It is never quiet at Novelis. Lorries of used beverage can bales and other aluminium scrap come through the gates each day, and large aluminium ingots leave the site at the other end. Over the last 12 months, construction vehicles and teams of skilled builders, technicians, and engineers have joined the steady traffic in and out of the site. As many of you will know, Novelis committed to expanding its Warrington facility in 2023 - giving our 80‑year‑old industrial site a fresh phase of development.
The expansion is a significant undertaking. It will double our capacity to recycle used beverage cans from UK local authorities, as well as cans collected through current European and future UK deposit return schemes. In simple terms: billions of cans could be recycled right here in Warrington. Currently, 14.6 billion aluminium cans are put on the market each year, with predictions that will continue to rise. This comes at a time when demand for high‑recycled‑content, low‑carbon aluminium for packaging is growing rapidly across the UK and Europe. Thanks to innovations in can design and alloy development, around 1.5 million cans now go into one of our can ingots - around 500,000 more than a decade ago - meaning we can recycle millions more cans every day and increase the circularity of the aluminium can.
The Warrington expansion is currently in its second phase, extending from the back of the existing can recycling building. Once completed, it will house the latest state‑of‑the‑art shredding, sorting, de‑coating, and melting equipment, increasing both efficiency and recycling volumes. This new equipment will complement our existing lines and allow Novelis to recycle a wider range of can qualities, ultimately enabling us to recycle all of the UK’s cans domestically. Earlier this year, we commissioned phase one of the project: the new baghouses. Baghouses are the unsung heroes of aluminium recycling - their job is to ensure no aluminium dust escapes into the air. Their filtration system, made up of thousands of specialised “bags,” keeps the site safe and prevents emissions. To support the expansion, we have built three new baghouses to serve the entire site. The old unit has recently been removed to make way for phase two.
At a time when UK aluminium production and manufacturing have faced major challenges, the Warrington expansion brings welcome good news. Not only does it mean the UK can recycle all its used beverage cans domestically, but it also demonstrates that recycling matters and that demand for true circularity is growing. The innovation in aluminium can design (from material to processing) has helped to make this possible. Our investment also supports the wider aluminium industry efforts to retain valuable aluminium scrap within the UK and reduce reliance on imported material. This matters even more when global supply chains have become more fragile. By increasing our domestic recycling capacity and creating stronger demand for scrap, we can reduce the need to export aluminium scrap and support a more secure, consistent supply of material for UK aluminium producers.
We look forward to sharing with you when the next phase is complete.
To learn more about Novelis, see our website here, and if you want to learn more about our UK recycling capabilities, please get in contact with our Metal Procurement team: https://www.novelisrecycling.co.uk/
