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Oct 31, 2024

Novelis sets new recycled content goal

Novelis used about 2.3 million metric tons of recycled aluminum across its operations in 2024. | Pim Pic/Shutterstock Novelis set a new recycled content goal across its operations of 75% by 2030 – a

Novelis used about 2.3 million metric tons of recycled aluminum across its operations in 2024. | Pim Pic/Shutterstock

Novelis set a new recycled content goal across its operations of 75% by 2030 – a percentage that its rolled beverage sheet already exceeds.

The company announced the goals in its 2024 sustainability report, which also stated that the company used an average of 63% recycled content in its aluminum rolled product, or more than 2.3 million metric tons of aluminum. That tonnage included 82 billion used beverage cans.

“While this new goal is ambitious, we believe our historical success demonstrates our ability to accomplish lofty goals,” Novelis wrote in the report. “The average recycled content of our most extensive product line – our beverage packaging sheet – already exceeds 80%.”

Novelis engineers are working with other members of the European Aluminum Packaging Group to create a single-alloy beverage can design that can handle more than 90% recycled content, the report added. Today, beverage can bodies and ends are made of two different aluminum alloys, “adding to the complexity and challenges of recycling,” according to the report.

In the U.S., Novelis is “actively supporting” two bipartisan, federal recycling bills, it added: the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act.

“We believe these bills, if enacted, will help advance the recycling of aluminum and other materials and could serve as a catalyst for additional policies at the federal and state levels that promote recycling and expand the circular economy for aluminum,” the company said.

Novelis is also involved in advocating for stronger recycling legislation and systems in a handful of U.S. states, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Texas and Washington.

The company reduced the amount of material it sent to landfill by 8.8% from a 2020 baseline, according to the report. It did so by introducing various new programs, including installing a vacuum belt filter onto lines that remove paint from UBCs before they’re shredded at its Nachterstedt, Germany, facility. The company estimated that the move will reduce about 1,000 metric tons of material going to landfill each year.

Between 2012 and 2022, Novelis invested about $700 million in recycling capacity and capabilities. It has additional investments underway to increase recycling capacity at four of its locations: Bay Minette, Alabama; Guthrie, Kentucky; Latchford, United Kingdom; and Ulsan, South Korea.

“Aluminum’s ability to meet both functionality and sustainability requirements is enabling new possibilities for the industries we serve,” said Steve Fisher, president and CEO. “As the demand for aluminum grows, more sustainably sourced and manufactured products become part of the circular economy. To bring our solutions to an even greater scale, we are evolving our approach in order to accelerate our sustainability progress.”

The company this year made moves toward opening public trading of shares.