Resource Use

Novelis expands UK aluminium can recycling capacity

£69 million investment to double recycling capacity at Latchford plant by 2026.

Bales of aluminium used beverage cans being unloaded by a forklift truckAluminium reprocessor Novelis has announced a significant planned expansion of its capacity in the United Kingdom. The company is investing approximately £69 million to increase the recycling of used beverage cans (UBCs) at its Latchford plant near Warrington.

The investment will boost the facility's UBC recycling capacity by 85,000 tonnes per year, representing an increase of more than 100 per cent. This expansion is set to be commissioned in December 2026 and will enable the plant to recycle all of UBCs collected under the proposed UK deposit return scheme, which is currently scheduled to begin in October 2027.

Emilio Braghi, executive vice president of Novelis and president of Novelis Europe, commented: "This investment marks a major milestone in our ambitious program to further expand our recycling capacity. It underscores our strong commitment to sustainability as we continue to drive the transformation of the aluminium industry towards full circularity."

The project includes the construction of a new dross house, three new bag houses, and the installation of advanced shredding, sorting, de-coating, and melting technologies. These improvements will allow the plant to process a larger volume and new types of aluminium scrap while increasing operational efficiency.

According to Novelis, the expansion is expected to result in an annual CO2e reduction of more than 350,000 tonnes for Novelis Europe. The company reported an average of 63 per cent recycled content in its products in 2024 financial year and aims to increase this further.

Allan Sweeney, plant manager of Novelis Latchford, said: "Thanks to technological developments, we will be able to recycle all types of UBC scrap, fostering low-carbon and high-recycled content products that support not only our own ambitious sustainability goals, but those of our customers as well."

The expansion is expected to create a local, fully circular system for aluminium can recycling in the UK, potentially eliminating the need to export scrap aluminium. This aligns with Novelis' broader strategy to be a leading provider of low-carbon, sustainable aluminium solutions and to achieve a fully circular economy.