2 minute read - 25th April 2024
Hydro to invest over £13m in new scrap sorting facility
Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro is to invest more than £13m* (NOK 180m) in a state-of-the-art scrap sorting facility at its recycling plant in Wrexham. The plant will have the capacity to source and sort over 30,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap annually, enough aluminium for over 100,000 electric vehicles. Construction of the sorting facility will commence in the autumn of 2024, and the plant is expected to be operational by January 2026.
The sorting facility will be located next to its extrusion ingot recycling plant and will provide 16 new local jobs. By introducing Hydro’s state-of-the-art HySort technology, Hydro Wrexham will be able to increase sorting accuracy and capacity, as well as increasing the ability to recycle post-consumer aluminium scrap.
Hydro says the use of post-consumer aluminium scrap significantly reduces CO2 footprint compared to pre-consumer, or process scrap, and primary aluminium. The firm added the investment in the sorting facility at Wrexham is one of several investments to reach its overall ambition to step up growth investments in recycling towards 2030. The scrap will be sourced from local scrap suppliers in the region.
*Hydro made the original announcement as NOK 180m Norwegian Krone – due to ongoing currency fluctuations, £13.18m is an estimate based on exchange rates on the day of publishing.
Aluminium producer Hydro is to invest over £13m in a new scrap sorting facility at its recycling plant in Wrexham / Picture: Marius Motrøen/Hydro
Barry Salisbury, Hydro’s plant manager in Wrexham, said: “This new facility enables us to optimally sort a large variety of post-consumer scrap grades that are mainly exported out of the UK today, before continuing to the next step of the recycling process. This is an essential improvement in material flow that allows us to meet the increasing demand for low-carbon aluminium that we see particularly within the automotive, transport, and building and construction segments.”
Ingrid Guddal, head of recycling at Hydro Aluminium Metal, added: “In Hydro, we are always looking for opportunities to reach our recycling ambitions. Our recycling plant in Wrexham is already an essential producer of high-quality aluminium in the UK market. With the increasing interest from European customers to buy low-carbon aluminium, this sorting facility is a logical next step in optimising our recycling processes by using a wider range of post-consumer aluminium scrap.”
