Atlanta-based Novelis announced plans to invest $2.5 billion to build a new aluminum recycling and production facility in Alabama. The plant will be built in Bay Minette, just north of Mobile, and is expected to create 1,000 new jobs, the company said in a release. When it opens in mid-2025, the facility will be capable of manufacturing 600,000 tons of aluminum material each year. More than half of the material produced will be rolled sheets of aluminum, the company said, which is used by beverage makers like Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch InBev to make cans. The plant will also produce aluminum for auto manufacturers to fabricate vehicle body parts.
Recycled aluminum will be the plant’s primary feedstock and it will aim to run as a zero-waste facility. It will also be powered primarily by renewable energy and will utilize recycled water, the company said. The facility will be the first fully integrated aluminum mill built in the U.S. in 40 years, the company said, with aluminum recycling, rolling and finishing capabilities all under one roof. Once the plant is operational, Novelis says it will boost its annual global recycling capacity by more than 20% to 90 billion cans.