Atlanta’s rolled aluminium firm Novelis announced this week a US$50-million low-carbon aluminium production facility in Ulsan, Republic of Korea. The new facility is expected to cut the firm’s carbon emissions by at least 420 thousand short tons per year.
The Ulsan Recycling Center is planned to have an annual casting capacity of 100 thousand metric tons of low-carbon sheet ingot upon its completion.
Pierre Labat, Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, Novelis Inc., said in a press release that the new aluminium plant dovetails with its overall push to produce aluminium with lower and lower carbon production.
“This latest capital investment in recycling is another example of our company purpose of ‘Shaping a Sustainable World Together’ in action.’ I am excited by the actions Novelis is taking to increase aluminum recycling worldwide and the benefits this will have for our customers and in making aluminum the preferred material for all the markets Novelis serves.”
Novelis expects to begin construction on the plant in the fall, with final commissioning slated for early 2024. Upon commissioning, Ulsan Recycling Center will be Novelis’ second such center, joining Asia’s largest aluminium recycling center in Yeongju.
“The establishment of the Ulsan Aluminum Recycling Center is an important investment to help us achieve our ambition of becoming the world’s leading provider of sustainable, low-carbon aluminum solutions,” explained Novelis Asia’s Executive Vice President Sachin Satpute. “By increasing the use of recycled content, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint as well as that of our customers and the broader industry, and accelerating aluminum’s transition to a fully circular economy.”
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.