Alcoa Dedicates Expanded Recycling Operations

Alcoa has dedicated a $24 million expansion of aluminum can recycling capacity at its Tennessee operations. The company says that the investment will help it increase recycling capability by nearly 50 percent and help secure more than 100 jobs at the facility.

From left, Roy Dirkmaat, Vice President and General Manager, Rigid Packaging Division; Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa President and CEO; Matthew Kisber, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development; Helmut Wieser, President, Alcoa Global Rolled Products; and Chris Jackson, Tennessee Operations Location Manager, mark the event by recycling the first cans.

"The aluminum can is the world's most efficient package, largely because it can be recycled infinitely," says Klaus Kleinfeld, president and CEO of Alcoa at the dedication. "Today, we are celebrating the successful completion of our expansion and another milestone in our drive to help increase recycling rates across North America. This investment is an example of our commitment to increasing recycling as well as to helping secure jobs here in the Tennessee community.”

The new Tennessee operations can reclamation facility includes a new crusher and delacquering furnace and supporting building enclosures, utilities and environmental systems. The improvements will help increase capacity using environmental and fuel-efficient technology as well as support future flexibility to process other scrap types.

Last year, Alcoa announced a commitment to work toward increasing recycling rates in North America to 75 percent by 2015. Increasing recycling capacity is part of the overall strategy to drive recycling rates.