A year after the official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, Aurubis's new recycling plant in the United States began production yesterday. The multimetal facility, located in Richmond County Georgia, recovers strategic metals such as copper, nickel, tin and precious metals from complex recycling materials. These are central to the expansion of energy infrastructure, data centres, artificial intelligence applications as well as high-tech production and the defence industry, the Hamburg-based company said. In total, Aurubis is investing around €740m in the US project, creating more than 240 jobs.
"With Aurubis Richmond, we are the frontrunner in multimetal recycling and processing in the US – a position that we already hold in Europe," said CEO Toralf Haag. The US market offered "appealing prospects" for the group due to the high availability of recycling materials and good local conditions, he added.
Located in the City of Augusta, the seat of Richmond County, the new recycling facility can currently process around 90,000 tonnes of complex recycling materials per year, including printed circuit boards, copper cables and other metal-bearing products. Once the second construction phase is completed in 2026, capacity will double to 180,000 tonnes a year. Aurubis Richmond is designed as a flexible "one-stop shop" and will thus be supplied with a wide range of metal-bearing recycling materials from US suppliers.
The German copper group points to the global increase in demand for strategic metals: the US industry alone currently requires around 1.8 million tonnes of copper a year, and demand is expected to grow by almost 30 per cent over the next five years. According to Aurubis, around half of the metallic raw materials used by US manufacturers is imported. Multimetal recycling could quickly close this gap. As the first and most technologically advanced secondary smelter, Aurubis Richmond strengthens the independence of US supply chains by processing complex recycling materials, said the company
Numerous high-ranking political and industry attended the "first melt" celebration. US Representative Rick W. Allen (R), who represents Georgia's twelfth district described Aurubis Richmond "strategic" for the region, "that reinforces America’s ability to supply itself with the metals that help strengthen our national security, our infrastructure, and our technology leadership." Georgia governor Brian P. Kemp said in a video message the plant was "a significant employer for Georgia and plays a major role in the American multimetal supply chain."
