Alutrade dramatically increases steel recycling capacity with help from Corus

Based in Oldbury, Alutrade handles the steel and aluminium collected through 24 local authorities’ kerbside collections schemes as well as a large number of can banks and bring sites.  When the volume of material collected dramatically increased during 2004, Alutrade approached Corus for assistance on more efficient machinery to speed up the recycling process.

Corus was able to provide Alutrade with a can baler which not only enabled the cans to be processed quicker, but also allowed the company to expand the can recycling side of its business even further.

As a result, the volume of steel cans recycled increased from 200 tonnes to 4,800 tonnes a year.  More recently, Alutrade has invested £1 million to further expand this area of the business with a new can sorting plant, to which Corus has supplied a can flattener.  This will allow now Alutrade to process an impressive 7,200 tonnes of steel packaging every year, which includes steel food and drinks cans, aerosols, lids and larger steel containers.