Aurubis, one of the world’s leading suppliers of non-ferrous metals and one of the largest global copper recycling companies, has opened a new recycling plant in the US state of Georgia. Aurubis Richmond, established by the plant engineer SMS, is the first secondary foundry for multi-metal recycling in the United States.
“With Aurubis Richmond, we are positioning ourselves as a pioneer in multi-metal recycling in the USA,” explains Dr. Toralf Haag, managing director at Aurubis, in his address on 20 September at the new site in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia. The new plant is said to be the first large secondary smelter for processing complex recycling materials in the USA and is said to make strategically important metals available for the American market again – thus strengthening the independence of domestic supply chains. “Aurubis Richmond clearly shows how Aurubis combines profitable growth and sustainable business operations and is an impressive example of how we create value from raw materials in a responsible way for an innovative and sustainable world,” says Haag.
After the ground-breaking ceremony in June 2022, Aurubis made a strategic decision towards the end of 2022 to accelerate the expansion of the plant and invest a total of approximately 740 million €. The plant built by the SMS group is established with the newest technology, for example with a so-called “Top Blown Rotary Converter” (TBRC), a state of the art plant for processing complex recycling materials to win back copper, nickel, zinc, precious metals and metals from the platinum group. With the expansion phase, the plant will process up to 180,000 t of complex recycling materials, among them circuit boards, copper cables and further metallic products to produce blister copper. Aurubis wants to process the intermediate products further to produce industrial and precious metals, largely at its European foundry sites, but also directly in the US-American market.
The recycling site according to Aurubis conforms to the environmental standards determined by the state of Georgia and the federal authorities. This will ensure that the operation will be performed with the highest concern for water, air and soil. This emphasises the responsibility of Aurubis for protecting the environment and the climate, and the strategic goal of reaching climate-neutral production long before 2050.
With more than 230 jobs, Aurubis Richmond USA is said to be an important employer in the metropolitan region of Augusta and is said to make an important contribution to the circular economy. The company is said to deliver critical metals to key industries and thus be indispensable for making sustainable energy, e-mobility and battery production possible. The new plant is supposed to play an important role in the North American supply chain and according to the company strengthen the leading position of Aurubis in the area of multi-metal recycling.
Source: Aurubis
