Novelis to use scrapped cars at new Al plant

US aluminum roller Novelis will spend $365mn to build a new remelt facility that will use some end-of-life vehicle scrap as an input.

The company is still working with US automakers to determine exactly how scrapped vehicles will be used, but the step marks a major change for automotive sheet, which is typically heavy on primary aluminum as a raw material and restrictive on what kinds of scrap inputs are acceptable.

"That is an incredibly valuable input for us and we need to be better urban miners. When it comes to end-of-life vehicles, we want to take advantage of those," said Tom Boney, executive vice-president and president of Novelis North America, in an interview with Argus.

Aluminum content in vehicles is projected to shift more toward wrought alloys from cast alloys as cars become lighter and more electrified, making them a richer source of wrought scrap for mills such as Novelis.

"Engine blocks are going to diminish," Boney said.

In November, US primary aluminum smelter Alcoa made a similar announcement about using end-of-life vehicle scrap to produce high purity aluminum ingot.

The new plant sit alongside Novelis' Guthrie, Kentucky, automotive sheet finishing line and will remelt clips generated by third-party automotive stamping plants, in addition to the end-of-life vehicles.

The investment will add capacity to Novelis' closed loop network, keeping scrap generated from stamping coils going directly back into making the same alloys instead into the open market.

Novelis operates a used beverage can (UBC) recycling plant in Berea, Kentucky, another plant that does both automotive and can scrap recycling in Greensboro, Georgia, and a rolling mill with casting capabilities in Oswego, New York.

In October, the company announced a $130mn upgrade at Oswego, focusing on beverage can sheet and automotive.

By John Betz