Hydro and PADNOS start aluminium scrap sorting operations in the U.S.
The joint venture Alusort is digging deeper in the aluminium scrap pile. Commercial operations of Hydro’s advanced scrap sorting technology have started at PADNOS’s sorting hub in Grandville, Michigan.
Only ten months ago, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro partnered with scrap management enterprise PADNOS to create Alusort LLC. Alusort is owned fifty-fifty by Hydro and PADNOS, and is located to supply Hydro’s Cassopolis and Henderson recycling plants with raw material for large-scale production of low-carbon Hydro CIRCAL, which is Hydro’s line of recycled aluminium with minimum 75 percent post-consumer scrap content.
The proprietary HySort technology, pioneered in Europe and now used by Alusort, allows more mixed and challenging types of post-consumer aluminium scrap to be sorted into fractions, before being returned to the recycling plants as feedstocks. This enables the aluminium recycling plants to achieve streamlined production of high quality, low-carbon aluminium.
“Aluminium is infinitely recyclable, but far too much of it ends up in landfills. The new sorting machine allows us to dig deeper in the pile and let more aluminium get a new lease on life. Advanced recycling is good for the environment, it’s good for the climate and it’s good for business,” says Duncan Pitchford, President of Hydro Aluminium Metals USA.
Access to post-consumer scrap is becoming increasingly important for aluminium recycling companies like Hydro in the U.S. The establishment of Alusort and the USD 4 million investment in cutting edge sorting technology answers the call for putting valuable materials from cars, buildings, electronic equipment or other consumer goods to good use in a growing domestic market rather than sending it to landfills or exporting it overseas.
PADNOS personnel are responsible for running daily operations at Alusort, with Hydro personnel overseeing activities and providing technical support. With its annual sorting capacity of 20,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap per year, the HySort machine is important for the production of high-quality, recycled alloys aimed at the U.S. automotive, building & construction, and other key markets.
“We at PADNOS are continually investing in new technologies that increase the accuracy and throughput of recycled materials. We are thrilled to begin commercial operations of the Hysort machinery in conjunction with Hydro. The ramp-up of production will make a real difference for American manufacturing and, we hope, encourage everyone in the recycling industry to continue innovating toward a more circular, sustainable economy,” says Sam Padnos, Manager of Nonferrous Trading at PADNOS.
