Hydro moves forward with its environmental commitment: Hydro to purchase land in Spain to build an aluminum recycling plant

Hydro has reached an agreement to purchase land in Torija, a municipality in Spain. The objective is none other than the construction of a modern, state-of-the-art aluminum recycling plant. This facility will have an annual capacity of approximately 120,000 tons and will directly employ 65 workers. The facility will strengthen Hydro’s capabilities to produce low-carbon aluminum and ensure that more scrap is retained in Europe. A subsidiary of the Pulsar Properties group has been signed to promote this project. The total investment of the project is currently estimated at between 130 and 140 million euros, depending on the final design of the facilities, market conditions and macroeconomic developments. Hydro intends to make a final investment decision by the end of 2023.

Eivind Kallevik, from the Hydro Aluminium Metal team, noted that the European and Iberian aluminum market is taking a step forward and that this is an important investment for the company. “This investment will be an important step towards Hydro’s ambition to recycle more post-consumer aluminum, strengthening our position to capture value from the growing demand for greener, more circular aluminum,” he reiterated.

According to Kallevik, keeping post-consumer aluminum in the recycling loop is a priority. “Keeping post-consumer scrap in the loop is crucial, as recycling requires 95% less energy than primary production. Increased recycling of post-consumer scrap is an opportunity for Europe to secure internal access to aluminum, a strategic issue in view of the multiple crises Europe is facing.”he remarked.

The demand for aluminum produced by Hydro by 2030 is forecast to increase by 3% each year. This will cause demand for aluminum produced with low carbon content to outstrip the rest of the market. Unfortunately, Europe will run out of one million tons of used aluminum scrap every year. According to Kallevik, his company has the best technology as well as a highly qualified team to turn what used to be European scrap into value-added products with the intention of finding solutions for transportation, construction and renewable energy. This investment will contribute to the ecological change that Europe is seeking.

The Torija recycling plant will be able to produce Hydro CIRCAL and other types of low-carbon recycled aluminum with a CO2 footprint of less than 4 kg of CO2 per kg of aluminum. Hydro’s innovation brings its CIRCAL extrusion ingot, which contains 75% post-consumer scrap, outperforming the competition in terms of exceptional level of CO2 footprint reduction with only 2.3kg CO2e/ kg. The Torija project will complement the nearby Hydro plant located in Azuqueca, offering greener and more sustainable metal for international markets.

Exclusive to Hydro, Hydro’s CIRCAL extrusion ingot is designed to contain at least 75% of DNV GL-endorsed recycled material. This relationship generates a low amount of CO2 and also contributes to the initiative of the Torija project located in Azuqueca to improve its offer, offering better products with higher added value for the Iberian market.