and specialties industries.
“At NARC, we can cast aluminium ingots for car bodysides made from 86% scrap,” said Emilio Braghi, executive vice president at Novelis and president Novelis Europe. “Aluminium ingots for beverage can bodies with a recycling content close to 100% showcase our way of decarbonizing aluminium for consumer goods and our strong ambition towards a fully circular economy.”
Driving sustainability and lower emissions
Recycling aluminium reduces energy consumption by around 95% compared to primary aluminium production and reduces carbon intensity to a comparable level. In that respect, NARC is lowering carbon emissions by around 3.7 million tonnes of CO2e per year, which reduces the plant’s carbon footprint and helps lowering carbon emissions in the downstream aluminium value chain.
“We are proud to be able to meet the increasing market demand for high-recycled aluminium solutions, directly contributing to our customers’ carbon reduction and sustainability goals,” said Braghi.
Continued recycling leadership
NARC is considered a symbol of Novelis’ vision for a circular future. The site contributes to achieving Novelis’ sustainability goals of becoming the provider of lowest carbon emitting flat-rolled aluminium solutions with less than three tonnes of CO2e per tonne aluminium shipped by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050, or sooner. Advanced sorting technology added at Nachterstedt Recycling plant in 2024 will further optimise the utilisation of post-consumer aluminium scrap for high-quality aluminium products. The new technology is expected to avoid the use of around 8,500 tonnes of primary aluminium per year resulting in a reduction of over 80,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions annually. The implementation of this state-of-the-art sorting technology at NARC is projected to reach completion by the end of 2024.
Sven Schulze, minister for economic affairs, tourism, agriculture and forestry of Saxony-Anhalt, praised Novelis’ commitment to environmental protection and sustainable production: “Novelis sets standards to strengthen Germany and Saxony-Anhalt as a location for sustainable aluminum solutions and impressively demonstrates how the circular economy and economic success can go together. As an important employer, Novelis makes a decisive contribution to the economic strength of the region and develops innovative solutions that receive international recognition. Saxony-Anhalt is proud of companies like Novelis, whose commitment contributes to the positive development of our state.”
Raising the bar for recycled content
As NARC celebrates its 10th anniversary, Novelis says it looks forward to the future, continuing its role in sustainable aluminium production and driving the industry towards a more sustainable, lower-carbon future. Since 2011, Novelis has increased the recycled content in its global product range from 33% to 63%, with a target to achieve 75% by the end of 2030. This milestone reinforces Novelis’ commitment to lower the carbon footprint of its product, aiming towards achieving full circularity in aluminium production.