Hydro invests in Deeside, UK to increase recycling capacity

The investment strengthens Deeside's position in the UK extrusion ingot market providing customers with higher recycled content in our metal from Q1 2023.

Trond Olaf Christophersen, Head of Recycling in Hydro Aluminium Metal

"With this investment Hydro Deeside will be able to process and recycle more complex types of post-consumer aluminium. The plant will recycle an additional 7,000 tonnes aluminium per year which will mainly come from the local scrap market in the region. Once processed, the recycled aluminium will go to customers as Hydro CIRCAL, our brand of recycled aluminium made with a minimum of 75% recycled, post-consumer aluminium scrap," says Trond Olaf Christophersen, Head of Recycling in Hydro Aluminium Metal.

The post-consumer aluminium scrap volume processed in Hydro Deeside has been limited by melting furnace capacity. This investment will expand the melting capacity for shredded aluminium scrap, remove the operational bottleneck, reduce raw material costs and increase the volume of post-consumer scrap recycled at the plant. In addition, the technical upgrades to the aluminum melting furnace at Deeside will result in significantly reduced energy consumption.

"We will now be able to recycle more post-consumer aluminium scrap from our local market, reducing the reliance on import scrap. The project fits well with Hydro's overall profitability and sustainability ambitions, with reduced energy consumption. We look forward to delivering even more value-added, low-carbon products to our customers," says Plant Manager Wayne Clifton in Hydro Deeside.

Hydro continues to grow in recycling of post-consumer scrap

Hydro has an overall ambition to double post-consumer aluminium scrap recycling by 2025 and the Deeside project is one of several investments made to reach this target.

An investment decision to build a new state-of-the-art aluminium recycling plant in Cassopolis, Michigan, in the U.S. is set to start production of Hydro CIRCAL in 2023.

In addition, Hydro's Rackwitz recycling plant near Leipzig in Germany is getting a significant capacity increase, while Hydro Clervaux in Luxembourg installed a new casting furnace during summer 2021, which also increases the plants' capacity to recycle post-consumer scrap.

Hydro has also announced the decision to invest NOK 105 million to establish Høyanger Recycling, a dedicated aluminium recycling facility located nearby the Hydro Høyanger primary aluminium smelter in western Norway.