This month, aluminium rolling and recycling company Novelis is celebrating 25 years since the opening of its used beverage can recycling plant in Latchford, Cheshire.
Employees celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Latchford plant
More than two decades since the Warrington plant’s opening in 1991, the company is hosting a week-long celebration for all employees, many of which have worked at the plant since its opening.
The opening of the Latchford plant constituted a big investment for Novelis, the company noted. And, following expansions of the recycling capabilities and manufacturing assets at the sote, Novelis claims that today the facility is Europe’s “largest dedicated recycling plant for used aluminium beverage cans (UBC)2 and closed-loop recycling operation for automotive aluminium rolled products.
Today, the facility employs more than 170 people.
Steve Hedar, Latchford plant manager, said: “Back in 1991, the UK aluminium can recycling rate was only 2 per cent. Today it is well over 60 per cent, in a large part due to the operation of the Latchford plant.
“At the same time, whilst recycling UK cans, we have helped charities, small businesses and local authorities raise several million pounds for important local community improvement campaigns which we’re very proud of.”
2017
Commenting on the future for the business, Andy Doran, senior manager for Sustainability and Recycling Development, said there is “optimism” about the aluminium market in 2017, and the company supports Alupro’s call for higher recycling targets.
Earlier this month, Alupro – the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation – expressed ‘frustration’ at the proposed targets set out by the government for the recycling of aluminium packaging up to 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Doran said: “Quite categorically, yes, we support Alupro’s call for higher targets. We are anticipating as an industry to be working towards circular economy package targets, but it’s about trying to get that continued flow of materials.
“The analysis we’ve done as an industry indicates that we are well-placed to meet next year’s targets already. In that context, being well-placed to meet those targets and having no further growth in the industry is not going to benefit the value of the material.”
He added: “We would like to see the targets increased, albeit we are looking at the same end point as the government – the Circular Economy Package targets.”
Growth
However, Mr Doran said that “there is some optimism that [recycling] levels will continue to increase. Our hope and our expectation as a company is that we’ll continue to grow, to support our processes but also to support local authorities’ recycling rates.”
“There are challenges ahead, with recycling levels stagnating, but the one thing we’ve learned over the years is that the value of material is a strong driver for recovery. To some extent that value is also recognised by consumers and is recycled quite well.”
Novelis
Novelis Inc. operates in 11 countries, has approximately 12,000 employees and reported $10 billion in revenue for its 2016 fiscal year.
The company supplies premium aluminum sheet and foil products to transportation, packaging, construction, industrial and consumer electronics markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Metal
