New UAE aluminium recycling plant slated to open by 2024

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) plans to build a 150,000 tonne-per-year aluminium recycling facility, the company’s first and set to be the largest in the UAE.

EGA says the facility will process post-consumer aluminium scrap such as used window frames, as well as pre-consumer scrap from extrusion production, into low-carbon, high quality aluminium billets.

Aluminium scrap for the recycling facility will mainly be sourced from the UAE and the wider region.

More than half the aluminium scrap generated in the GCC is currently either disposed of or exported.

In a statement, EGA said feasibility studies for the project are underway and production could begin as early as 2024.

Production of aluminium through recycling requires a fraction of the energy consumed to produce new primary aluminium, with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of production as a result.

The International Aluminium Institute forecasts that recycled aluminium will account for up to 60 per cent of global supply by 2050, the statement pointed out.

"End users of aluminium – from auto manufacturers to beverage makers – are increasingly committing to net zero in response to the expectations of society," said Abdulnasser bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA.

EGA intends to market recycled aluminium under the product name 'EternAL'.

The company expects the facility to strengthen its position as global leader in billet production, growing capacity from around 1.15 million tonnes per year to some 1.3 million tonnes amid ever-increasing demand from our customers for this value-added product.

"At home in the UAE, it will enable EGA to make a further contribution to both the achievement of Operation 300bn and the success of the InCountry Value programme, creating opportunities in construction and through the replacement of some imported raw materials with recyclable resources already in the UAE," added bin Kalban.