EGA expands European aluminium recycling footprint with 80% Eco Green acquisition

Emirates Global Aluminium has completed its acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in Italy's Eco Green, strengthening its aluminium scrap collection, sorting and recycling network across Europe.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is expanding its aluminium recycling business in Europe with the completed acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in Italian recycler Eco Green, adding scrap collection, sorting, casting and dross-processing capabilities to its growing recycled aluminium network.

The deal, first announced in April, has cleared all required regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Eco Green will now be rebranded EGA Eco Green, while the Scappini family will retain a minority stake and remain involved in management.

The acquisition gives EGA access to a wider pool of aluminium scrap in Italy while strengthening its ability to turn post-industrial and other scrap streams into recycled aluminium products.

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Building a larger aluminium recycling network

EGA said its recycling business now has more than 400,000 tonnes per year of aluminium recycling capacity across the UAE, US, Germany and Italy, with another 200,000 tonnes per year under development.

That footprint is being built around a straightforward strategy: secure more aluminium scrap, process it efficiently and increase the availability of lower-carbon recycled metal for customers.

Industry analysts expect recycled aluminium to account for around half of global aluminium demand by 2040, making access to scrap an increasingly important part of the industry's future supply chain.

Europe is particularly significant for EGA. The region, excluding Russia, is the world's third-largest recycled aluminium market after the US and China. EGA already supplies around 600,000 tonnes of primary aluminium a year to European industries, giving its growing recycling operations an additional route into the region's aluminium market.

"Eco Green makes EGA an even better partner for Europe's green future and further expands our growing global aluminium recycling business," said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA.

"Eco Green also brings us capability in Europe's aluminium scrap market, which is important for our expanding recycling operations in the continent”, he added. 

From scrap collection to secondary aluminium

Founded in 1993, the Italian company operates two plants in northeast Italy and has more than 60 customers across Europe, supported by a network of more than 350 aluminium scrap suppliers.

Its Villafranca di Verona operation collects, sorts and distributes approximately 23,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap each year.

Some of that material is sent to the company's nearby Nogara di Verona facility, where more than 20,000 tonnes of secondary aluminium sows are cast annually. The plant has a furnace with a nameplate capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year and also processes aluminium dross.

Eco Green is already expanding the Nogara facility, with a further 20,000 tonnes per year of recycled aluminium capacity due to be added. The expansion is expected to be completed in December 2026.

The company's operations therefore give EGA more than additional production capacity: they provide a localised supply chain for sourcing, sorting and processing aluminium scrap before it returns to the market as secondary metal.

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EGA scales recycling beyond Italy

In Germany, EGA acquired EGA Leichtmetall in 2024 and is undertaking an expansion that will add 110,000 tonnes per year of scrap sorting capacity and 150,000 tonnes per year of melting and casting capacity.

In the US, EGA acquired 80 per cent of EGA Spectro Alloys in 2024. The company completed an expansion in July 2025, taking recycled aluminium ingot and billet capacity to 165,000 tonnes per year. A second phase is expected to add another 35,000 tonnes of billet capacity, with first hot metal targeted for 2027.

Back in the UAE, EGA is ramping up its new Al Taweelah recycling plant, which has capacity of 185,000 tonnes per year and is described as the country's largest aluminium recycling facility.

Luca Scappini, CEO of Eco Green, said joining EGA would provide the company with further opportunities to expand its recycling operations and develop its products and services.

"Becoming part of EGA unlocks our potential for further growth, as a key pillar of EGA's expanding European aluminium recycling network," Scappini said.

With the Italian acquisition now complete and additional capacity being developed in Germany, the US and the UAE, EGA is building a recycling platform that increasingly reaches across the full aluminium scrap value chain, from collection and sorting to melting, casting and secondary aluminium production.

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