Speira commissions furnace in Germany

The Recycling Services business unit of Germany-based Speira GmbH has started operating a new aluminum recycling furnace at its facility in Grevenbroich, Germany.

The company says the 11 million euros ($12.6 million) investment will allow it to recover aluminum from even the most contaminated scrap, adding that the new furnace is the first of four it will install in Grevenbroich and Töging, Germany.

The new furnace has been named Bernhard in a move Speira says honors a colleague who died at an early age and who previously was involved in 1999 in the construction and commissioning of the furnace that has now been replaced.

“Speira’s investment is a strong commitment to Grevenbroich as a business location and a real signal for the future,” Mayor Grevenbroich Klaus Krützen says. “The fact that recycling, innovation and environmental protection are so consistently combined here shows the contribution our industry can make to structural change and sustainable value creation."

The new tiltable rotary furnace can melt up to 25 metric tons of material in one batch, according to Speira, including lower grades, or what the firm calls "heavily contaminated scrap" and dross produced during the melting process.

“We take a holistic view of our contribution to a functioning circular economy, that’s why we don’t just look at the pure, easy-to-recycle scraps, but also at the more difficult lower grades and byproducts,” Speira CEO Einar Glomnes says. “With this latest, most efficient and environmentally friendly technology, we can now recover even the smallest quantities that were previously lost for recycling."

Speira says the decision to invest in the four furnaces was made in July 2024 and says the overall project is on schedule. The first furnace in Töging is expected to start production in October, the second furnace in Grevenbroich in May 2026 and the second furnace in Töging in October 2026.

“Speira’s major investments in the Rheinwerk in Neuss and the plant here in Grevenbroich are a strong signal for our business location,” says Hans-Jürgen Petrauschke, the administrator of a district that includes Grevenbroich. “These investments make it clear that the aluminium industry will continue to be a successful part of the economy at the Rhine and thr Erft in the future."