Novelis is investing approximately $90 million to increase the recycling capacity for used beverage cans (UBCs) at its plant in Latchford, UK. The project will increase the facility's recycling capacity for UBCs by 85 kilotonnes per year, equaling a growth of more than 100 percent.
"Of all the recycling players in the European market, Novelis has the highest ambition to maximize its recycled content across our product range," said Emilio Braghi, executive vice president of Novelis and president of Novelis Europe. "Globally, Novelis had an average of 63 percent recycled content in our products in fiscal year 2024. This investment marks a major milestone in our ambitious program to further expand our recycling capacity."
The investment includes the construction of a new dross house, three new bag houses, and the installation of shredding, sorting, de-coating, and melting technologies – enabling the plant to recycle a larger volume and new types of aluminum scrap. The expansion of recycling capacity, and the implementation of advanced technologies, will result in an annual CO2e reduction of more than 350,000 tonnes for Novelis Europe.
The project is expected to begin commissioning in December 2026. Once complete, the facility will be able to recycle 100 percent of UBCs to be collected under the future UK deposit return scheme. This will create a local, fully circular system that will avoid the need to export scrap from the UK.
"The investment in Latchford strengthens our position in the UK market as the largest recycler of aluminum," said Allan Sweeney, plant manager of Novelis Latchford. "Thanks to technological developments, we will be able to recycle all types of UBC scrap, fostering low-carbon and high-recycled content products that support not only our own ambitious sustainability goals, but those of our customers as well."
