Wieland to boost melting capacity in Germany

Germany-based red metals producer Wieland says it intends to invest 80 million euros ($79.7 million) in a copper scrap melt shop facility to be located at its existing Vöhringen, Germany, facility.

The addition of approximately 80,000 metric tons of annual recycling capacity “represents a significant next step in the company’s strategy to expand its recycling capabilities worldwide,” the firm says.

The recycling capacity investment joins one in Shelbyville, Kentucky, that broke ground this June and that has an expected startup date before the end of 2023.

When the Vöhringen capacity comes online in 2025, Wieland says its “rate of recycled content will reach an average of 80 percent worldwide.”

“The new facility marks the next important milestone on our global sustainability roadmap and brings us closer to reaching our ambitious goals in the area of decarbonization and in enabling a truly circular economy," Wieland CEO Erwin Mayr says. "Furthermore, the new recycling facility will create additional future-oriented jobs for Vöhringen, underlining the importance of our globally largest production site with more than 2,000 employees.”

The firm says that by implementing new technology and electrifying process steps that are typically gas-fired, Wieland will be able to further reduce its product carbon footprint, and “customers will benefit from products with the highest rate of recycled content and the lowest carbon footprint in the industry.”

Wieland, founded in 1820, describes itself as one of the world’s leading suppliers of semifinished copper and copper alloy products, with its metal used in the automotive, electronics, refrigeration, air conditioning and other industries.