2025 has been the year when major industries, especially the global aluminium industry, have been more proactive towards either starting new aluminium recycling projects or restarting the existing ones. Since the year is about to end, now is the right time to have a look at the key projects concerning the global aluminium recycling and make an informed decision for the year to come.
Highlighting some of 2025’s key recycling projects
The largest recycling plant in the UAE, powered by EGA
Owing to the future of the UAE's recycled aluminium, especially when the country is facing an abundant surge in the overall demand for recycled aluminium, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has been constructing the largest aluminium recycling plant in UAE. The actual construction of this plant commenced back on November 21, 2023, but on May 13, 2025, the firm provided its confirmation about the construction being halfway through, which is 42 days ahead of the planned schedule. The firm further projects that the plant will commence its operation in 2026. As this marks the UAE's largest aluminium recycling plant, the firm deems an approximate output of 170 thousand tonnes per year. After the construction of this plant finishes, the new recycling plant aims to process post-consumer scrap and further develop with low-carbon yet premium quality aluminium billets.
Novelis’ Ulsan Aluminium Recycling Centre opening
The world’s largest aluminium recycler and a leader in sustainable aluminium solution provider, Novelis, has announced the official opening of the Ulsan Aluminium Recycling Centre, which is anticipated to reduce carbon emissions by 420 thousand tonnes annually. The reduction in carbon emissions is deemed to be equal to the CO2 absorption of nearly 19 million trees (with the assumption of an average of 22 kilograms per tree). For this new facility, a striking joint venture emerged between Novelis and Kobe Steel with a total investment of USD 65 million. Additionally, the facility will boost an annual production capacity of 100 thousand tonnes of the low-carbon aluminium sheet ingot.
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Neveah’s Ogun State recycling facility
In Ogun State, Neveah Limited, back in early 2025, commenced the operations of its advanced aluminium and copper recycling plant. At its inaugural production run, the facility has successfully delivered its first batch of aluminium ingots, which had achieved the purity level of 85.1 per cent, providing a great reflection of the high-quality standards that the firm aims to scale up for further operations. This recycling facility is said to produce ADC 12-grade aluminium ingots for both international and domestic markets. For recycling, materials in this plant will be sourced from used car engine parts, beverage cans and so on. Additionally, the facility has been equipped with state-of-the-art technology, which ensures each ingot will adhere to or exceed the international quality benchmarks.
EGA expands Minnesota recycling plant
This year, EGA expanded its EGA Spectro Alloys facility in Minnesota, USA, which, this year, unveiled the development of the latest phase, which shall increase the total output of the recycling plant to 200 thousand tonnes per year. This facility, from the first phase, which was completed in July this year, has been ramping up the total output, adding a total of 55 thousand tonnes of billet capacity. The next phase shall enable the plant to add another 45 thousand tonnes of recycled billet capacity per year, whose expected construction will be concluded in 2027. Furthermore, this facility will include an additional scrap melting furnace as well as a batch homogeniser, enabling the plant to handle a broader range of scrap inputs and deliver higher-quality recycled aluminium products. EGA Spectro Alloys’ metal is marketed under EGA’s recycled aluminium brand RevivAL.
Initiatives that ignite to undertake more recycling projects
UK’s post-consumer aerosol recycling initiative
In mid-2025, a three-month pilot project commenced on June 2 across Solihull in the West Midlands, England, as a bold step to ramp up the recycling of post-consumer aerosols (PCR). This initiative was designed in a way that it would uncover the process in which aerosols are handled within the household waste. Additionally, this initiative will also analyse the kerbside collection data to embed much clearer recycling habits. The initiative was undertaken by Alupro as part of the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative (UKARI) and in partnership with SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK. The main aim here is to dive deep into the assessment of fully commingled waste streams, taking place at Sherbourne Recycling, which is considered as home to one of the most cutting-edge materials recovery facilities in the world. The focus will be on monitoring the capture, sorting and recycling rates of aerosol containers, laying down a data-driven groundwork for more effective and scalable recycling solutions throughout the UK.
Also read: 2025 throwback: recap of the big primary aluminium companies aiming to go bigger
Collaboration for closed-loop aluminium recycling
Three major giants, which are Capral, Rio Tinto and Sims Metal, have collaborated to start with a closed-loop aluminium recycling initiative in Queensland. This initiative will take the post-production scrap from Capral’s Bremer Park facility, which will be further processed and sorted by Sims Metal. The scrap will then be remelted at Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelter, resulting in over 1,000 tonnes of aluminium that contains at least 20 per cent recycled content.
RTE and Nexans' aluminium cable recycling drive
The French transmission system operator RTE (Réseau de Transport d'Électricité) and a cable technology giant, Nexans, initiated the first large-scale initiative for recycling aluminium cables. The main aim of the project was to recover and repurpose aluminium from high and extra-high-voltage power cables, creating a sustainable, closed-loop solution. Via this initiative, it was expected to recycle nearly 600 metric tonnes of aluminium per year, reduce CO₂ emissions by at least 400 metric tonnes annually and help meet France’s SDDR 2025 network development goals by incorporating recycled materials into new cables.
Sip & recycle with Nespresso's green bag recycling program
Nespresso partnered with Éco Entreprises Québec and started the ‘green bag’ coffee capsule recycling program in all municipalities in Quebec. This means customers can recycle their capsules into special green recycling bags, which have been given out for free with online orders and are also available in boutiques and through the Nespresso Club. The main aim here is to ensure that aluminium gets recycled and the coffee grounds are processed through biomethanisation. With the support of this program, Quebec becomes the second province in Canada to adopt this initiative, following in the footsteps of Prince Edward Island. There are plans to eventually expand this program across the whole country in the coming years.
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