Speira recently completed an €11 million modernization project at its Recycling Services plants in Töging and Grevenbroich, Germany, where the company installed and commissioned two new recycling furnaces to replace older equipment. The furnaces set new standards in terms of efficiency, technical progress, occupational safety, and environmental performance. They will be used to recycle aluminum from scrap and dross.
“We take a holistic view of our contribution to a circular world that works,” said Einar Glomnes, CEO of Speira. “That is why we look not only at pure, easily recyclable scrap, but also at the more challenging lower-grade materials and by-products. Wherever aluminum is contained, we want to get the maximum back out of it, return it here to our cycles and prevent it from being exported to other parts of the world. With these new recycling furnaces, we can now recover even the smallest quantities that were previously lost from our material flows.”
Increasing Recycling Capacity
With the installation of these two new furnaces, Speira has completed an €11 million investment project involving the installation of four new furnaces at its Töging and Grevenbroich plants. The first furnace in Grevenbroich was started up in summer 2025, followed by the first furnace in Töging in October 2025. Now, all four furnaces are in operation.
The investment project includes extraction hoods, thermal after-combustion systems, pipework, and other infrastructure. For employees, working on the new units will be even easier and safer. The individual components are easily accessible for maintenance, and the molten metal can be cast while the furnace doors are closed.
The four new furnaces also meet the highest environmental standards for new plants. The new burner technology increases productivity, produces less CO₂, and is “H₂ ready” — meaning the furnaces can also be operated using hydrogen in the future.
In terms of energy efficiency, the new furnaces offer a threefold improvement. First, they increase throughput, which means that every tonne of recycled aluminum saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce a tonne of primary aluminum.
Second, the modern burner technology ensures optimum energy yield from the natural gas used. At the same time, the impurities adhering to painted or further-treated scrap are utilized as combustibles in the melting process, and the input range for these specific grades is even wider in the new furnaces.
Third, the optimized furnace design ensures that even less heat is lost, because tapping can be achieved with the furnace doors closed.
“The commissioning of the new recycling furnace sends a strong signal for Töging as an industrial centre and for the entire Altötting district,” said Dr. Tobias Windhorst, district administrator of the Altötting district. “With this investment, Speira demonstrates how economic strength, technological innovation and sustainability can be successfully combined. This will strengthen the site’s long-term viability and secure jobs in our region for years to come.”