Novelis has opened a new aluminum recycling and casting center at its Yeongju, South Korea facility, which is part of a multi-year, $400m expansion of the company’s operations in Korea.
The new aluminum beverage can recycling facility, which will have an annual capacity of 265,000t will increase the company's total consumption of recycled aluminum to over 1.4 million tons (mt) annually.
Novelis president and chief executive officer Phil Martens said the opening of the Yeongju recycling and casting facility marks a milestone in the company's sustainability commitment.
"Combined with our other recycling operations worldwide, this new state-of-the-art facility makes Novelis the world's leading recycler of aluminum, saving valuable natural resources while enabling our customers to create world-class products with a much smaller environmental footprint," Martens said.
According to the global aluminum company, the new project represents the company's first major step in its plan to increase its recycling capacity to 2.1mt by 2015.
Novelis' other recycling expansions are already underway in Brazil and Germany, along with additional investments worldwide.