Processing of aluminium scrap up to 185 000 t/a

The relevance of this project goes beyond the plant itself. When an industrial player of this scale invests in recycling, it sends a clear signal: secondary aluminium is becoming an increasingly strategic part of the production model, helping the industry move towards more sustainable, efficient and competitive ways of working.

For EGA, recycling is now one of the company’s key growth drivers. The Al Taweelah plant is part of a broader strategy to develop a global secondary aluminium platform, with investments and acquisitions across the United Arab Emirates, Europe and the United States. As stated by Her Excellency Dr Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment: “Recycling is the cornerstone of the UAE Circular Economy Policy, which aims to transform the nation into a global hub for green development. This means moving from linear production and consumption models to circular ones, improving resource efficiency and minimising waste. Aluminium represents one of the greatest opportunities to drive this transition.”

It is within this context that the design challenge behind the plant took shape: handling highly variable materials, ensuring production continuity and delivering an output consistent with the requirements of large-scale industrial production.

A plant designed to handle complexity
and variability

For EGA, a company historically focused on primary aluminium production, integrating secondary aluminium is not simply about adding a new business activity. It means broadening its industrial model and extending the value of aluminium across its entire life cycle.

The project also has strategic importance for the region. Until now, much of the aluminium scrap generated in the United Arab Emirates was exported abroad for processing. The new facility makes it possible to keep this stage of the value chain within the country, turning material once destined for export into a local resource.

The input material, mainly sourced from the Middle East, is highly heterogeneous and includes loose profiles, high-density bales transported by container, casings, aluminium wheels and industrial scrap. Managing this variability was one of the key aspects of the project. It was not just about building a high-capacity plant, but about designing a line capable of adapting to different operating conditions while maintaining continuity, control and consistent output quality.

The in-line layout was developed to keep material flows continuous, reduce inefficiencies and maintain consistent performance even when handling variable input materials. The centralised control system provides a complete view of the entire process, allowing the customer to monitor and optimise the main operating stages.

The result is a plant that does more than reduce or separate scrap: it prepares the material specifically for the next stage, the melting process. This is where the concept of “ready to furnace” becomes concrete. The plant contributes to the production of low-carbon billets and T-bars marketed by EGA under the RevivAL brand, integrating scrap into an industrial value chain that generates new value from post-consumer materials and industrial scrap.

As part of the project, Panizzolo also supported the EGA team during start-up and operational preparation. Dedicated training was a key part of this work: not only to transfer technical knowledge, but also to enable the customer to manage the plant with continuity, safety and efficiency.

Integrated technologies for furnace-ready material

The plant designed for EGA is built around a multi-step process, with each stage engineered to maximise efficiency while delivering consistent output quality.

The first stage is handled by the Kraken pre-shredder, whose specially designed hooks tear apart even the toughest and most compact materials, including high-density aluminium bales.

The material is then processed by the Mega 735 hammer mill, featuring soundproofing and an initial magnetic separation stage. Here, the scrap is prepared for the downstream separation process, where material consistency and stable flow are essential to achieving high-quality results.

One of the key elements of the process is the separation section, developed vertically up to 17 m. Purpose-designed for this project, it required extensive engineering to efficiently integrate screening systems, Eddy Current separators and X-ray sorting technology.  The vertical configuration was chosen not only to optimise the plant layout, but also to improve material flow and maximise separation efficiency. At the same time, the complexity of the structure required particular attention to safety, accessibility and maintenance, resulting in dedicated design solutions that enable safe access, faster servicing and uninterrupted operation.

Once separated, each material fraction is conveyed to dedicated collection areas equipped with automatic weighing systems integrated with the plant control software. This allows operators to monitor not only the volumes processed in real time, but also the value generated by each output stream.

The entire plant is managed from a centralised control room, providing full supervision of every stage of the process. Four reversible storage areas complete the system, ensuring continuous operation even under high processing volumes.

Reliable performance at industrial scale

After months of engineering, manufacturing and installation, the performance tests marked the moment when the entire project was put to the test under real operating conditions. More than a simple performance check, they were the final validation of the plant’s ability to deliver exactly what it had been designed to achieve.

Developed to support an annual processing capacity of up to 185 000 t, the line confirmed a throughput fully aligned with the parameters agreed with the customer during the initial project phase. This is a particularly significant result considering the highly heterogeneous nature of the input material, where process stability and consistent output quality are essential to producing furnace-ready material.

The tests demonstrated the plant’s value not only in terms of productivity, but also through its reliability and operational stability.

The design and organisational challenge

While the project relied on proven technologies from a technical standpoint, its true complexity emerged in the overall management. It required constant coordination between engineering, suppliers, international logistics and on-site operations. The scale of the project gives a clear sense of this complexity: the construction of the plant involved around 4 million working hours in total.

As Federico Giraldo, the Panizzolo Project Manager who directly followed the project, explains: “This was not simply about building a plant. It was about making every phase work together: engineering, suppliers, international logistics and on-site activities. The operating context made the challenge even more demanding, with high temperatures, the significant scale of the line and very rigorous management of all activities. The goal was to deliver an integrated system capable of ensuring operational continuity and stable performance from start-up.

Installation was one of the most delicate stages of the project. Working in a challenging environment, far from the main logistics hubs and under extreme climate conditions, required precise planning and constant coordination of people, equipment and activities, always in full compliance with safety standards.

This was combined with the organisational complexity of working with the customer. Collaborating with Emirates Global Aluminium means engaging with a highly structured organisation, made up of multiple departments, professionals from international backgrounds and particularly detailed internal procedures. In a context like this, technical expertise is essential, but it is not enough. Method, adaptability, communication and continuity in project management are just as important.”

A result that opens up new perspectives

Projects of this kind do not end with the delivery of the plant. They mark a real step forward in the way complex projects are approached, strengthening a working method that can be applied to large-scale, international and highly demanding production environments.

“In a plant like EGA’s, it is not enough for each component to perform correctly,” comments Mauro Panizzolo, the company’s CEO. “The result depends on the ability of the entire line to operate as a single system, maintaining continuity between engineering, installation, start-up and operational management. This collaboration has allowed us to further strengthen this approach, showing how technologies, people and activities can come together in a stable and efficient line, aligned with the customer’s production objectives. At the same time, the project is already opening up new perspectives for us: we are in contact with other companies interested in developing similar plants, confirming that large-scale recycling is becoming an increasingly concrete direction for the industry.

For us, EGA is therefore a benchmark not only for the scale of the plant, but also for what the project represents: aluminium recycling is becoming firmly integrated into major industrial processes, with increasingly demanding requirements in terms of quality, continuity and integration. It is in this direction that we will continue to develop technologies and expertise, turning the complexity of scrap into value and supporting new operators in the development of increasingly structured projects."