Wise Metals Inaugurates Aluminum Recycling Plant

Wise Metals has officially dedicated its newest aluminum recycling facility in Muscle Shoals, Ala., which is also where the company is based. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and other government officials attended the dedication ceremony, held March 2, 2012, at the facility’s 74-acre recycling complex

According to Wise Metals, the $25 million facility, named Element 13, is the largest single used beverage can (UBC) melting facility in the world.

According to David D’Addario, Wise Metal chairman, the facility contains a furnace that is capable of processing 250,000 pounds of aluminum per hour, a delaquering kiln and a can shredding system with a production capacity of 80,000 pounds of aluminum per hour.

Wise says that the new plant will increase the company’s overall melting capacity by 27 percent and its UBC melting capacity by 55 percent.

“We are delighted to announce that construction of this facility was completed four months ahead of schedule and was brought in within budget, and that our ability to process 14.6 billion aluminum cans every year will help this project pay for itself quickly,” D’Addario says.

Wise Metals Group is a holding company whose divisions include Wise Alloys, the nation’s third largest producer of aluminum can stock for the beverage and food industries; Wise Recycling, a direct-from-the-public collector of UBCs; Total Maintenance Center, which provides maintenance, fabrication and repair to manufacturing and industrial plants worldwide; and Alabama Electric Motor Service, which sells and repairs industrial electric motors.