Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) started construction on a 170,000 tonne per year recycling plant at its Al Taweelah smelter in the United Arab Emirates. This will be the largest aluminum recycling plant in the country.
Market analysts expect global demand for recycled aluminum to grow from some 27 million tonnes per year in 2022 to 57 million tonnes in 2040. Recycled aluminum is expected to account for around 60% of the growth in global aluminum supply between now and 2030, and around 70% of supply growth between 2030 and 2040.
Most of the aluminum scrap generated in the UAE is currently exported for processing outside the country. As a result, it is lost to the national economy. Once the recycling plant is complete, EGA expects to become the largest consumer of aluminum scrap in the UAE.
“Aluminum recycling is key to our metal achieving its enormous potential to contribute to decarbonization while improving global living standards,” said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, chief executive officer of EGA. “This makes recycling the biggest global growth opportunity for our industry, and for EGA. Our construction of a major aluminum recycling plant will provide low carbon product options for our local and global customers, while contributing to the national Operation 300bn industrial growth strategy.”
The new recycling plant will process post-consumer aluminum scrap (such as used window frames), as well as pre-consumer aluminum scrap from extrusion production, into low-carbon, high quality premium aluminum billet. This billet will supply local and global markets with low carbon metal under the product name RevivAL.
Construction of the recycling plant is expected to be completed within three years.
EGA has been focused on low carbon initiatives for the last several years. In 2021, the company became the first to produce aluminum commercially using solar power, which is marketed under the product name CelestiAL. Last year, EGA produced 57,000 tonnes of CelestiAL.
The company expanded its low carbon metal portfolio in 2023, with the introduction of CelestiAL-R, an aluminum product that combines the use of solar power with recycled aluminum to achieve even lower carbon intensity. BMW Group was the first customer to utlize this metal.