Latem Aluminum has just added a new aluminum smelting furnace to its plant in Villadangos del Páramo (León) that allows it to double its production capacity in order to continue with its growth and expansion plan in its proposal for a circular economy around recycling of aluminum. From the company they highlighted that it is "a great step" that allows them to establish themselves as "a benchmark in the green aluminum market.

The incorporated equipment, as explained by those responsible for Latem Aluminum in a statement, is a state-of-the-art rotary furnace that adapts to the company's demands by developing a totally "sustainable" work and that "remarkably" reduces the generation of usual waste in the processes they carry out.

The furnace has a capacity of up to 65 tons and is capable of reaching a melting rate of 15 tons per hour. It is a tilting rotary kiln that is capable of reducing the amount of salt required in the process by 50% compared to other kilns. For fusion, it uses oxycombustion and the use of green hydrogen as fuel in this equipment is also planned in the near future. It will also have a state-of-the-art smoke collection system that reduces emissions into the atmosphere.

In this way, the arrival of the furnace at the Villadangos plant represents "the consolidation of a project that continues to advance" both in the Leonese factory and in the plant that is being built in the Zamora town of Villabrázaro, one of the projects marked as Project Priority Industrial by the Junta de Castilla y León and which has financing from the Productive Industrial Investment Support Fund, promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Government of Spain.

This project foresees the generation of close to 600 direct jobs between the two production centers, as well as close to 2,000 indirect jobs with a total investment of around 240 million euros.