Schupan, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has invested over $40 million to establish two new aluminium shredding and sorting facilities. The first facility in Kalamazoo is scheduled to begin operations in early 2024 after opening later this month.
“This new facility represents our continued commitment to sustainability, allowing us to meet the growing global demand for green aluminum while minimizing energy consumption, emissions and environmental disruption,” said Marc Schupan, CEO of the company.
About the investment
According to Gary Curtis, President of Industrial Recycling at Schupan, the investment includes the procurement of land, the construction of buildings, and the buying of equipment. He also added that Schupan chose Kalamazoo as one of its locations due to its seamless integration with the company's current activities. The Kentucky facility in Logan County is near several of the company's major clients who consume a significant amount of its products.
The Schupan factory in Logan County was granted $200,000 in Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act tax incentives in July 2022. Curtis said the Kalamazoo operation will utilise shredding and sorting technologies to prepare lesser grades of outmoded aluminium scrap for billet manufacturers and coil producers, whilst the Kentucky plant will concentrate on processing used beverage cans (UBCs).
The Schupan sites will be outfitted with comparable sorting equipment and 1,000-horsepower shredders from St. Louis-based American Pulverizer. Still, the Kalamazoo facility will also include a bale breaker, according to Curtis. They will employ sorting equipment made by Steinert GmBH, a German company with US operations in Walton, Kentucky, that includes eddy current separators, optical sorters, and X-ray sorters. The majority of the conveyors for the projects were supplied by Hustler Conveyor Co., O'Fallon, Missouri.
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