ABU DHABI, UAE – Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) on Tuesday announced the start of construction of the country’s largest aluminum recycling plant.
The state-of-the-art facility, with an annual production capacity of 170,000 tonnes, is being built adjacent to EGA’s existing smelter in Al Taweelah.
The plant will utilize a combination of post-consumer aluminum scrap, such as used window frames and pre-consumer aluminum scrap generated from extrusion production, to produce low-carbon, high-quality premium aluminum billets.
These billets will serve as a sustainable feedstock for various manufacturing applications, catering to both local and international markets under the product name RevivAL.
Completion of the plant is anticipated within the next three years, positioning EGA as the UAE’s leading consumer of aluminum scrap.
Most of the aluminum scrap generated in the UAE is currently exported for processing outside the country, and is lost to the national economy.
The global demand for recycled aluminum is projected to experience significant growth, rising from approximately 27 million tonnes per year in 2022 to an estimated 57 million tonnes per year by 2040.
Recycled aluminum is poised to account for a substantial portion of global supply growth, contributing around 60 percent between now and 2030 and 70 percent between 2030 and 2040.
Aluminum is a highly recyclable material, offering the remarkable advantage of being infinitely recyclable.
The recycling process for aluminum requires 95 percent less energy compared to the production of primary aluminum, resulting in a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said, “Aluminum recycling is key to our metal achieving its enormous potential to contribute to decarbonization while improving global living standards.”
He said, “This makes recycling the biggest global growth opportunity for our industry and for EGA.”
He added, “Our construction of a major aluminum recycling plant will provide low carbon product options for our local and global customers while contributing to the national Operation 300bn industrial growth strategy.”
EGA was the first company to produce aluminum commercially using solar power, which is marketed under the product name CelestiAL, starting in 2021.
Last year, EGA produced 57 thousand tonnes of CelestiAL.