Speira kicks off recycling furnace upgrades

German-Norwegian aluminium company Speira has upgraded the first of four recycling furnaces following an EUR 11 million investment.

The revamped furnace at its Grevenbroich facility in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, can hold up to 25 tonnes and is used for recycling low grades. The update on ‘Bernhard’, named after a former employee, was unveiled at a ceremony led by Speira CEO Einar Glomnes who said he took a ‘holistic’ view of the company’s contribution to a functioning circular economy.

Maximum

‘We don’t just look at the pure, easy-to-recycle scraps but also at the more difficult lower grades and by-products. Wherever aluminium is in it, we want to get the maximum out of it and put it back into the cycle. With this latest, most efficient and environmentally friendly technology, we can now recover even the smallest quantities that were previously lost for recycling.’

The decision to invest in the four furnaces was taken in July 2024. The overall project is on schedule for the first furnace at Töging to start production in October 2025, the second furnace at Grevenbroich in May 2026 and the second furnace at Töging in October 2026.

Safer units

Speira’s investment of around EUR 11 million includes charging machines, suction hoods, thermal afterburners, piping and other infrastructure. Work on the new units will be easier and safer for employees: the individual components are easily accessible for maintenance, the molten metal can be tapped with the furnace doors closed, and wheel loader and forklift traffic in front of the furnaces is minimised thanks to the charging machines.