Novelis declared that it will invest $15.8 million to build a continuous casting line at its manufacturing plant located in Pieve Emanuele, Italy. The new production line will recycle waste aluminum material into metal, which will be used to manufacture rolled aluminum sheet.
The new investment follows Novelis’ announcement made In May 2011 to expand the production capacity of recycled metal used in its global rolling operations from the current value of 34% to 80% by 2020. The Pieve Emanuele facility is an integrated casting, rolling and finishing operation. The aluminum coil and sheet made at the facility is supplied to end users and distributors in construction and other industrial markets.
The Pieve Emanuele facility also supplies aluminum coil to Novelis’ mill located in Bresso. In the mill, the aluminum coil is converted into textured, pre-painted and bright finished products for industrial, construction and transportation applications such as domestic appliances, architectural cladding and roofing. The deployment of continuous casting technology reduces logistics expenses to the company by bringing an important manufacturing step.
The painted aluminum scrap materials from the Italian operations of Novelis and other low-grade utilized aluminum materials from outside sources will be recycled into superior quality rolled aluminum products using the new equipment. As the production of aluminum products from recycled aluminum utilizes only 5% of the energy needed to produce aluminum from raw materials, the production method is eco-friendly.