The new recycling plant has been built next to Hydro’s existing aluminum extrusion plant, which the company describes as the most advanced of its kind in Europe, with six presses and extensive fabrication and surface treatment capabilities.
“Our most ambitious customers in key industries like automotive are pushing demand for low-carbon and recycled aluminum upwards,” said president and CEO Eivind Kallevik. “To serve this growing market and strengthen Hydro’s position as the leading provider of low-carbon and recycled aluminum solutions in Europe, we are set to grow our capacity for recycling towards 2030. This plant will strengthen Hydro’s capacity to provide our customers with advanced components in recycled aluminum,” he said.
“Our customers are not only asking for recycled and low-carbon aluminum; they also need us to recycle their process scrap so we can create closed loops,” said Paul Warton, executive VP of Hydro Extrusions.
“With our new and modern recycling facility in Hungary, we can now offer that. The project team has worked extremely hard since we announced the investment decision in December 2021. They have kept the highest quality and safety standards, so they should be proud,” Warton added.
“The recycling plant creates about 80 new direct jobs and was built in collaboration with national and international suppliers, resulting in a state-of-the-art facility that will be one of the largest and most modern in Europe,” said Frank Iepema, managing director of Hydro Extrusion Hungary Kft., and a former shortlisted candidate for the Budapest Business Journal’s Expat CEO of the year award.
“We are grateful for the support of HIPA [the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency], which provided a EUR 6 million cash grant and a EUR 17 mln tax grant. With this support, we could bring this strategic investment to Hungary, reduce imports, and expand exports,” Iepema added.
The Hungarian extrusion plant primarily serves automotive customers. The ability to offer “closed loops” helps carmakers and customers from other industries reduce the carbon footprint of their products. Closed-loop recycling continuously uses and reuses materials without any loss of quality while consuming less energy and resources. According to Hydro Extrusion Hungary, recycling aluminum requires only 5% of the energy originally needed to produce the metal.
The automotive components Hydro manufactures in Székesfehérvár include bumper beams and crash boxes, the structural elements of car bodies and battery housings. Alloy properties are crucial for these complex components, and the new cast house will enable Hydro to develop and optimize advanced alloys locally in Hungary.
Hydro Extrusion Hungary is also building a new extrusion press for automotive products, which is planned to start production in 2025.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of September 20, 2024.
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