EGA Al-Taweelah Recycling Plant Expands Low-Carbon Aluminium Capacity

EGA

EGA Al-Taweelah recycling plant has started operations in Abu Dhabi, adding 185,000 t/yr of low-carbon recycled aluminium capacity after a delay caused by an Iranian missile strike in March.

EGA Al-Taweelah recycling plant will process both pre-consumer factory scrap and post-consumer scrap, strengthening the company's ability to supply lower-emissions aluminium to customers seeking higher recycled content.

EGA Al-Taweelah recycling plant also marks another step in Emirates Global Aluminium's strategy to expand beyond primary smelting into secondary aluminium and circular materials.

The facility began charging its first melting furnace in January. Recycled cast metal production resumed in early May after the March incident, with full ramp-up expected to take up to six months depending on scrap availability.

Scrap Availability Becomes Key to Ramp-Up

The new plant's ability to reach full production will depend heavily on securing enough suitable aluminium scrap.

This is important because recycled aluminium requires far less energy than primary smelting, making scrap increasingly valuable as producers seek to lower emissions intensity.

Pre-consumer scrap provides relatively clean and consistent feedstock, while post-consumer material requires more sorting and processing but offers greater circularity benefits.

As more aluminium producers increase recycling capacity, competition for high-quality scrap is likely to intensify.

That could raise regional scrap prices and encourage greater investment in collection, sorting and preprocessing infrastructure across the Middle East.

For EGA, integrating recycled aluminium with its existing primary metal business could also provide greater flexibility in meeting customer specifications for carbon intensity and recycled content.

EGA Builds a Global Secondary Aluminium Platform

The Al-Taweelah project forms part of a much broader expansion in aluminium recycling.

EGA acquired Germany-based Leichtmetalle in 2024 and later announced plans to increase its capacity by more than six times.

The company also bought a majority stake in US secondary aluminium producer Spectro Alloys, where planned expansions will increase capacity to more than 200,000 t/yr of secondary ingot and billet from 110,000 t/yr previously.

In April, EGA also announced the acquisition of an 80% stake in Italian aluminium recycler Eco Green.

These investments show that EGA is building a multi-region secondary aluminium network spanning the Middle East, Europe and North America.

The strategy reduces reliance on primary smelting growth alone and positions the company to capture rising demand for recycled and lower-carbon aluminium.

The Metalnomist Commentary

EGA is turning recycling into a second core growth platform alongside primary aluminium. The strategic bottleneck will increasingly be scrap access, as more producers compete for the same low-carbon feedstock.