Metal waste recovery: Alucop inaugurates a new plant in Morocco
In Morocco, the Jordanian company Aluminium Products Company (Alucop), which specialises in metal processing, has set up a new plant in the province of Berrechid to boost its recycling operations in the Cherifian kingdom, particularly for copper and aluminium.
The Aluminium Products Company’s (Alucop) new copper and aluminium waste recovery plant was inaugurated on 30 April 2024. Berrechid was chosen as the site for this facility. This Moroccan province has an industrial zone covering 412 hectares, with 104 industrial units in various sectors, including electricity, agri-food, textiles, mechanics, cosmetics and agriculture. The recycling unit was inaugurated in the presence of the Moroccan Minister for Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, who believes that the implementation of this project reflects “a royal vision that aims to make the emergence of a new green economy a real source of growth and dynamism”.
The new plant built by Jordanian company Alucop, which specialises in metal processing, will produce copper anodes, with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year, 4,000 tonnes of copper wire rod per year, copper billets with an annual capacity of 2,500 tonnes, brass billets with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes and aluminium billets with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes over the same period, 12,000 tonnes of brass bars in 12 months, and aluminium ingots (20,000 tonnes per year).
An investment of €8.8 million
The sustainable management of this waste should make it possible to reduce metal waste pollution in this North African kingdom. While a large proportion of these metals are recovered in Morocco – recycling being more economical and environmentally friendly than direct extraction of the ores – strengthening this approach could remove any risk of environmental degradation and health risks for humans.
“The promotion of a circular economy and the development of waste recovery processes are essential if Morocco is to make a successful transition to a green economy that creates wealth and jobs, guarantees the Kingdom’s sovereignty over critical natural resources, and enhances the attractiveness of our regions”, said Minister Ryad Mezzour.
Setting up this recycling unit required an investment of 95 million Moroccan dirhams (8.8 million euros), and enabled the creation of 110 new direct jobs and the generation of additional sales of more than 700 million dirhams (nearly 65 million euros) for Alucop, founded in 1975 and headquartered in Dammam in Saudi Arabia, with an additional plant in Jeddah. The company is said to be the leading aluminium extrusion company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The Berrechid plant was built as part of the investment agreement signed between the Kingdom of Morocco and Alucop in November 2020, the fruit of the implementation of the “Ecosystems of the metallurgical and mechanical industries sector” performance contract, signed four years earlier, on 2 May 2016.
