Hydro breaks ground

Hydro breaks ground on its state-of-the-art aluminium recycling plant in Cassopolis, MI.

When completed, the plant will provide 70 new, local jobs, support automotive innovation and be a key stepping-stone in Hydro’s ambition of doubling recycling of post-consumer aluminium by 2025.

Hydro President & CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim marked the start of construction on Hydro’s new aluminium recycling plant today in Cassopolis, MI. The plant will produce 120,000 metric tonnes (265 million pounds) of aluminium extrusion ingot per year and create approximately 70 local jobs. Hydro will invest an estimated 150 million dollars to complete the project. Applications for the aluminium produced in Cassopolis will include critical automotive applications as well as other transportation uses, consumer and building system applications.

“Aluminium is a key enabler in the green transition. Recycling aluminium scrap reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions whilst promoting a more circular economy. Our plant in Cassopolis will be an example of sustainability and profitability going hand in hand,” says Hilde Merete Aasheim, President and CEO of Hydro.

Hydro is positioning itself to become the leading producer of low-carbon, recycled aluminium in North America. Recycling scrap aluminium requires only 5 % of the energy used to produce primary aluminium, saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Following completion of the Cassopolis plant, Hydro will have the ability to produce over one million metric tonnes of recycling-based aluminium billet each year in the U.S., further strengthening its position as the largest producer of billet in the country.

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