GUTHRIE, Ky. — Executives from Novelis breaks ground on the aluminum producer’s new recycling center in Guthrie, a $365 million investment creating 140 well-paying jobs for Kentuckians.
Novelis broke ground on its new sheet ingot casting, shredding and recycling center, which will serve the automotive market with an annual capacity of 240,000 tons. The new facility will be located near the company’s existing automotive finishing plant on Old Railroad Lane in Guthrie.
Novelis leaders expect the project to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by more than 1 million tons each year and enable the company to grow its automotive recycling programs in North America. The use of recycled aluminum as input material requires only 5% of the energy used to make primary aluminum, in turn eliminating 95% of the carbon emissions associated with production.
The new facility was announced in January, just over two months after Gov. Beshear joined Novelis for the grand opening of the company’s automotive aluminum finishing plant in late October. The initial phase included a $300 million-plus investment creating over 150 jobs, including 100 Kentucky residents. In addition to its Todd County operations, Novelis maintains a 130-employee beverage can recycling facility in Berea that opened in 1989. The Madison County facility melts and casts ingots from 20% of the nation’s recycled beverage cans. Novelis also is an owner of Logan Aluminum, a joint venture with Tri-Arrows Aluminum Co., which is a top employer in Russellville.
“This groundbreaking marks a major milestone in our ongoing commitment to sustainability and supports our automotive customers’ carbon reduction targets as well,” said Tom Boney, executive vice president and president of Novelis North America. “The Commonwealth of Kentucky continues to be a great partner for us, and we are proud to build on the rich 40-year history of recycling aluminum in Kentucky. We look forward to deepening our relationships to ensure our facility has a lasting, beneficial impact in the region.”
Atlanta-based Novelis is the world’s largest aluminum recycler and the leading producer of flat-rolled aluminum, with 33 advanced rolling and recycling facilities in nine countries across North and South America, Europe and Asia. The company employs approximately 14,650 people worldwide. More than 225 vehicle models feature Novelis aluminum and the company’s products also are used to manufacture a variety of products including beverage cans, airplanes, computers, mobile phones, flexible tubing, insulating sleeves, license plates and architectural products, such as roller shutters, awnings, roofing, gutters, facades and sandwich panels.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in January preliminarily approved an incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide tax incentives based on the company’s investment annual job creation and wage targets. Additionally, KEDFA approved Novelis for tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.
In addition, Novelis can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. These include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives.
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