EGA to build recycling facility in the UAE

Emirates Global Aluminium plans to build a 150,000-tpy recycling facility, the company’s first and set to be the largest in the UAE.

The recycling facility will process post-consumer aluminium scrap, such as used window frames, and pre-consumer aluminium scrap from extrusion production into aluminium billets. The scrap material 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. Feasibility studies for the project are underway, and production ramp-up 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 % of global aluminium supply by 2050.

CEO Abdulnasser Bin Kalban said: “End users of aluminium – from auto manufacturers to beverage makers – are increasingly committing to net zero in response to the expectations of society. Our first recycling facility is one of the steps we plan to take to provide low carbon metal for our customers around the world. “This facility will also strengthen EGA’s position as global leader in billet production, growing our capacity from some 1.15m tpy to some 1.3m tonnes amid ever-increasing demand from our customers for this value-added product.”

The International Aluminium Institute forecasts that global aluminium demand will rise by 50 to 80 % by 2050 driven by global commitments to reduce emissions while furthering economic growth.