Novelis: Industrial Scale use of Hydrogen for Recycling

Novelis, a leading producer and recycler of aluminium, has successfully tested the use of hydrogen fuel to power a recycling furnace at its Latchford plant in Warrington, UK. 

The tests, conducted as part of a UK government decarbonisation programme, demonstrated the potential for hydrogen to revolutionise the aluminium recycling process.

By replacing natural gas with hydrogen in the melting furnace, Novelis has shown that CO₂e emissions can be reduced by up to 90%. 

“Exploring renewable energy sources such as hydrogen, making first mover investments and reducing energy intensity are part of our 3x30 vision to advance aluminium as the material of choice with circular solutions”, says Emilio Braghi, Executive Vice President at Novelis Inc. and President at Novelis Europe.

“With the significant expansion of our local recycling capacity, we are transforming the Latchford site into a prototype for high-recycled content and decarbonized aluminium production.”

About Novelis’ hydrogen project

Novelis’ hydrogen tests were carried out in collaboration with Progressive Energy as part of a government decarbonisation programme. 

It required significant technical upgrades, including the installation of new burners, regenerators and furnace lining material. 

Multiple test series were conducted to evaluate the impact of varying hydrogen-natural gas blends (30%-100%) on existing infrastructure and equipment compatibility.

During the trial, several hundred tonnes of 3000 series scrap aluminium alloy were successfully remelted and cast into sheet ingots. 

The team meticulously measured all relevant parameters to assess any impacts on the product, process, operating environment and environmental emissions.

The successful hydrogen trial is transforming the Latchford site into a prototype for high-recycled content and decarbonised aluminium production. 

This aligns with Novelis' broader strategy to increase recycled content to 75% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner.

Downstream processing, including rolling and finishing, will be completed at other Novelis plants in Europe to establish the end-to-end parameters of a hydrogen-based recycled alloy production process. 

“The use of hydrogen is not common in the aluminium industry today and we are very proud to be one of the pioneers to have tested this new fuel at an industrial scale and in a real-world environment,” says Allan Sweeney, Plant Manager at Novelis Latchford. 

“The results from Latchford will drive further research into the potential deployment of hydrogen in our recycling operations worldwide.”

The future for Novelis Latchford

In July 2024, Novelis announced a US$90m investment to double the recycling capacity for used beverage cans at its Latchford facility. 

This investment hopes to double its beverage can recycling capacity by 85 kilotonnes per year. 

It will also decrease Novelis Europe’s CO₂e by more than 350,000 tonnes annually. 

Novelis expects the project to begin commissioning in December 2026. 

The UK government’s decarbonisation programme

This hydrogen pilot project is part of the government’s Industrial Fuel Switching Competition programme supported by a £4.6m (US$5.8m) grant as part of the £1bn (US$1.26bn) Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.

It is also part of the regional HyNet project that aims to unlock a low carbon future in the north west of the UK. 

HyNet will reduce the amount of CO₂ emitted by the region by a quarter starting in the 2020s through carbon capture and storage and the use of locally produced low carbon hydrogen power. 

Novelis joined the HyNet project as a partner in 2017 and is supporting the development of its regional infrastructure project. 

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