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Wise Metals cuts ribbon for expanded recycling facility

Wise Metals Group, Muscle Shoals, Ala., has opened a 74-acre recycling complex, named Element 13, which it says is the largest single-use beverage can melting facility in the world.

The $25 million plant contains a furnace that can process 250,000 lbs. of aluminum, a delaquering kiln, and a can shredding system that can shred 80,000 lbs./hr. The expansion increases the company's overall melting capacity by 27 percent and used beverage can melting capacity by 55 percent.

The facility, which created 43 new jobs, can process 14.6 billion aluminum cans each year.

Alabama Reclamation Operations, a division of Wise Metals Group, has been renamed Element 13 for aluminum, the 13th element in the periodic table. This division reclaims used beverage containers and remelts them for use by Wise Alloys in the production of new aluminum sheet stock. That sheet stock is sold to beverage and food companies for use in the production of new aluminum cans and containers.