
Brussels-based Umicore has announced plans to invest around €25 million (US$28 million) at its site in Olen, Belgium, to upgrade its cobalt refining and recycling plant.
The company says in a press release the investments also will be used to modernise a number of on-site facilities to further improve environmental health and safety performance.
According to Umicore, the upgraded refining facility will enable increased production of cobalt and also an increased ability to recycle cobalt and nickel-bearing residues. The company says the upgrade fits with its strategy to secure supply for the growth of its rechargeable battery materials business unit as well as for the cobalt and nickel activities in its cobalt and specialty materials business.
The plan also includes efficiency measures to further improve the competitiveness of the Olen plant, Umicore reports. Company plans indicate that by 2020 the site should be able to operate with 70 fewer people than it does today. The company says the reduction could be achieved with attrition rather than through layoffs.
Jan Vliegen, senior vice president of the cobalt and specialty materials business and site manager of the Olen plant comments, “This investment plan confirms our confidence in the future of the Olen site. We need to do all we can to ensure that Olen remains competitive in a challenging global market and I am convinced that these investments will enable us to achieve this.”
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The investment plans were presented to the employees at the Olen site in late September.
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