The new facility, to be built near Hannover, represents an investment of about USD 170 million, with first hot metal expected in 2028. It will increase EGA Leichtmetall’s recycling capacity more than six-fold, adding 110 thousand tonnes per year of scrap sorting capacity and 153 thousand tonnes per year of melting and casting capacity. The existing Hannover site has melting and casting capacity of around 30 thousand tonnes per year.
What sets the project apart is its technical ambition. The new site will be among the first globally to combine a state-of-the-art scrap sorting system, advanced furnace technologies and an integrated salt recovery process in one location.
The plant will be equipped with X-ray and laser sorting systems to separate scrap by alloy, grade and impurity level, expanding flexibility in scrap inputs and enabling EGA Leichtmetall to apply decades of blending expertise to produce high-quality aluminium from post-consumer scrap for the first time. Energy-efficient melting furnaces will be built with the ability to convert to hydrogen use in the future, while the casting line will produce secondary ingots in nearly all wrought alloys, as well as low and high iron content foundry alloys.
In aluminium recycling, salt is used to bind impurities during melting, generating salt slag as waste. At the new facility, salt will be almost entirely recovered for reuse. The only solid waste expected is aluminium hydroxide, which can be used in cement production, and non-aluminium scrap fractions.
