On Monday, Emirates Global Aluminium announced the successful operation of the main smelting furnace at its aluminum recycling plant located in the Tawila area, marking a significant milestone in the project’s development.
The construction of the plant is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
With an annual production capacity of 185,000 tons, the aluminum recycling facility in Tawila will be the largest of its kind in the UAE.
The plant will process aluminum scrap both before and after consumption, mixing it with primary aluminum to produce high-quality, low-carbon alloys and ingots. Emirates Global Aluminium will market the high-quality recycled aluminum under the brand name “RevivAL.”
New Product
Abdul Nasser bin Kalban, CEO of Emirates Global Aluminium, stated: “Aluminum is a fundamental material that helps build more sustainable communities due to its exceptional recyclability.
We have made significant progress in this project, which will transform aluminum scrap generated from manufacturing activities in the UAE and abroad into new high-quality, low-carbon aluminum products that meet modern societal needs.”
Facilities
The company produces recycled aluminum alloys and ingots using primary aluminum produced from solar energy, marketed under the name (CelestiAL-R), as well as primary aluminum derived from nuclear energy, branded as (MinimAL-R).
Sorting preparations for scrap at the aluminum recycling facility in Tawila began in December, featuring a sorting system capable of processing and classifying up to 150,000 tons of aluminum waste annually using magnetic, mechanical, and X-ray separation technologies.
The recycling plant in Tawila includes a smelting furnace with a yearly capacity of 90,000 tons operating at approximately 750 degrees Celsius.
The furnace utilizes heat recovery units, enhancing energy efficiency. The molten recycled metal is transferred to two storage furnaces, each with a capacity of 90 tons, where it is blended with primary aluminum from Emirates Global Aluminium’s smelter to adjust the chemical composition of the resulting metal.
Construction activities are ongoing at the site to complete casting and blending stations, paving the way for the production of final recycled aluminum products.
The recycling process for aluminum consumes 95% less energy compared to that used for producing primary aluminum, resulting in minimal greenhouse gas emissions. It is anticipated that global demand for recycled aluminum will double by 2040.
Emirates Global Aluminium continues to expand its aluminum recycling operations, having acquired the European company Lishmetall, specializing in alloy production, in 2024.
Additionally, it has announced an expansion project to increase the recycling capacity at the Lishmetall smelter by over six times by constructing a second facility near the current site in Hanover, which will enhance the scrap sorting capacity by approximately 110,000 tons annually and smelting and casting capacities by 153,000 tons annually.
The new facility is expected to commence production in 2028. Furthermore, the company acquired 80% of Spectro Alloys in the United States in 2024, completing the first phase of the plant’s expansion in 2025.
The second phase is expected to be completed by 2027, boosting the production capacity of Spectro Alloys, a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium, to 200,000 tons annually.