Speira strategically turning Europe into an aluminium recycling hub, investing millions of euros in new capacities

To position as a top aluminium recycler in Europe, Speira is increasingly investing in building new or expanding existing recycling capacities. According to a recent report, the European company is investing 40 million euros for an additional recycling capacity and revamping the Rheinwerk plant to enable it to save up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year at the site.

Concerning the project, Boris Kurth, Head of the can business at Speira as well as the recycling and foundry operations at the Rheinwerk, said: "We want to become the number 1 in aluminium recycling in Europe. Over the past 20 years, we have already built furnaces with leading recycling capacity in Europe and Europe's most modern sorting plant for UBC scrap, substituting the highly energy-intensive primary production of aluminium. We are consistently pursuing this path and emphasising our commitment to the circular economy with the fourth recycling furnace at Rheinwerk."

The new recycling furnace at Rheinwerk will be built in 2025 and will likely start operating at the beginning of 2026. The project also includes converting the third of four existing casting centres for refining aluminium alloys recycling efficiency while reducing ecological footprint. 

The new recycling furnace will be used for melting aluminium alloys that are processed into beverage cans after rolling. Beverage can is a fast-moving product with 60 60-day life cycle through production, filling, retail sale, consumption by end consumers, disposal, and recycling. This demonstrates the probability that the same aluminium will pass through Speira's recycling facilities many times a year, reducing carbon footprint and promoting a circular economy.

Speira is proceeding step by step to becoming Europe's recycling hub. To start with, the company is installing a new furnace and remodelling the casting plant. Subsequently, it will turn its one-third of the phased-out smelter into a new scrap warehouse. It will provide storage space and facilities for sampling incoming scrap and preparing it for melting.

"The long halls allow us to think and plan big. This huge new scrap warehouse creates space for the 'feed' for all of our recycling furnaces – not just the new one," said Kurth happily.