Hindalco invests in copper recycling in India

India-based Hindalco Industries Ltd. has placed an order for a large, integrated electronic scrap processing system from Metso Corp. to recover copper to be built near an existing copper production site in Gujarat, India.

Hindalco is part of the Aditya Birla Group, the same conglomerate that owns Atlanta-based aluminum producer and recycler Novelis Inc. The new copper recovery system will be situated near an existing Birla copper unit in Pakhajan, India.

According to Finland-based Metso, the greenfield facility, the first of its kind in India, is planned to produce 50,000 metric tons of low-carbon copper annually.

Equipment and technology ordered by Hindalco includes three Kaldo furnaces, an anode furnace, an anode casting shop, gas cleaning and other supporting equipment.

The new facility is expected to be built and commissioned within two years, and Metso also will deliver basic engineering for the plant.

“We are excited and honored to have been trusted with this order,” says Jyrki Makkonen, vice president of smelting at Metso. “Hindalco is the world’s second largest copper rod player and India’s largest copper manufacturer.

“The Planet Positive process to be delivered by Metso is energy efficient and allows high metal recoveries. It also conforms to tight emission controls with zero liquid discharge.”

Metso's says its technology “unlocks the value of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) using proven smelting, refining, hydrometallurgy and gas-cleaning technologies.”

In addition to Hindalco, Metso also currently it is collaborating with several customers on electronic waste recycling solutions in the testing, piloting, basic engineering and delivery phases.