Japanese conglomerate Marubeni joins Vietnam’s aluminium recycling market with NM2

Marubeni Corporation, a major Japanese integrated trading and investment business conglomerate has recently invested Nguyet Minh 2 Trading-Services-Environment Joint Stock Company (NM2), a Vietnamese company specialising in aluminium recycling. Vietnam is Southeast Asia's largest consumer of beverage cans, and the growing middle-income demographic is expected to drive a rise in aluminium scrap generation.

Image Source: NM2 website

Additionally, with increasing environmental awareness, Vietnam has implemented the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy to establish a resource-circulating economy. As part of its mid-term management strategy, Marubeni has prioritised a green strategy to enhance corporate value, recognising the aluminium industry as a key driver in the transition to a decarbonised society.

Through its investment in NM2, Marubeni aims to expand the company's operations, ensuring a stable, long-term supply of low-impact recycled aluminium ingots while contributing to a sustainable future in Vietnam.

NM2, an EPR-certified recycler, processes a wide range of aluminium scrap—primarily beverage cans—to produce recycled aluminium ingots. These ingots are a valuable resource, generating just 3 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions compared to new aluminium ingots, and their demand is rising rapidly.

Not only has this, but the global usage of aluminium beverage cans shown steady growth. It is expected to expand further, driven by factors like eco-friendly solutions, recyclability, sustainability, and lots more.  Aluminium beverage cans are vital to the nation's recycling system and economy. Producing cans from recycled aluminium is highly cost-effective, conserving over 90% of the energy required to manufacture them from primary aluminium.

Thanks to aluminium's exceptional recyclability, most used cans are remade into new ones, unlike glass or plastic bottles, making them a prime example of a circular economy in action. To know more about how the aluminium beverage cans market, get your hands on AL Circle's recently curated report, "Global ALuminium Industry Outlook 2025." Happy reading!