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The contract was signed on Friday, & nbsp; 27. February, between the managing partners of WMR, Boris and Gregor Kurth, and Roland Scharf-Bergmann, head of recycling activities in Hydro's Primary Metal business, signed. Since the agreement is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities, the deal is expected to close in early April.

Patented technology

"The waste sorting technology used in the WMR plant is the most modern in the world and we are now the owner of the patent rights for this technology," explains Roland Scharf-Bergmann.

With the help of X-ray transmission and numerous other sorting technologies, the plant has the capacity to process 36,000 tons of aluminum per year.

The plant in Dormagen will supply Hydros recycling plants in Europe with shredded and sorted recyclates. The recyclates are made from old aluminum scrap.

Hydro's new plant for recycling used beverage cans, the construction of which is currently being prepared in Neuss, near Dormagen, uses several elements of the technology of the WMR system to optimize the recycling of used beverage cans in a closed cycle.

Sorting scrap is becoming increasingly important

According to Scharf-Bergmann, the efficient sorting of scrap in the aluminum industry will become increasingly important in the future.

“To be able to produce the alloys that our customers need, we have to have full control over the composition of the feedstocks with which we feed the furnaces. For this reason, the development and use of efficient scrap sorting technology is very important for our recycling business, ”he continues. "Only if we can sort the scrap efficiently can we fully exploit the positive recycling properties of aluminum," explains Scharf-Bergmann.

Hydro's goal is to be carbon neutral in 2020. Recycling is an important contribution to achieving this goal. In contrast to the production of primary aluminum, lower CO2 emissions occur with aluminum recycling, thanks to energy savings of up to 95%.

In 2014, Hydro recycled almost 1.1 million tons of aluminum, making it a key player in the global aluminum recycling industry.

Synergies with current organization

Since 2013, Hydro has been working with the former owners of WMR as part of a reworking contract in which several Hydros recycling plants are supplied with sorted, shredded scrap from various sources and products. "Our experience with the system has been very positive," reports Scharf-Bergmann.

Boris and Gregor Kurth will remain in a managerial role in Hydro's recycling division in order to further expand these activities. "We look forward to working for Hydro in the future and feel that the step to integrate WMR into the Group at this point in time is good and right for us and our employees," said Boris and Gregor Kurth as Managing Directors of WMR. < / p>

In addition to the shared use of several technological elements of the recently acquired shredder plant at Hydros new recycling plant for used beverage cans in Neuss, the Dormagen plant as close neighbors has both aluminum research and development in Bonn and Hydro's plants in Grevenbroich and Neuss. This will also further strengthen the organization for recycling Hydro in Germany. & Nbsp;

This text is machine translated. To view the original German text, click on DE on the top right of this window

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