Atlanta’s rolled aluminium firm Novelis announced the completion of its US$150 million expansion of its aluminium rolling and recycling capacity at the Pindamonhangaba, Brazil plant this week.
Novelis increased capacity of both its aluminium recycling and rolling operations at the plant by 100 thousand metric tons. With the new capacity, the plant is now capable of recycling 490 thousand metric tons of aluminium and producing 680 thousand metric tons of rolled aluminium each year.
The investment also included the purchase of 380,000 m2 of additional land for potential future expansion.
The firm said the increase of its recycling capacity is part of a broader push to drop its carbon footprint by 30 percent in five years and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Steve Fisher, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novelis Inc., said in a press release that this was one of several planned sustainability projects.
“Recycling and increasing the use of recycled content in our products is the cornerstone of Novelis’ sustainability journey. We will continue to identify and invest in projects like this expansion in Brazil that will move Novelis toward being a fully circular business.”
Francisco Pires, Senior Vice President, Novelis Inc. and President, Novelis South America, said the added capacity would aid it in delivering product to its regional buyers.
“This project reaffirms Novelis’ commitment to serve the growing South American market with high-quality, innovative, low-carbon, sustainable aluminum solutions. We stand ready to meet our customers’ needs both now and into the future.”
Gustavo Diniz Junqueira, president of InvestSP, the São Paulo Agency for Promoting Investments and Competitiveness, said the technical support his organization provided has a wide variety of benefits for several stakeholders.
“InvestSP’s mission is to help develop the entire state. A project of this scope contributes to the economy by creating jobs and furthering industrial activity in Brazil, so we dedicated our efforts in evolving together with Novelis in this expansion.”
Novelis is a subsidiary of Mumbai’s Hindalco Industries Ltd. Based in Atlanta, the firm accounts for almost half of Hindalco’s consolidated revenue. The world’s largest recycler of aluminium, Novelis conducts operations in ten different countries, employs around eleven thousand people, and reported US$11.2 billion in net sales for the most recent fiscal year.