Novelis to purchase cans from the spot market for recycling

Aluminium can recycler Novelis is to resume purchasing cans from the spot market within weeks, once additional shredding capacity is installed at the front end of its Warrington facility.

The 130,000 tonne per annum capacity aluminium can recycling plant is currently only accepting material from contracted suppliers, while the new equipment is installed. Commissioning is expected to take place later this month, with it then likely to be running at full capacity shortly after.

The additional shredding equipment has been installed to address concerns over quality of material being received on site. Some suppliers have told letsrecycle.com that the new equipment effectively means that the company has installed a sorting line.

Novelis has expressed concerns in recent years about contamination and moisture in aluminium cans sent to the plant at Latchford Locks for reprocessing. And, as a consequence of this the company has been active in promoting the kerbside sorting of material and calling for much higher standards at materials recycling facilities.

The company had placed temporary restrictions on can purchases at the plant at the beginning of 2012 after low demand for aluminium sheet and an excess of post consumer cans in late 2011 caused an oversupply of material (see letsrecycle.com story). This has caused some consternation among some suppliers who are concerned about the way demand is switched on and off.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, the company’s senior manager for sustainability and recycling development Andy Doran, said: “The plant is currently on low commission level for works and maintenance; additional front end shredding is being added to ensure material quality.

“The plant was designed 20 years ago on a cash-for-cans basis, but was not built to deal with a source of material that is cross contaminated with aluminium screw caps and aerosols.”

Novelis’ annual sustainability report, released last week (August 30), revealed that the company has moved closer to achieving its goal of including 80% recycled content in its aluminium sheet product by 2020. 12 months after the company unveiled its target, it has seen recycled content increase from 33% to 39%.

Progress Mr Doran commented that the company was encouraged by the progress that had been made over the year, and that additional recycling capacity coming online in Germany, Korea and Brazil, would help it get closer to achieving the 80% goal.

He said: “Obviously there is still a long way to go, but we are pleased with the progress made in the space of a year. We are also pleased in the sense that the improvement has been made before much of our capital expenditure has come into effect.

“The capital expenditure will help us get more than 50%, but our chief operating officer has been bold enough to say that we don’t yet know how we are going to get to the 80% goal.”

The company is also building an automotive sheet manufacturing facility in China. The plant, in Changzhou City, in the Jiangsu Province of China, represents Novelis’ first manufacturing facility in the country."