Hydro is ramping up additional aluminum recycling capacity at its plant in Azuqueca, Spain. The €10 million investment includes the installation of a new delacquering unit and melting furnace in order to produce Hydro CIRCAL — aluminum made with a minimum of 75% recycled, post-consumer scrap.
“We are very pleased that we are able to ramp up our capacity, especially during these challenging times we all have experienced,” said Ramón Gonzalez, plant manager at Hydro’s Azuqueca facility. “This is a great recognition of the work being done by the team at Azuqueca and the support from our colleagues in the Primary Metal organization.”
The annual production of Hydro CIRCAL from Azuqueca is expected to be around 20,000 tonnes once the capacity expansion is complete.
Using Recycled Aluminum
Hydro CIRCAL is a range of products made with recycled, post-consumer scrap. Using recycled content, energy consumption is drastically reduced while still producing high–quality products. The percentage of scrap varies depending on specifications from the client, but the company can always guarantee a carbon footprint below 2.3 kg CO2 per 1 kg aluminum produced with Hydro CIRCAL 75R.
Since launching CIRCAL in early 2019, Hydro has received more than 40 big and small building projects around the world — making it one of the company’s fastest growing business segments. The material has been used in such prestigious projects as the Økern Portal and the iconic Ticon building in Norway.
CIRCAL is also used in aluminum can manufacturing. Hydro recently started supplying the material to HELL Energy Group, which produces energy and soft drinks around the world.
By adding CIRCAL capacity in Azuqueca, Hydro will be able to meet this growing demand for low-carbon products in the building and construction and other industries. “Hydro CIRCAL has gotten a lot of traction in the market and this is an important step to meet the growing demand for low-carbon products,” said Eivind Kallevik, executive vice president of Primary Metal in Hydro. “Getting Azuqueca’s production up and running is truly a combination of sustainability and profitability.”