Metalico Aluminum Recovery, Inc. has been issued an air permit for its new aluminum smelting plant in the Syracuse area, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the company’s planned expansion in Central New York.
Metalico Aluminum makes processed aluminum products, principally deoxidizing cones and shot used in the manufacture of steel. Production at the new facility is scheduled to begin this spring. When fully operational, the plant will have a production capacity of up to 6 million pounds per month.
The company started producing aluminum deox at a pilot plant in leased space in Lackawanna, NY in 2003. That plant generated approximately 900,000 pounds of product per month. With the purchase of its site in Dewitt, NY last year, Metalico Aluminum announced plans to relocate and expand its operations after extensive renovations.
The new plant, when completed, will house a new 180,000 pound/28,000,000 BTU reverberatory furnace, a 96-inch diameter turnings dryer, a 300-horsepower ring mill turnings crusher, three cone casting lines and a shot line.
The air permit, issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Services, also allows for a second reverberatory furnace, a sweat furnace and a rotary furnace to be added over the next few years, which could take Metalico Aluminum’s overall aluminum capacity to more than 10,000,000 pounds of processed aluminum per month.
The expanded facility hopes to reach 6 million pounds by next spring.
The company also co-located a scrap metal recycling yard on the site.