Hydro invests in aluminium recycling

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Hydro is beginning the expansion of its aluminium recycling plant in Rackwitz, Germany, which will result in an annual increase in production volume of 25,000 metric tons in the HyForge forged billet segment and significantly increase the use of end-of-life scrap.

The expansion of Hydro's aluminium recycling plant in Rackwitz will enable production of the innovative HyForge forging material, which will significantly increase the use of scrap from end-of-life aluminium products, ensuring a leading market position in sustainability performance, according to Hydro.

Profitable and sustainable

Eivind Kallevik, executive vice president for Hydro Aluminium Metal, says: "As more and more automotive customers are placing a premium on sustainability, we are taking this groundbreaking step at Rackwitz to produce HyForge products from aluminium. The result is smaller-diameter forged billets that have a world-class carbon footprint thanks to the use of a high proportion of end-of-life scrap. The business case shows that it is not only profitable, but also has an important sustainability dimension. It brings us closer to our ambitious recycling targets."

Significant reduction in footprint

The expansion in Rackwitz will make a significant contribution to Hydro's goal of doubling its use of aluminium scrap from around 250,000 tons to more than 500,000 tons per year by 2025 and increasing annual recycling EBITDA by NOK 0.7 to 1.1 billion by 2025. The use of end-of-life scrap significantly reduces the carbon footprint compared to virgin scrap or residues from processing as well as primary aluminium.

The new facility is expected to be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2023 with 20 new employees and will supply automotive customers with high-quality, smaller-diameter billets that can be forged directly into high-quality automotive components. The plant currently produces about 95,000 metric tons of extrusion billets per year. With the expansion, Rackwitz plans to produce an additional 25,000 tons of the HyForge product and increase recycling of scrap as an important raw material for new products at the plant. The investment is expected to amount to around 40 million euros.

Lightweight construction pushes use of aluminum

As the automotive industry has emphasized lightweight construction and sustainability for several decades, the use of aluminium has increased continuously. This is due to aluminium's light weight, excellent mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and processing capabilities. Aluminium plays an important role in reducing the weight of electric and hybrid vehicles, as lighter cars require less electricity and fewer or smaller batteries to travel the same distances.

Once the new facility is operational, Hydro will be able to offer the full portfolio of forged billets from large to small diameters, including scrap recycling. Forging stock is aluminium billets with a smaller diameter and higher surface quality than a conventional billet.

These forged billets can be forged into safety-critical automotive parts, such as wheel suspension parts, immediately after delivery from our foundries. This means that the number of machining steps from the foundry to the final automotive part is greatly reduced – resulting in cost efficiency and higher product quality compared with conventional processes.